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THE  MEMOEIAL   HISTOEY  OF   THE 
CITY  OF  NEW-YORK 


THIS  VOLUME   IS   DEDICATED 
BY  THE   EDITOR  TO    HIS    HONOEED   FRIEND 

ROBERT   C.  WINTHROP 


Manna-hata,  the  handsomest  and  most  pleasant  country  that  man  can 
behold.  HENRY  HUDSON. 

The  Island  of  New- York  is  the  most  beautiful  island  that  I  have  ever 
seen.  HESSIAN  OFFICER,  in  "  Stone's  Revolutionary  Letters,"  1891. 

She  is  a  Mart  of  Nations.  .  .  .  The  crowning  city,  whose  merchants  are 
princes,  whose  traffickers  are  the  honorable  of  the  earth.  ISAIAH,  xxiii. 

History  maketh  a  young  man  to  be  old,  without  either  wrinkles  or  gray 
hairs,  privileging  him  with  the  experience  of  age  without  either  the  infirmi- 
ties or  inconveniences  thereof.  THOMAS  FULLER. 

This  is  a  great  fault  in  a  chronicler,  to  turn  parasite :  an  absolute  history 
should  be  in  fear  of  none ;  neither  should  he  write  anything  more  than 
truth,  for  friendship,  or  else  for  hate,  but  keep  himself  equal  and  constant 
in  all  his  discourses.  SIMON  N.  H.  LINGUET. 

Industrious  persons,  by  an  exact  and  scrupulous  diligence  and  obser- 
vation, out  of  the  monuments,  names,  words,  proverbs,  traditions,  private 
recordes  and  evidences,  fragments  of  stories,  passages  of  bookes  that 
concern  not  story,  and  the  like,  we  doe  save  and  recover  somewhat  from 
the  deluge  of  Time.  FRANCIS  BACON. 

They  who  make  researches  into  Antiquity  may  be  said  to  passe  often 
through  many  dark  lobbies  and  dusky  places  before  they  come  to  the  Aula 
litcis,  the  great  hall  of  light ;  they  must  repair  to  old  Archives  and  peruse 
many  molded  and  moth-eaten  records,  and  so  bring  to  light,  as  it  were, 
out  of  darkness,  to  inform  the  present  world  what  the  former  did,  and 
make  us  see  truth  through  our  Ancestor's  eyes.  JAMES  HOWELL. 

I  was  surprised  to  find  how  few,  if  any,  of  my  fellow-citizens  were  aware 
that  New- York  had  ever  been  called  New  Amsterdam,  or  had  heard  of  the 
names  of  its  early  Dutch  governors,  or  cared  a  straw  about  their  ancient 
Dutch  progenitors.  ...  A  history  to  serve  as  a  foundation,  on  which  other 
historians  may  hereafter  raise  a  noble  superstructure,  swelling  in  process 
of  time,  until  Knickerbocker's  New- York  may  be  equally  voluminous  with 
Gibbon's  Rome,  or  Hume  and  Smollett's  England.  WASHINGTON  IRVING. 


PREFACE 

ANY  admirable  writers  have  preceded  us  in  preparing  his- 
tories of  the  famous  city  of  which  the  Hollanders,  the 
Huguenots  of  France,  and  the  English  were  the  chief 
founders.  Not  to  speak  of  the  living,  we  may  mention 
Brodhead  and  Miss  Booth;  the  literary  partners,  Irving  and  Paul- 
ding  ;  Dunlap  and  Moulton ;  William  Smith  and  Dr.  O'Callahan  ;  each 
of  whom  contributed  much  valuable  information  concerning  different 
centuries  of  New- York  history.  But  there  appeared  still  to  be,  in  the 
judgment  of  many  judicious  men,  a  place  for  a  single  complete  and 
exhaustive  work  on  the  subject.  Two  decades  have  passed  since  the 
poet  Bryant  called  the  writer's  attention  to  the  urgent  demand  for 
such  a  book,  and  in  December,  1888,  the  venerable  Bancroft,  with  kind 
partiality,  said :  "  You  have  rendered  a  valuable  service  to  your  coun- 
try by  the  completion  of  the  '  Cyclopaedia  of  American  Biography.' 
Why  not  perform  a  similar  service  by  preparing  an  equally  trust- 
worthy history  of  the  city  of  New- York  of  the  same  character  as  the 
one  that  has  recently  appeared  concerning  Boston  ?  " 

What  had  previously  been  a  project  became,  by  the  advice  of  the 
greatest  of  American  historians,  a  fixed  purpose.  During  the  writer's 
sojourn  in  Europe,  in  the  following  year,  much  valuable  material  was 
fortunately  discovered  in  England  and  Holland  for  the  furtherance  of 
the  four  volumes  of  which  the  first  is  now  presented  to  the  public. 
The  complete  work  will  cover  nearly  three  centuries,  including  the 
period  from  the  arrival  in  our  beautiful  bay  of  the  Half -Moon,  soon 
after  the  close  of  "the  spacious  days  of  great  Elizabeth,"  to  that  of  the 
four  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  discovery  of  the  New  World — two 
pregnant  events  in  which  Columbus  and  Henry  Hudson  were  the 
chief  actors.  They  will  be  appropriately  commemorated  in  September, 
1892,  by  the  dedication  of  a  lofty  monument  to  be  erected  on  the 
highest  point  of  the  Atlantic  Highlands,  near  which  the  English 


Vi  PBEFACE 

navigator  landed  in  1609.  This  enduring  memorial  of  Hudson  will 
be  the  first  object  that  meets  the  eye  of  foreigners,  and  the  traveler 
returning  from  the  Old  World,  as  they  approach  our  city  by  way  of 
Sandy  Hook. 

Unlike  Venice,  whose  archives  are  complete  for  ten  centuries  and 

"  Rich  with  the  spoils  of  time," 

the  records  of  New- York  embrace  but  little  more  than  one-fourth  of 
a  thousand  years.  It  is  thought  that  in  the  chronicle  of  the  oldest 
important  Anglo-Saxon  city  of  North  America, — 

"  In  one  strong  race  all  races  here  unite," — 

and  the  best  seaport  of  the  New  World,  good  use  has  been  made  of  all 
existing  documents  of  the  Dutch  as  well  as  of  the  colonial  and  modern 
periods,  and  that  they  have  been  utilized  with  what  Edmund  Burke 
describes  as  "the  cold  neutrality  of  an  impartial  judge."  In  the 
words  of  the  illustrious  Gibbon :  "  Diligence  and  accuracy  are  the 
only  merits  which  an  historical  writer  may  ascribe  to  himself."  These 
the  Editor  may  perhaps  be  permitted  to  claim  for  himself  and  the 
many  well-known  writers  who  have  united  with  him  in  the  prepar- 
ation of  the  Memorial  History  of  the  City  of  New- York,  which  it  is 
believed  will  be  welcomed  not  only  by  the  people  of  the  great  metropo- 
lis, as  well  as  the  stranger  within  her  gates,  but  by  the  citizens  of  the 
country  generally.  May  it  not  also  be  expected  that  in  the  perusal  of 
this  story  of  what  Irving  called  the  very  best  city  in  the  whole  world, 
the  reader  will  appreciate  the  truth  of  the  poet  laureate  Skelton's  six- 
teenth century  assertion  that  "History  makes  some  amends  for  the 
shortness  of  life  "  ? 

The  main  facts  of  modern  no  less  than  of  ancient  history,  regarded 
as  a  whole,  may  unhesitatingly  be  accepted  as  genuine,  but  as  to  the 
minor  details,  which  from  their  picturesqueness  and  intrinsic  interest 
are  especially  calculated  to  impress  the  imagination  of  the  reader, 
there  is  frequently  a  large  portion  that  is  mythical,  if  not  absolutely 
fictitious.  But  it  has  been  our  earnest  endeavor  to  achieve  accuracy 
even  in  regard  to  unimportant  incidents.  Perfection  and  absolute 
freedom  from  error  cannot,  of  course,  be  claimed  for  this  or  any  simi- 
lar work ;  for,  in  the  words  of  the  wise  and  witty  Alexander  Pope,  it 
may  safely  be  said  that  — 

"  Whoever  thinks  a  faultless  piece  to  see, 
Thinks  what  ne'er  was,  nor  is,  nor  e'er  shall  be." 


PREFACE  vii 

To  those  who  have  contributed  to  these  pages,  and  to  the  many 
ladies  and  gentlemen  who  have  graciously  aided  the  Editor  in  illus- 
trating this  and  the  succeeding  volumes,  he  desires  to  return  his  most 
sincere  thanks.  In  the  fourth  volume  there  will  appear  a  full  and 
detailed  acknowledgment  to  the  numerous  friends  to  whom  the  writer 
is  in  any  way  indebted  for  assistance  in  the  preparation  of  this  history, 
which  he  can  truly  say  has  proved  to  him  an  unalloyed  labor  of  love. 

As  a  concluding  paragraph  to  this  brief  Preface,  which  the  tyranny 
of  tradition  imposes  alike  on  the  author  and  on  the  compiler  of  books, 
the  Editor  will  borrow  the  beautiful  lines  written  long  ago,  in  the  days 
of  a  generation  which  has  now  almost  entirely  passed  away,  by  the 
admirable  and  ever-delightful  Dutch  historian,  Diedrich  Knicker- 
bocker :  "  If,  however,  in  this,  my  historic  production,  ...  I  have 
failed  to  gratify  the  dainty  palate  of  the  age,  I  can  only  lament  my 
misfortune — for  it  is  too  late  in  the  season  for  me  even  to  hope  to 
repair  it.  Already  has  withering  age  showered  his  sterile  snows 
upon  my  brow ;  in  a  little  while,  and  this  genial  warmth  which  still 
lingers  around  my  heart,  and  throbs — worthy  reader — throbs  kindly 
towards  thyself,  will  be  chilled  forever.  Haply  this  frail  compound 
of  dust,  which  while  alive  may  have  given  birth  to  nothing  but  un- 
profitable weeds,  may  form  a  humble  sod  of  the  valley,  whence  may 
spring  a  sweet  wild  flower,  to  adorn  my  beloved  island  of  Manna-hata !" 

NEW-YORK,  October,  1891. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I 

EXPLORATIONS  OP  THE  NORTH  AMERICAN  COAST  PREVIOUS  TO  THE  VOY- 
AGE OF  HENRY  HUDSON    ....  The  Rev.  Benjamin  F.  De  Costa,  D.D.      1 

The  Dream  of  the  "Atlantis  of  the  West "  —  The  "  Seven  Cities "  of  the 
Year  734  —  Columbus  Diverted  to  the  Southwest  —  Fortunate  for  the  Eng- 
lish —  The  Northmen  in  America  —  The  Voyages  of  the  Welsh  in  the  Middle 
Ages  —  The  Zeno  Brothers  —  The  "  Skraelling,"  or  the  Glacial  Man  — Voyage 
of  Sebastian  Cabot  in  1515  —  The  Portuguese  along  our  Coast  —  Ayllon  and 
the  Spaniards  —  The  Voyage  of  Verrazano  in  1524  —  His  Letter  to  Francis  I.  of 
France  undoubtedly  Genuine  —  His  Course  and  Landfall  —  Accounts  of  the 
Indians  and  the  Country — In  New-York  and  Narragansett  Bays  —  The  Verra- 
zano Map  —  Gomez  in  1525  Goes  in  Search  of  Cathay  —  Ribeiro's  Map  of  1529 
Founded  on  this  Voyage — Bay  of  New- York,  How  Indicated  Thereon  — 
Oviedo's  Account  of  the  Map  of  Chaves  —  The  "Rio  de  Sanct  Antonio" — 
Locality  of  the  Hudson  River  Known  from  the  Time  of  Gomez  —  Sandy  Hook 
—Were  the  Dutch  on  Manhattan  Island  in  1598  f — The  Map  of  1610,  Prepared 
for  James  I.  of  England  and  Found  in  Spain  —  The  Period  of  Reconnoissance. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  NATIVE  INHABITANTS  OF  MANHATTAN  AND  ITS  INDIAN  ANTIQUI- 
TIES   Edward  Manning  Rutteriber.    33 

The  Location  of  Manna-hata  —  Who  were  the  Manhattans  ?  —  The  Word 
Manna-hata  does  not  Refer  to  any  Indian  Tribe  —  Verrazano's  Testimony  — 
Accounts  of  Dutch  Writers :  Van  der  Donck's  Description  of  the  Dress  of 
Indian  Women  —  The  Food  of  the  Natives,  and  How  Prepared  —  The  Indians' 
Treasury  and  Currency  —  The  Houses  of  the  Aborigines  —  Villages  or 
"  Castles,"  and  Where  Located  —  Weapons  of  War  —  Their  Medicines  and 
Medical  Treatment  —  Their  Form  of  Government  a  Pure  Democracy  — 
Criminal  Laws  and  Rights  of  Property —Tribal  Subdivisions  with  their  Chiefs 

—  The  Indian  Religion  —  Their  Respect  for  the  Devil  —  The  Sanhikans,  or 
Fire  Workers  —  Observation  of  the  Stars  —  The  First  Moon  of  the  New  Year 

—  Names  and  Location  of  Tribes  on  and  about  Manhattan  Island  —  The  Wap- 
pinoes  Inhabited  this  Island — The  Mohican  Nation ;  their  Language  a  Dialect 
of  the  Algonquin —  The  Indian  Castle  of  Nipinichan,  on  Spuyten  Duyvel 
Creek  —  Tribes  to  the  North  and  East  of  these  —  Nimham,  King  of  the  Wap- 
pingers  —  The  Weckquaesgecks  of  Westchester ;  their  Part  in  Kief  t's  Wars  — 
The  Languages  of  the  Indians  of  this  Vicinity  —  Great  Diversity  in  their 
Dialects —  A  Fundamental  Characteristic — Indian  Geographical  Terms — The 


HISTORY    OF    NEW-YOBK 

Island  of  Manhattan  so  Named  by  the  Dutch  —  Points  on  it  Named  by  Indians 
—  Names  of  Islands  in  the  Harbor  and  East  River  —  Of  Long  Island  — 
Note  on  Indian  Antiquities  recently  Discovered  on  Manhattan  Island. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  ANTECEDENTS  OF  NEW  NETHERLAND  AND  THE  DUTCH  WEST  INDIA 
COMPANY The  Rev.  Daniel  Van  Pelt,  A.M.    55 

Signing  of  the  "  Twelve  Years'  Truce  "  —  The  Netherland  Provinces,  How 
they  Became  Subject  to  the  King  of  Spain  —  Persecution  of  Protestants  — 
"  Petition  of  Rights,"  and  the  beginning  of  the  Eighty  Years'  War —  "  Union 
of  Utrecht,"  or  Constitution  of  the  Dutch  Republic,  and  the  "  Abjuration  "  of 
the  King  of  Spain  —  The  Truce  Recognizes  the  Independence  of  the  United 
Provinces  —  The  Commerce  of  the  Dutch  —  The  Dutch  Turn  their  Attention 
to  the  East  Indies — Attempts  to  Reach  these  by  Way  of  the  Arctic  Ocean  — 
Expeditions  by  Way  of  Cape  of  Good  Hope  —  Results  of  these  Undertakings — 
The  Dutch  East  India  Company  Erected —  Its  Great  Success  —  The  India 
Trade  Confirmed  by  the  Truce  —  Earliest  Financiers  in  the  Netherlands  were 
the  "  Lombards"  —  A  Bank  and  a  Palace  at  The  Hague  —  Proposal  of  a  Bank 
to  the  Magistrates  of  Amsterdam  —  Its  Directors  and  Clerical  Force  —  Its 
Sources  of  Income  —  The  "  Golden  Age  "  of  Holland  :  Politically ;  in  the  Arts 
and  Sciences ;  in  Painting  ;  in  Literature  —  Inventiveness  of  the  Dutch  — 
The  Dutch  Republic  the  "  United  States  "  of  Europe  and  of  the  17th  Century 

-  These  Facts  as  Compared  with  Irving's  View  of  the  Dutch  —  The  "  Immor- 
tal Jest "  Hard  to  Overcome  by  Facts  —  William  Usselinx,  and  his  Efforts 
to  Found  a  West  India  Company—  His  earliest  Colaborers  —  A   Commit- 
tee to  Draft  a  Charter  —  Mutual  Jealousies  of  the  Cities  and  Negotiations 
for  the  Truce  Postpone  the  Measure  —  The  Subject  Revived  in  1614  —  The 
Project  before  the  States-General,  and  the  Charter  Granted — Its  Provisions 
and  the  Constitution  of  the  West  India  Company  —  The  "  Colonizing  "  Clause 

-  The  Capital  Slowly  Secured  —  "  Amplifications  "  of  the  Charter  —  The 
Company  is  Organized —  Sends  a  Fleet  to  Brazil  —  The  Spanish  Silver  Fleet 
taken  by  Admiral  Heyn  —  John  Maurice,  Count  of  Nassau,  Appointed  Gov- 
ernor-General of  Dutch  Brazil  —  His  Internal  Policy  and  Expeditions  for  Con- 
quest —  Portugal  Throws  off  the  Spanish  Yoke,  and  Complications  Result- 
ing therefrom —  John  Maurice  Recalled  and  Affairs  in  Brazil  after  his  Depar- 
ture —  Brazil  Lost  to  the  Dutch  —  Decline,  Dissolution,  and  Reorganization 
of  the  West  India  Company  —  The  East  and  West  India  Companies  Extin- 
guished in  1800  and  Their  Possessions  Revert  to  the  State  after  1815  —  A 
Knowledge  of  the  Condition  of  the  West  India  Company  Important  to  an 
Understanding  of  New  Netherland  Affairs. 


CHAPTER  IV 

HENRY  HUDSON'S  VOYAGE  AND  ITS  RESULTS  IN  TRADE  AND  COLONIZA- 
TION     The  Editor.  108 

Was  Hudson  the  First  to  See  our  River  ?  —  Arctic  Explorations ;  their  Object 
at  first  Commercial  —  Previous  Career  of  Henry  Hudson  —  Hudson  in  Hol- 
land ;  his  Conferences  and  Contract  with  the  Directors  of  the  East  India  Com- 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS  xi 

pany  — He  Fails  to  Reach  Nova  Zembla,  and  Turns  towards  America  — Anchors 
in  New- York  Bay  —  Sails  up  the  River  —  Reaches  the  Head  of  Navigation  — 
Troubles  with  Indians  on  the  Return  —  Arrives  in  Dartmouth,  where  Hudson 
is  Detained  —  His  Death  —  The  East  India  Company  Debarred  from  Using  his 
Discovery —  A  Second  Vessel  with  Part  of  the  Half -Moon's  Crew  Sent  out — The 
Interest  in  the  "  New  "  River  Spreads  —Henry  Christiaensen  and  Adriaen  Block 

—  Christiaensen  Establishes  a  Trading  Camp  —  Captain  Samuel  Argall's  Visit 

—  Fort  Nassau  Built  near  the  Junction  of  the  Mohawk  —  Block's  Ship  the  Tiger 
is  Burned  and  He  Builds  the  Restless  —  Discovers  Long  Island  Sound  and  the 
Connecticut  —  Block  in  Holland  and  Before  the  States-General  —  The  Charter 
of  the  "  NewNetherland  Company  " — Fort  Nassau  Transferred  to  the  Mainland 

—  The  Council  of  the  Iroquois  on  Tawassgunshee  Hill,  and  Treaty  with  the 
Dutch —  Hendricksen  in  Delaware  Bay  and  River  —  Rivalry  between  Mer- 
chants Trading  to  New  Netherland — The  Dutch  People  Averse  to  Coloniz- 
ing—  John  Robinson  and  the  Pilgrims  at  Ley  den  Wish  to  Settle  on  the 
Hudson  —  The  States-General  Decline  their  Proposition  —  Several  Trading 
Voyages  —  England's  Jealousy  Aroused,  and  Protest  of  James  I. —  The  Wal- 
loons Ask  to  be  Sent  as  Colonists,  and  the  New  Netherland  Sails  with  Thirty 
Families  — Capt.  Cornelius  Jacobsen  May,  First  Director — The  Walloon  Bay, 
now  Wallabout,  Settled  —  Fort  Orange  Built  and  Colonized  —  Director  May 
Builds  a  Fort  on  the  Delaware  —  A  Seal  Granted  to  New  Netherland  —  De 
Laet's  Book,  "  Nieuwe  Wereldt " —  William  Verhulst  Succeeds  May  as  Direc- 
tor— First  Cattle- Ships  Sent  to  Manhattan  —  Peter  Minuit,  Appointed  Direc- 
tor-General, Arrives  at  Manhattan  —  Note  on  the  Portrait  and  Ancestry  of 
Henry  Hudson. 

CHAPTER  V 

PETER  MINUIT  AND  WALTER  VAN  TWILLER,  1626-1637  .    .    .  The  Editor.  152 

Commerce  the  Foundation  of  New- York  City —  Comparative  Colonization 
of  the  United  States  during  Minuit's  and  Van  Twiller's  Terms  —  Arrival  of 
Minuit  —  His  Council  —  Was  he  a  German  or  a  Dutchman  ?  —  The  Purchase 
of  Manhattan  Island  —  The  Schaghen  Letter  —  Building  of  the  Fort  Begun  — 
Small  Houses  along  the  North  River  —  Diplomatic  Relations  with  New  Ply- 
mouth Colony  —  A  View  of  Conditions  on  Manhattan  Island  —  The  Letter  of 
the  Rev.  Jonas  Michaelius  —  A  Sea  Voyage  of  those  Days,  and  its  Hardships  — 
Privations  of  Colonial  Life  — Primitive  Place  of  Worship  — Population  in  1628 
— The  Ship  New  Netherlaud—  The  System  of  Patroonships  Inaugurated — Its 
Advantages  and  Disadvantages  —  Troubles  Growing  out  of  It  —  Peter  Minuit 
Recalled  —  His  Subsequent  History  and  Death  —  Walter  Van  Twiller  Ap- 
pointed his  Successor  —  Related  to  Patroon  Van  Rensselaer's  Family  —  His 
Previous  Visit  to  New  Netherland  —  Arrival  of  De  Vries  at  Manhattan  Island 

—  Jacob  Eelkens  Arrives  in  an  English  Ship  —  Defies  Van  Twiller,  and  the 
Latter's  Ludicrous  Conduct  —  Eelkens  Pursued  to  Fort  Orange  and  his  Ship 
brought  back  —  English  Claims  to  New  Netherland — English   Encroach- 
ments on  the  Connecticut  and  the  Delaware — Dutch  Title  Vindicated  by 
English   Charters  and    International   Law  —  Relations    with   th£  Indians 
under  Minuit  and  Van  Twiller  —  The  Murder  of  1626  —  The  Swanendael 
Massacre  —  War  with  the  Raritans  and  Peace  Effected  —  Troubles  with  the 
Pequods  —  Intercourse  with  the  Indians  on  Manhattan  Island  —  Activity  in 
Building  under  Van  Twiller  —  Fort  Amsterdam  Completed  —  Church  and 
Parsonage  Built  —  The  Rev.  Everardus  Bogardus  Succeeds  Michaelius  — 


Xll  HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YORK 

Location  of  the  First  Church  in  New-York —  Agriculture  and  Trade  —  Mills 
Erected  —  The  West  India  Company  Dissatisfied  —  Van  Twiller's  Quarrel 
with  Bogardus  —  His  Personal  Conduct  Undignified  —  Grants  of  Land  to 
Himself  and  Colleagues  —  Complaints  against  Him  in  Holland  —  Recalled  and 
a  Successor  Appointed. 

CHAPTER  VI 

THE  ADMINISTRATION  OF  WILLIAM  KIEFT,  1638-1647. 

James  W.  Gerard,  LL.  D.  195 

Kieft's  Arrival  at  New  Amsterdam,  and  Composition  of  his  Council  —  Dis- 
couraging Condition  of  Affairs  in  New  Netherland  —  Reverses  of  the  West 
India  Company —  Arrival  of  De  Vries  and  Others  —  Grants  of  Land  on  and 
about  Manhattan  Island  —  The  English  in  Connecticut  and  on  Long  Island 

—  Troubles  with  the  Indians  Begin  —  The  Murder  of  Claes  Swits  —  The 
Council  of  the  Twelve  Men  ;  They  Advise  Postponement  of  Hostilities  —  The 
Council   Dismissed  —  Expedition  to  Westchester  and  Peace  Effected  —  A 
Dutch  Laborer  Shot  by  an  Indian  at  Pavonia  —  The  Massacres  at  Pavonia 
and  Corlaer's  Hoeck  —  The  Savages  of  the  Vicinity  Roused  to  Fierce  Ven- 
geance —  Peace  with  the  Long  Island  Indians,  and  with  the  Tribes  on  the 
Hudson  —  A  Boat  on  the  Hudson  River  attacked  by  Indians  —  The  Council 
of  the  Eight  Men  —  The  Weckquaesgecks  massacre  Colonists  in  Westchester 

—  Anne  Hutchinson  Killed  —  Long  Island  Settlements  attacked  —  Successful 
Expeditions  in  Various  Directions  —  The  Indians  Cowed,  and  Sue  for  Peace 

—  Excise  Duty  Levied  to  Meet  the  Expenses  of  the  War  —  Kieft's  Arbitrary 
Notions  —  Complaints   Repeated  —  Kieft    Recalled  —  Results  of  the  Five 
Years  of  War  — Peter  Stuyvesant  Appointed  in  Kieft's  Place  —  Appearance  of 
New  Amsterdam  —  Houses  —  A  Palisade  on  Wall  Street  —  Road  and  Streets 
— The  "  Stadt  Herberg"  or  City  Tavern  —  Scene  in  the  Tavern  —  A  Trial  for 
Capital  Punishment  —  Beer  and  Liquor  —  Evidences  of  Gentility  and  In- 
telligence —  Signaling    the    Arrival    of    Ships  —  Navigation    of    Domestic 
Waters  —  Agriculture  —  Church  and  Services  —  Domine  Bogardus  ;  Contro- 
versy between  Him  and  Director  Kieft  —  Toleration  of  Various  Sects  under 
Kieft  Contrasted  with  New  England's  Policy  —  Anne  Hutchinson,  Roger 
Williams  and  Francis  Doughty  —  John  Underbill,  Father  Jogues,  and  Lady 
Moody  —  The  Latter  Receives  a  Grant  of  Land  at  Gravesend,  Long  Island  — 
Charges  against  Kieft  after  Stuy vesant's  Arrival  —  Sentence  of  Kuyter  and 
Melyn  —  Kieft's  Tragic  Fate  —  Reflections  on  Kieft's  Administration. 


CHAPTER  VII 

PETER  STUYVESANT,  THE  LAST  OF  THE  DUTCH  DIRECTORS,  1647-1664. 

Berfhold  Fernoiv.  243 

How  to  Judge  Stuyvesant's  Character  and  Government  —  Previous  History 
— His  First  Attention  is  given  to  Fort  Amsterdam  —  Fortification  of  the  City  — 
The  "  Burgher  Wacht"  or  Citizen-Militia  —  Duties  of  the  Soldiers  —  Indians 
Massacre  the  Settlement  on  Manhattan  Island  during  Stuyvesant's  Absence 
—  The  Navy  of  New  Amsterdam  —  Trade  Regulations  under  Stuyvesant  — 
The  Company's  Instructions  Conflicting  as  to  Free  Trade  —  Ordinance 
against  Transient  Traders  or  Peddlers  —  Attempt  to  Regulate  Prices  of 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS  xiii 

Goods  —  Instruction  with  Regard  to  Cultivation  of  the  Soil — Tobacco 
Culture  in  New  Netherland  —  Stuy vesant  and  the  Currency ;  His  Desire  to 
Substitute  Coins  for  Wampum  —  The  Board  of  the  Nine  Men  Modeled 
after  Dutch  Town  Government  —  Revenue  and  Port  Regulations  —  The 
Case  of  the  Saint  Beninio  —  Opposition  to  Stuyvesant  Begins  among  the 
Nine  Men  —  Van  der  Donck  One  of  the  Nine  Men,  and  also  of  Stuyvesant's 
Council  —  Stuyvesant's  Measures  to  Suppress  Complaints  of  the  People  — 
Van  der  Donck  and  Two  Others  are  Delegated  to  Lay  Grievances  before 
the  States-General  —  The  "  Vertoogh"  —  Stuyvesant  Sends  Van  Tienhoven 
to  Defend  Him  against  these  Charges — States-General  Suggest  the  Recall 
of  the  Director  and  a  Municipal  Government  for  New  Amsterdam  —  Stuy- 
vesant's Peculiar  Situation  —  A  Second  Memorial  Presented  by  Van  der 
Donck —  Stuyvesant  not  Recalled,  but  Municipal  Government  is  Granted  — 
Harmony  between  the  Magistrates  and  Stuyvesant  at  first  —  Discussions 
as  to  the  Excise  —  Excise  Resumed  and  Magistrates  Lectured  by  Stuyve- 
sant —  He  Interferes  with  the  Election  of  City  Officers  —  The  Great  and 
the  Small  Burgher  Rights  —  The  Question  of  the  Appointment  of  a  Schout 
—  Stuyvesant's  Attention  to  the  Internal  Condition  of  the  City  —  The 
Beginning  of  the  New-York  Fire  Department  —  The  "  Ratel-Wacht,"  or 
Night  Watch  —  Surveyors  of  Streets  and  Buildings  —  The  Origin  and 
Names  of  Some  of  the  Streets  —  The."Schoeyinge"  a  Protection  Against 
High  Tides  —  The  Anchoring  Places  for  Ships  of  Various  Burdens  — 
Provisions  for  the  Mails  to  Europe  —  Mills  —  Physicians,  and  the  First 
Hospital  —  The  Restrictions  on  Liquor- Selling  —  The  Coming  of  the  Eng- 
lish—  Stuyvesant  Destroys  the  Letter  of  Nicolls  —  Subsequent  History 
and  Death  of  Stuyvesant  —  List  of  the  Great  and  Small  Citizens  in  1657. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

RICHARD  NICOLLS,  THE  FIRST  ENGLISH  GOVERNOR,  1664-1668. 

Eugene  Lawrence.  307 

New  Amsterdam  Becomes  New- York  —  Antecedents  of  Governor  Nicolls  — 
His  Mild  Treatment  of  the  Conquered  Province  —  New- York  in  1664  —  Plenty 
among  the  People  —  The  Conquest  of  the  Delaware  Region — Generosity  of 
English  Kings  in  Bestowing  Lands  in  America  —  The  Boundary  Question 
with  Connecticut  —  The  Oath  of  Allegiance  Taken  by  the  Chief  Citizens  — 
Effect  of  the  News  of  the  Capture  of  New  Netherland  in  Europe  —  War  be- 
tween England  and  Holland  —  Nicolls  Prepares  the  "  Duke's  Laws  " —  Designs 
of  Charles  II.  against  the  Liberties  of  the  New  England  Colonies  —  The 
Municipal  Government  of  New- York  Changed  to  the  English  Form  —  Appre- 
hensions of  a  Descent  by  De  Ruyter's  Fleet  —  New  Jersey  Severed  from  New- 
York  by  Royal  Grant  —  A  Trial  for  Witchcraft,  and  Acquittal  of  the  Accused 
—  Nicolls  Asks  to  be  Recalled  —  Naval  Battle  between  the  Dutch  and  English 
off  Lowestoft,  and  Defeat  of  the  Dutch  —  The  French  from  Canada  Invade 
the  Country  of  the  Mohawks  —  The  Towns  at  the  East  End  of  Long  Island 
Prove  Refractory  —  The  Court  of  Assizes  Decrees  that  all  Dutch  Titles  Must 
be  Renewed  —  The  Commission  of  Four  is  Dissolved  —  Naval  Contests  Be- 
tween the  Dutch  and  English,  with  Varying  Success — The  English  People 
Disapprove  of  the  War  —  Admiral  De  Ruyter  Sails  up  the  Thames  and 
Threatens  London  —  The  Peace  of  Breda  Exchanges  New  Netherland  for 
Surinam  —  Nicolls  is  Relieved  from  the  Governorship,  and  Francis  Lovelace 


XIV  HISTOKY    OF    NEW- YORK 

Appointed  in  His  Place  —  Condition  of  New-York  at  this  Time  —  Prominent 
Dutch  Citizens  and  their  Descendants — Nicolls  Returns  to  England — Killed  in 
the  Naval  Battle  of  Solebay.—  A  Directory  of  New- York  City  for  1665. 


CHAPTER  IX 

FRANCIS  LOVELACE,  AND  THE  RECAPTURE  OF  NEW  NETHERLAND,  1668- 
1674 The  Rev.  Ashbel  G.  Vermilye,  D.  D.  341 

Court  Favorites  and  Grants  of  Land  in  America  —  Francis  Lovelace  a  Fa- 
vorite at  Court  —  His  Previous  History  and  his  Character  —  An  Ocean  Pas- 
sage then  as  Compared  with  one  of  to-day  —  Lovelace  in  America  when  a 
Young  Man  —  Nicolls  Takes  Him  Through  the  Province  —  Population  and 
Condition  of  New- York  City — Lovelace's  Interest  in  Securing  Religious  Privi- 
leges for  the  City  —  A  Wagon  Road  to  Harlem  Provided  for  by  the  Council  — 
Ferry  at  Spuyten  Duy vel  —  Lack  of  Shipping  in  the  Harbor  of  New-York  — 
Encouragement  to  Immigration  —  The  Social  Atmosphere  of  New- York  City 
—  Accomplished  Women  —  Clubs  Formed  by  Governor  Lovelace  —  Names  of 
Early  Inhabitants  that  Have  Survived  to  this  Day  —  Education  Among  the 
Dutch  Middle  Classes — The  Public  Acts  of  Lovelace  —  Towns  on  Long 
Island  Want  a  Representative  Assembly  —  The  First  Establishment  of  a 
Postal  Service  due  to  Lovelace  —  His  Purchase  of  Staten  Island  and  of  the 
Domine's  Bouwery,  or  Anneke  Jans's  Farm  —  He  Builds  a  New  Governor's 
House  in  the  Fort  —  His  Losses  by  the  Recapture,  and  his  Indebtedness  to 
the  Duke  of  York  —  The  Recapture  of  New  Netherland  by  the  Dutch  —  Was 
Commodores  Evertsen  and  Binckes's  Expedition  against  New  Netherland  "  a 
Lucky  Accident "  ?  —  Proofs  to  the  Contrary  —  Captain  Anthony  Colve  Made 
Governor  —  New  Netherland  Restored  to  England  at  the  Close  of  the  War  — 
Tax  List  of  New- York  in  1674. 

CHAPTER  X 

THE  ADMINISTRATION  OP  SIR  EDMUND  ANDROS,  1674-1682. 

William  L.  Stone.  363 

Previous  History  of  Andros  —  Proclamation  to  Reassure  the  Dutch  Inhabi- 
tants —  Withdrawal  of  Governor  Colve  —  Limits  and  Appearance  of  New- 
York  at  the  Beginning  of  Andros's  Administration  —  The  Governor's  House 
or  "  Whitehall " —  Old  Names  of  Familiar  Localities  —  Principal  Roads  —  In- 
structions to  Andros  —  He  Appoints  a  Dutch  Mayor  —  The  Citizens  Want  a 
Representative  Assembly  —  Andros  Sides  with  the  Petitioners,  but  the  King 
Denies  the  Request  —  Oath  of  Allegiance  —  Relations  with  Connecticut  — 
Trial  of  Captain  James  Manning  for  Surrendering  to  the  Dutch  —  His  Sen- 
tence —  Lack  of  Harmony  Among  Clergymen  —  Militia  Regulations  —  Street- 
Cleaning  and  Health  —  Market  and  Market-days  —  New  Wharf  Built — 
Commerce  and  Revenue  —  Restrictions  on  the  Liquor  Traffic —  Reformation 
of  the  Currency  —  Andros  and  the  Iroquois  —  Receives  the  Name  of  "  Cor- 
laer  " —  Board  of  Commissioners  of  Indian  Affairs  —  Andros  Visits  England 
and  is  Knighted  —  Collision  with  the  Governor  of  New  Jersey  —  Arrest  of 
Carteret;  His  Trial  and  Acquittal  —  He  Appeals  to  the  King  —  Merchants 
Complain  against  Andros  —  Recall  of  the  Governor  —  Vindication  of  his 
Conduct  Successful — Returns  Later  as  Governor-General  of  New  England 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS  XV 

and  New- York  —  Appointed  Governor  of  Virginia  by  William  III. —  The 
Character  of  Andros  has  usually  been  Misapprehended  —  His  Administration 
of  New- York  Admirable  —  Home-life  of  the  People  of  New-York  in  Early 
Times. 

CHAPTER  XI 

THOMAS  DONGAN  AND  THE  GRANTING  OF  THE  NEW- YORK  CHARTER,  1682- 
1688 Marcus  Benjamin,  Ph.  D.  399 

Career  of  Dongan  and  his  Family  Connections  —  His  Commission  Defines 
the  Territory  Subject  to  his  Eule  —  Condition  of  New- York  at  this  Time  — 
Trade,  Population,  and  Sects  —  Dongan's  Eelations  with  William  Penn — His 
Instructions  Call  for  a  General  Assembly  —  It  Meets  in  New- York  and  Passes 
Several  Acts — The  "Charter  of  Liberties  and  Privileges" — New-York  Di- 
vided into  Counties,  and  Courts  of  Justice  Appointed  —  The  Boundary  be- 
tween New- York  and  Connecticut  —  Immunities  and  Privileges  Granted  to 
the  City  of  New- York  —  Regulations  for  Law  and  Order  in  the  City — 
Boundary  between  New- York  and  New  Jersey — Difficulties  with  the  French 
of  Canada  —  Friendly  Relations  with  the  Iroquois  Confirmed  by  Dongan  — 
Religious  Toleration  in  New- York  —  The  Long  Island  Towns  Give  Trouble 
—  The  Duke  of  York  Becomes  King  and  Fails  to  Confirm  the  Charter —  Don- 
gan an  Able  Diplomat  —  The  New- York  City  Charter  Procured  from  the 
King  —  Its  Provisions  —  A  New  Commission  Given  to  Dongan  at  the  Acces- 
sion of  James  II.  —  His  New  Instructions  Call  for  the  Dissolution  of  the  Pro- 
vincial Assembly —  The  Quakers  in  New- York  City  —  Dongan's  Report  to  the 
Plantation  Committee  —  Dispute  between  Andros  and  Dongan  —  James  II. 
Contemplates  Consolidating  the  New-York  and  New  England  Colonies  — 
Dongan  Receives  a  Letter  from  the  King  Ordering  him  to  Surrender  his 
Government  to  Andros  —  His  Subsequent  Career  —  Remains  in  America,  and 
is  Persecuted  during  the  Leisler  Troubles  —  The  Crown  greatly  in  Debt  to 
Him  —  He  Becomes  Earl  of  Limerick  —  His  Death  and  his  American  Heirs  — 
The  Text  of  the  Dongan  Charter  —  List  of  Church  Members  in  1686. 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE  PERIOD  OF  THE  LEISLER  TROUBLES,  1688-1692. 

The  Rev.  Ashbel  G.  Vermilye,  D.  D.  (with  additions  bij  the  Editor).  453 

New- York  and  New  England  Consolidated  into  One  Province  —  Sir  Ed- 
mund Andros  Appointed  Governor-General  —  The  Consolidation  not  Ac- 
ceptable to  the  People  of  New- York  —  Francis  Nicholson  is  Sent  as  Lieuten- 
ant-Governor  to  New- York  —  The  Revolution  in  England  —  The  News  and 
its  Effect  in  Boston — Andros  Imprisoned  —  The  Boston  Proceedings  Produce 
a  Sensation  in  New-York  —  Causes  for  Unrest:  Fears  of  France  and  the 
Jesuits  —  "  Persons  of  Quality  and  the  Rabble  "  —  The  "  Train-Bands,"  or  the 
Citizen-Militia,  and  the  Six  Captains  —  Nicholson  Comes  into  Collision  with 
Militia  Officers  —  The  Captains  Agree  to  Guard  the  Fort  in  Turn  —  Sketch  of 
Jacob  Leisler,  one  of  the  Six  Captains  —  His  Birth,  Antecedents,  and  Mar- 
riage Connections  —  News  of  the  Proclamation  of  William  and  Mary —  Leisler 
and  the  Captains  Open  Letters  from  England  —  They  Issue  a  Call  for  a  Con- 
vention of  Delegates  from  the  Counties  —  A  Committee  of  Safety  Appointed 


XVI  HISTORY    OF    NEW- YORK 

—  They  Make  Leisler  "  Captain  of  the  Fort  "  and  Military  Commander  of  the 
Province  —  A  Letter  from  King  William  —  Leisler's  Assumption  of  the  Com- 
mand—  Personnel  of  his  Council —  The  "  Abuse  of  Clergymen  "  Explained  — 
Leisler's  Public  Acts  as  Lieutenant-Governor  —  The  First  Colonial  Congress 
— Leisler's  Treatment  of  Colonel  Nicholas  Bayard — Major  Richard  Ingoldesby 
Arrives  at  New- York  —  He  Demands  the  Fort,  and  Leisler  Refuses  to  Yield  — 
Governor  Sloughter  Arrives  and  Leisler  is  Arrested  —  His  Trial,  Conviction, 
and  Execution —  Sloughter's  Brief  Administration  and  Sudden  Death  —  Major 
Ingoldesby  Invested  with  the  Government  until  the  Arrival  of  Governor  Benja- 
min Fletcher. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

BENJAMIN  FLETCHER  AND  THE  RISE  OP  PIRACY,  1692-1698. 

Charles  Burr  Todd.  489 

The  New  Governor  warmly  Received  by  Magistrates  and  Citizens  —  The 
Personality  and  Previous  History  of  Colonel  Fletcher  —  His  Secret  Instruc- 
tions, and  Council  —  The  Open  Instructions  —  Three  Elements  of  Discord 
Confront  the  Governor:  Race,  Religion,  and  Politics  —  The  French  Make 
Threatening  Movements  from  the  Direction  of  Canada  —  The  City  Magis- 
trates—  Fletcher's  Efforts  to  Extinguish  the  Fires  of  Faction  —  Abraham 
Gouverneur,  of  Leisler's  Council,  Escapes  to  Boston  —  The  Bolting  and 
Baking  Monopoly  —  Abolished  by  the  Assembly  —  The  Defenses  of  New- York 
in  Poor  Condition  —  Fletcher  Goes  to  Albany  to  Repel  an  Attack  of  French 
and  Indians  —  Holds  a  Council  with  the  Iroquois—  Attempts  to  Establish  a 
State  Church  — The  Erection  of  Trinity  Church  — The  "King's  Farm,"  for- 
merly West  India  Company's,  Granted  to  Trinity  Corporation  —  Rev.  William 
Vesey  Inducted  as  Rector  —  The  Dutch  Reformed  Church  in  Garden  Street 
(Exchange  Place)  —  Governor  Fletcher  Invites  William  Bradford,  the  Printer, 
to  Settle  in  New- York  —  His  Eminent  Services  —  Various  Beneficent  Institu- 
tions for  the  City  —  Plots  and  Cabals  Forming  against  the  Governor  —  The 
Reversal  of  Leisler's  Attainder  —  Robert  Livingston  Opposes  Fletcher  in  Eng- 
land; his  Friendship  with  the  Earl  of  Bellomont  —  Serious  Charges  against 
Fletcher  —  Piracy  in  New- York,  Grows  out  of  Privateering  —  Livingston, 
Bellomont,  and  the  King  Enter  into  an  Engagement  with  Captain  William 
Kidd  to  Capture  Pirates  —  Governor  Fletcher  Charged  with  Collusion  with  the 
Pirates  —  Fletcher  Recalled  and  Bellomont  Appointed  in  his  Place  —  Fletcher 
Demands  an  Investigation  in  England  —  A  Vigorous  Defense  by  the  Ex-Gov- 
ernor —  Result  of  the  Examination  Unfavorable  to  Fletcher  —  The  King  Inter- 
poses to  Prevent  his  Punishment  —  His  Subsequent  Career  and  Time  of  Death 
Unknown  —  A  Quaint  Description  of  New-York  in  1698. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

CONSTITUTIONAL  AND  LEGAL  HISTORY  OF  NEW-YORK  IN  THE  SEVENTEENTH 
CENTURY Robert  Ludlow  Fowler.  523 

Political  Changes  in  the  State  of  New-York  —  The  Rights  of  the  Aborigines 
Ethical  rather  than  Legal  —  The  Two  Elements  of  the  International  Law  of 
Ownership  —  English  and  Dutch  Claims  to  New  Netherland  ;  Disputes  there- 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS 

anent  Reach  to  the  Present  Day  —  The  Source  and  Branches  of  Governmental 
Authority  for  New  Netherland  —  The  System  of  "  Colonies,"  or  Patroonships  — 
Judicial  Authority  as  Vested  in  a  Director- General  and  Council  —  The  Board 
of  Nine  Men  the  First  Elective  Judiciary  in  New-York  State  —  New  Amster- 
dam Incorporated,  with  Burgomasters  and  Schepens  as  a  Municipal  Court  — 
Courts  in  other  Portions  of  the  Province  —  The  Law  of  New  Netherland,  ex- 
pressly the  Instructions  of  the  West  India  Company,  tacitly  the  Edicts  and 
Customs  of  the  Fatherland  —  The  "  Eoman-Dutch  Law  " —  The  Law  of  In- 
heritance —  Law  of  Tenures,  Eeal  Estate,  and  "  Servitudes  " —  Legal  Status  of 
New  Netherland  at  its  Surrender  to  the  English  —  The  Government  in  New- 
York  a  Proprietary  Government  —  Courts  of  Justice  Established  and  the 
"Three  Ridings  of  Yorkshire" — Nicolls  Prepares  the  Code  of  the  "Duke's 
Laws  "—  The  Recapture  by  the  Dutch  in  1673,  and  its  Legal  Effects  —  The 
English  Law  of  Real  Property  —  How  Lands  were  Held  under  the  Duke  of 
York  —  Grants  of  Manors  —  A  Representative  Assembly  vs.  Proprietary  Gov- 
ernment —  Governor  Dongan's  Instructions  virtually  a  New  Constitution  — 
New- York  Becomes  a  Crown- Government  at  the  Accession  of  James  II. —  The 
Dongan  Charter  for  the  City  —  The  Leisler  Episode  —  William  and  Mary's 
Commission  to  Sloughter  Provides  for  a  General  Assembly  —  Nature  of  the 
Law-Making  Forces  to  the  Revolution  —  Remnants  of  Dutch  Laws  in  Force  — 
The  Assembly  of  1691  Remodels  the  Judicial  Establishment  —  Generalizations 
on  Legal  and  Political  Conditions  in  New- York. 


CHAPTER  XV 

PRINTING  IN  NEW- YORK  IN  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY. 

Charles  R.  Hildeburn.  570 

New- York  the  First  English  Colony  to  Give  Governmental  Encouragement 
to  Printing  —  Experiences  of  Printers  in  other  Colonies  —  Resolution  of  the 
Council —  William  Bradford  the  Founder  of  the  Press  in  the  Middle  Colonies 

—  His  Birth  and  Apprenticeship  in  England  —  He  Becomes  a  Quaker  there  — 
Did  He  Come  over  with  Penn?  —  Induced  by  Penn  to  Go  to  Philadelphia,  and 
his  Arrival  and  Residence  there  —  His  First  Publication  and  First  Annoyance 

—  He  Determines  to  Leave  Pennsylvania,  and  Returns  to  England  —  The 
Quakers  Induce  him  to  Come  back  to  America  —  He  Takes  the  Part  of  George 
Keith,  and  is  Subjected  to  a  Trial  on  this  Account  —  Governor  Fletcher  Re- 
leases Bradford  from  the  Action  of  the  Court  —  The  Question  as  to  the  First 
Product  from  his  Press  in  New-York  —  List  of  the  Earliest  Known  Issues  of 
Bradford's  Press — Almanacs  Published  by  Him  —  The  "Laws  and  Acts," 
etc.,  the  most  Famous  of  his  Publications  —  A  Bibliographical  Puzzle  —  Brad- 
ford Undertakes  the  Printing  of  the  "Votes  of  Assembly,"  or  the  Proceedings 
of  that  Body  —  Various  Publications  up  to  the  Year  1699  —  A  Bibliography 
of  the  New-York  Press  in  the  Seventeenth  Century. 


TABLE  OF  DATES  IN  NEW- YORK  HISTORY .  604 


LIST  OF  STEEL-ENGRAVINGS. 

PAGE. 

PORTRAIT  OF  THE  EDITOR Frontispiece. 

CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS Face    32 

HENRY  HUDSON "     108 

PETER  STUYVESANT "     243 

SIR  EDMUND  ANDROS  "     363 


LIST  OF  FULL-PAGE  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PORTRAIT  OP  PHILIP  II.,  OP  SPAIN,  AND  AUTOGRAPH  .   .       57 

THE  "  CHAMBER  OP  THE  TRUCE,"  IN  THE  HAGUE 74 

THE  VAN  RENSSELAER  CONTRACT 162 

THE  VAN  RENSSELAER  DEED 164 

DEED  OP  NEW- YORK  CITY  PROPERTY,  1656 260 

THE  TEST  ACT  OP  1673 486 

THE  HOBOKEN  DEED  OP  1694 518 

THE  BAYARD  DEED •    .    .  522 

THE  DONGAN  CHARTER 551 

THE  BIRTHPLACE  OP  NICHOLAS  BAYARD  ....  583 


ILLUSTRATIONS  IN  THE   TEXT. 

FAC-SIMILE  OP  PAGE  OF  COLUMBUS'S  LETTER  TO  Luis  DE  SANT  ANGEL    .  2 

PORTRAIT  OF  FERDINAND  OF  ARAGON  AND  AUTOGRAPH 3 

PORTRAIT  OF  ISABELLA  OF  CASTILE  AND  AUTOGRAPH 4 

PORTRAIT  OF  SEBASTIAN  CABOT 6 

PORTRAIT  OF  VERRAZANO  AND  AUTOGRAPH 7 

PORTRAIT  OP  AMERICUS  VESPUCIUS  AND  AUTOGRAPH 9 

PORTRAIT  OF  JACQUES  CARTIER  AND  AUTOGRAPH 11 

EXTRACT  FROM  THE  VERRAZANO  MAP 14 

PORTRAIT  OF  SIR  FRANCIS  DRAKE  AND  AUTOGRAPH 17 

A  SECTION  OF  THE  MAP  OP  ALONZO  CHAVES 21 

PORTRAIT  OF  SIR  HUMPHREY  GILBERT  AND  AUTOGRAPH 25 

PORTRAIT  OF  SIR  MARTIN  FROBISHER  AND  AUTOGRAPH 28 

PORTRAIT  OF  SIR  WALTER  RALEIGH  AND  AUTOGRAPH 31 

MANHATTAN  ISLAND  IN  THE  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY 33 

AUTOGRAPH  OF  JOHN  DE  LAET 34 

xvlii 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE. 

FAG-SIMILE  OF  TITLE-PAGE  OF  VAN  DER  DONCK'S  "  NEW  NETHERLAND  "  35 

AUTOGRAPH  OF  ADRIAEN  VAN  DER  DONCK 36 

A  BELT  OF  WAMPUM 37 

INDIAN  Bows  AND  ARROWS     39 

TOTEMS  OF  VARIOUS  NEW- YORK  TRIBES 42 

TOTEMIC  SIGNATURES  OF  INDIAN  TRIBES  AND  FAMILIES 45 

AUTOGRAPH  OF  PETER  MINUIT 47 

CONFLICT  WITH  THE  INDIANS.    (FROM  DE  BRY.) 48 

FROM  CAPT.  JOHN  SMITH'S  "GENERAL  HISTORY " 51 

STONE  WITH  INSCRIPTION 53 

AN  INDIAN  FUNERAL  URN 53 

THE  HARBOR  AND  CITY  OF  AMSTERDAM 55 

PORTRAIT  OF  WILLIAM  THE  SILENT  AND  AUTOGRAPH 58 

PORTRAIT  OF  PHILIP  III.,  OF  SPAIN 68 

MONUMENT  AT  HEILIGERLEE 70 

PORTRAIT  OF  JOHN  OF  BARNEVELD  AND  AUTOGRAPH 73 

PORTRAIT  OF  JOHN  DE  WITT 76 

AUTOGRAPH  OF  WILLIAM  USSELINX 80 

PORTRAIT  OF  MAURICE  OF  ORANGE,  STADHOLDER 81 

AMSTERDAM  CITY  HALL  BEFORE  1615 84 

THE  "  VYVER  "  AT  THE  HAGUE 87 

HALL  OF  THE  KNIGHTS,  BINNENHOF 92 

WEST  INDIA  COMPANY'S  HOUSE  ON  HAARLEM  STREET 94 

PORTRAIT  OF  ADMIRAL  PETER  HEYN  AND  AUTOGRAPH 97 

PORTRAIT  OF  JOHN  MAURICE,  GOVERNOR  OF  BRAZIL,  AND  AUTOGRAPH  102 

WEST  INDIA  COMPANY'S  HOUSE  ON  THE  RAPENBURG 105 

HENRY  HUDSON  IN  THE  HIGHLANDS 108 

PORTRAIT  OF  VAN  LINSCHOTEN,  THE  COSMOGRAPHER Ill 

EAST  INDIA  COMPANY  BUILDINGS,  AMSTERDAM 112 

THE  HALF-MOON 115 

PORTRAIT  OF  EMANUEL  VAN  METEREN 116 

PORTRAIT  OF  VASCO  DA  GAMA  AND  AUTOGRAPH 119 

THE  HALF-MOON  LEAVING  AMSTERDAM 121 

THE  "FIGURATIVE"  MAP 124 

FAC-SIMILE  OF  THE  NEW  NETHERLAND  CHARTER 129 

PORTRAIT  OF  JOHN  SMITH  AND  AUTOGRAPH 132 

PORTRAIT  OF  SAMUEL  DE  CHAMPLAIN  AND  AUTOGRAPH     134 

SITE  OF  ROBINSON'S  HOUSE,  LEYDEN 137 

PORTRAIT  OF  JAMES  I.  OF  ENGLAND  AND  AUTOGRAPH 139 

PORTRAIT  OF  PETRUS  PLANCIUS 142 

THE  SHIP  NEW  NETHERLAND 145 

SEAL  OF  NEW  NETHERLAND •.   .   .  147 

THE  ROBINSON  TABLET,  UNVEILED  JULY  24, 1891 149 

THE  PURCHASE  OF  MANHATTAN  ISLAND 152 

FIRST  VIEW  OF  NEW  AMSTERDAM 155 

PORTRAIT  OF  QUEEN  SOPHIA  OF  THE  NETHERLANDS  AND  AUTOGRAPH  .    .  157 

FAC-SIMILE  OF  NOTE  FROM  THE  QUEEN  TO  GENERAL  WILSON    ....  158 

FAC-SIMILE  OF  THE  SCHAGHEN  LETTER  OF  1626  .  160 


XX  HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YOEK 

PAGE. 

PORTRAIT  OF  ADMIRAL  VAN  RENSSELAER  BOWIER  .   .   .   . 162 

AUTOGRAPH  OP  GOVERNOR  WILLIAM  BRADFORD 164 

GOVERNOR  BRADFORD'S  HOUSE 165 

FAC-SIMILE  OF  THE  LETTER  OF  REV.  JONAS  MICHAELIUS 166 

FLAG  OF  THE  WEST  INDIA  COMPANY 169 

THE  FIRST  WAREHOUSE 170 

AUTOGRAPH  OF  KILIAEN  VAN  EENSSELAER 171 

PORTRAIT  OF  GUSTAVUS  ADOLPHUS  AND  AUTOGRAPH     173 

AUTOGRAPH  OF  WALTER  VAN  TWILLER 175 

AUTOGRAPH  OF  CORNELIUS  VAN  TIENHOVEN 175 

PORTRAIT  OF  DAVID  PIETERSEN  DE  VRIES 177 

FAC-SIMILE  OF  TITLE-PAGE  OF  DE  VRIES'S  "  VOYAGES  "     178 

PORTRAIT  OF  CHARLES  I.  AND  AUTOGRAPH 180 

PORTRAIT  OF  Gov.  JOHN  WINTHROP,  OF  MASS.,  AND  AUTOGRAPH  ...  182 

PORTRAIT  OF  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  AND  AUTOGRAPH 187 

AUTOGRAPH  OF  REV.  EVERARDUS  BOGARDUS     189 

A  DUTCH  WINDMILL  IN  NEW  AMSTERDAM 190 

THE  CHURCH  AT  FLATLANDS 192 

AUTOGRAPH  OF  LUBBERTUS  VAN  DINCKLAGEN 193 

AUTOGRAPH  OF  WILLIAM  KIEFT 195 

FAC-SIMILE  OF  DE  LAET'S  ARTICLES  OF  COLONIZATION  AND  TRADE   .    .  198 

THE  EARLIEST  MAP  OF  THE  CITY 201 

AUTOGRAPH  OF  CORNELIUS  MELYN 203 

KIEFT'S  MODE  OF  PUNISHMENT 206 

DUTCH  COURTSHIP,  BY  LESLIE 213 

THE  DAMEN  HOUSE 219 

VIEW  OF  CANAL  IN  BROAD  STREET 220 

AUTOGRAPH  OF  JOHN  UNDERBILL 222 

CITY  TAVERN,  AFTERWARDS  THE  STADT  HUYS 223 

PORTRAIT  OF  AUGUSTINE  HERRMAN  AND  AUTOGRAPH 225 

LONG  PIPES  AND  SHORT  PIPES 229 

THE  GOVERNOR'S  HOUSE  AND  CHURCH 232 

ANNEKE  JANS'S  FARM 234 

AUTOGRAPH  OF  ISAAC  JOGUES 236 

ARMS  OF  DE  VRIES 239 

VIEW  OF  NEW  AMSTERDAM  ABOUT  1650 244 

FAC-SIMILE  OF  REQUEST  FOR  STUYVESANT'S  COMMISSION 247 

THE  PALISADES  ALONG  WALL  STREET 248 

STUYVESANT'S  BOUWERY  HOUSE 251 

VAN  CORLAER  GOING  TO  THE  WARS 253 

STUYVESANT'S  PEAR  TREE 258 

GOVERNOR  STUYVESANT'S  SEAL 263 

STUYVESANT  GOING  TO  ALBANY 267 

AUTOGRAPH  OF  GEORGE  BAXTER 268 

ADRIAEN  VAN  DER  DONCK'S  MAP,  1656 271 

FAC-SIMILE  OF  LETTER  OF  BOARD  OF  NINE  MEN 273 

GOVERNOR  STUYVESANT'S  HOME,  "  THE  WHITEHALL,"  1658 280 

ANIMALS  ON  MANHATTAN,  FROM  VAN  DER  DONCK 286 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTEATIONS  XXi 

PAGE. 

AUTOGRAPH  OF  NICASIUS  DE  SILLE 287 

PORTRAIT  OF  CHARLES  II.,  OF  ENGLAND,  AND  AUTOGRAPH 289 

THE  WATER  GATE,  FOOT  OF  WALL  STREET 294 

THE  SCHOEYINGE  ALONG  THE  EAST  RlVER 297 

FAC-SIMILE  OF  STUYVESANT'S  LETTER,  1660 299 

STUYVESANT  TEARING  THE  LETTER 302 

THE  STUYVESANT  TABLET  (TAIL-PIECE) 304 

THE  "DUKE'S  PLAN"  (OF  NEW-YORK  CITY) 307 

AUTOGRAPH  OF  RICHARD  NICOLLS,  GOVERNOR 307 

AUTOGRAPH  OF  MATTHIAS  NICOLLS,  SECRETARY 308 

AUTOGRAPH  OF  WILLIAM  BEEKMAN 310 

AUTOGRAPHS  OF  GEORGE  CARTWRIGHT  AND  ROBERT  CARR 311 

VICINITY  OF  FORT  CHRISTINA 312 

PORTRAIT  AND  AUTOGRAPH  OF  JOHN  DAVENPORT 313 

PORTRAIT  AND  AUTOGRAPH  OF  SAMUEL  PEPYS 315 

SEAL  OF  NEW  AMSTERDAM 318 

AUTOGRAPHS  OF  MAYOR  WILLETT  AND  SECRETARY  VAN  RUYVEN  .   .   .  319 

AUTOGRAPHS  OF  SIR  GEORGE  CARTERET  AND  LORD  JOHN  BERKELEY  .  320 

THE  CARTERET  ARMS 321 

PORTRAIT  OF  CORNELIUS  DE  WITT 323 

THE  DUTCH  FLEET  AT  CHATHAM 325 

PORTRAIT  AND  AUTOGRAPH  OF  ADMIRAL  DE  RUYTER 328 

AUTOGRAPH  OF  SAMUEL  MAVERICK 329 

PORTRAIT  AND  AUTOGRAPH  OF  Louis  XIV 331 

AUTOGRAPHS  OF  COURCELLE  AND  TRACY 332 

THE  DE  SILLE  HOUSE 333 

AUTOGRAPH  OF  GEORGE  MONCK  AS  DUKE  OF  ALBEMARLE 333 

THE  FLAG  OF  HOLLAND 334 

PORTRAIT  AND  AUTOGRAPH  OF  GEN.  GEORGE  MONCK 334 

PORTRAIT  AND  AUTOGRAPH  OF  ADMIRAL  VAN  TROMP 335 

PORTRAIT  AND  AUTOGRAPH  OF  JOHN  EVELYN 336 

THE  KIP  HOUSE 337 

AUTOGRAPHS  OF  Gov.  FRANCIS  LOVELACE  AND  LORD  CLARENDON  .   .   .  341 

BIRTHPLACE  OF  LOVELACE,  HURLEY,  IN  1832 342 

DUKE  OF  YORK  MEDAL 343 

SEAL  OF  THE  DUKE  OF  YORK 343 

THE  MAYFLOWER 344 

HOUSE  BUILT  IN  1668 345 

PORTRAIT  AND  AUTOGRAPH  OF  JOHN  WINTHROP,  OF  CONNECTICUT    .   .  346 

NEW-YORK  OR  NEW  AMSTERDAM,  1673 347 

THE  PLAGUE  MEDAL 348 

PORTRAIT  AND  AUTOGRAPH  OF  CORNELIUS  STEENWYCK 349 

AUTOGRAPH  OF  NICHOLAS  BAYARD 350 

THE  BAYARD  ARMS 350 

LEISLER'S  HOUSE     351 

AUTOGRAPH  OF  OLOFF  STEVENSEN  VAN  CORTLANDT 352 

STEENWYCK'S  HOUSE 353 

FAC-SIMILE  OF  TITLE-PAGE  OF  DANIEL  DENTON'S  "NEW- YORK"  .   .   .  354 


XX11  HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YOEK 

PAGE. 

PORTRAIT  AND  AUTOGRAPH  OP  QUEEN  ANNE 356 

AUTOGRAPH  OF  Gov.  ANTHONY  COLVE 357 

INSCRIPTIONS  ON  THOMAS  WILLETT'S  GRAVE 358 

PORTRAIT  AND  AUTOGRAPH  OF  ADMIRAL  CORNELIUS  EVERTSEN  ....  359 

THE  STRAND,  NOW  WHITEHALL  STREET 360 

THE  ANDROS  DOUBLE  SEAL 363 

CITY  HALL  AND  GREAT  DOCK,  1679 367 

PORTRAIT  OF  COL.  ABRAHAM  DE  PEYSTER 370 

AUTOGRAPH  OF  JOHANNES  DE  PEYSTER 371 

PORTRAIT  AND  AUTOGRAPH  OF  DR.  GERARDUS  BEECKMAN 373 

OLD  NEW-YORK  HOUSES 377 

ANDROS  PROCLAMATION  IN  FAC-SIMILE 380 

AUTOGRAPH  OF  ARENDT  VAN  CORLAER 385 

PORTRAIT  AND  AUTOGRAPH  OF  ROBERT  LIVINGSTON 386 

A  MASSACHUSETTS  COIN 387 

AUTOGRAPH  OF  PHILIP  CARTERET 388 

SEAL  OF  EAST  JERSEY 389 

PORTRAIT  AND  AUTOGRAPH  OF  SIR  EDMUND  ANDROS 390 

THE  COLLEGE  OF  WILLIAM  AND  MARY 393 

SEAL  OF  STEPHANUS  VAN  CORTLANDT,  1664 394 

ARMS  OF  WILLIAM  PENN 395 

PORTRAIT  AND  AUTOGRAPH  OF  GOVERNOR  DONGAN 399 

THE  DONGAN  ARMS 400 

DONGAN'S  NEW- YORK  HOUSE 403 

PORTRAIT  AND  AUTOGRAPH  OF  WILLIAM  PENN 405 

THE  ALBANY  SEAL      406 

SEAL  OF  DUCHESS  COUNTY 408 

FAC-SIMILE  OF  LETTER  OF  GOVERNOR  DONGAN  TO  WILLIAM  PENN    .    .  409 

GREAT  SEAL,  JAMES  II 411 

SEAL  OF  NEW-YORK,  1686 413 

THE  BEECKMAN  ARMS 415 

PORTRAIT  AND  AUTOGRAPH  OF  CHARLEVOIX 418 

THE  LIVINGSTON  ARMS 421 

AUTOGRAPH  OF  DENONVILLE 423 

PORTRAIT  AND  AUTOGRAPH  OF  PETER  SCHUYLER 426 

THE  SCHUYLER  ARMS 429 

PORTRAIT  AND  AUTOGRAPH  OF  JAMES  II 431 

THE  DONGAN  MAP  (SHOEMAKER'S  LAND) 432 

DONGAN'S  HOUSE  ON  STATEN  ISLAND 435 

A  CROWN  OF  THE  REIGN  OF  JAMES  II 452 

AUTOGRAPH  OF  FRANCIS  NICHOLSON 453 

PORTRAIT  AND  AUTOGRAPH  OF  WILLIAM  III     454 

THE  CITY  HALL  AT  THE  HAGUE 455 

MEDAL  OF  THE  REVOLUTION 456 

PORTRAIT  AND  AUTOGRAPH  OF  QUEEN  MARY  OF  ENGLAND 457 

THE  PHILIPSE  ARMS 458 

THE  PHILIPSE  MANOR-HOUSE 459 

AUTOGRAPH  AND  SEAL  OF  JACOB  LEISLER  462 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTEATIONS 

PAGE. 

VAN  CORTLANDT  ARMS 463 

ANCIENT  HOUSE  AT  SOUTHOLD,  L.  1 465 

FAC-SIMILE  OF  AN  AUTOGRAPH  LETTER  BY  LEISLER 468 

A  WILLIAM  AND  MARY  MEDAL 470 

FAC-SIMILE  OF  THE  HANDWRITING  OF  DOMINE  DELLIUS,  1685 473 

AUTOGRAPH  OF  GOVERNOR  HENRY  SLOUGHTER 477 

THE  GREAT  SEAL  OF  1691 478 

AUTOGRAPH  OF  RICHARD  INGOLDESBY 479 

PORTRAIT  AND  AUTOGRAPH  OF  JEREMIAS  VAN  RENSSELAER 483 

TOMB  OF  LEISLER 484 

AUTOGRAPH  OF  GOVERT  LOOCKERMANS 485 

THE  REMSEN  HOUSE,  FRONT  VIEW 486 

THE  REMSEN  HOUSE,  REAR  VIEW 487 

AUTOGRAPH  OF  BENJAMIN  FLETCHER 489 

"THE  FORT  IN  NEW-YORKE" 491 

THE  VAN  RENSSELAER  ARMS 492 

AUTOGRAPH  OF  WILLIAM  BRADFORD 493 

PORTRAIT  AND  AUTOGRAPH  OF  CHIEF-JUSTICE  JOSEPH  DUDLEY  ....  494 

FAC-SIMILE  OF  A  LETTER  OF  WILLIAM  BRADFORD 496 

STATUE  AND  AUTOGRAPH  OF  FRONTENAC 497 

FAC-SIMILE  OF  TITLE-PAGE  OF  BAYARD'S  JOURNAL 499 

THE  BAYARD  BIBLE 500 

PLAN  OF  NEW-YORK 502 

TRINITY  CHURCH  IN  1737 504 

AUTOGRAPH  OF  THE  REV.  WILLIAM  VESEY 505 

DUTCH  REFORMED  CHURCH  IN  GARDEN  STREET,  1693 507 

FAC-SIMILE  OF  MARRIAGE  REGISTER 508 

FAC-SIMILE  OF  THANKSGIVING  PROCLAMATION .    .    .  510 

SOUTHEAST  CORNER  BROAD  STREET  AND  EXCHANGE  PLACE 513 

FAC-SIMILE  OF  A  CERTIFICATE  OF  BAPTISM 514 

BRADFORD'S  TOMBSTONE .    .  516 

AUTOGRAPH  OF  MAURICE  OF  NASSAU 523 

AUTOGRAPH  OF  JOHAN  VAN  RENSSELAER 526 

PORTRAIT  AND  AUTOGRAPH  OF  OLIVER  CROMWELL 530 

AUTOGRAPH  OF  PHILIP  III.,  OF  SPAIN 532 

A  CROWN  OF  THE  TIME  OF  CHARLES  II 535 

AUTOGRAPH  OF  JOHN  DE  WITT 536 

THE  DONGAN  CHARTER  SEAL 553 

FAC-SIMILE  TITLE-PAGE  OF  "THE  LAWS  AND  ACTS" 557 

FAC-SIMILE  TITLE-PAGE  OF  "CITY  ORDINANCES" 563 

FAC-SIMILE  OF  PAGE  FROM  GUTENBERG  BIBLE 570 

FAC-SIMILE  TITLE-PAGE  OF  "  THE  WHOLE  BOOKE  OF  PSALMES  "...  571 

FAC-SIMILE  TITLE-PAGE  OF  ELIOT'S  INDIAN  BIBLE 572 

FAC-SIMILE  OF  BRADFORD'S  "  DEFENSE  "  IN  HIS  OWN  HANDWRITING  .    .  573 

FAC-SIMILE  TITLE-PAGE  OF  THE  ELIOT  INDIAN  PRIMER 575 

FAC-SIMILE  TITLE-PAGE  OF  FRAME'S  POEM  ON  "  PENNSILVANIA  "    .    .    .  576 

FAC-SIMILE  TITLE-PAGE  OF  "NEW-ENGLAND'S  PERSECUTION" 577 

FAC-SIMILE  TITLE-PAGE  OF  "TRUTH  ADVANCED,"  WITHOUT  DATE  .    .    .  578 


XXIV  HISTOBY    OF    NEW-YOEK 

PAGE. 

THE  SAME  (FROM  PHILADELPHIA  COPY,  WITH  DATE) 579 

FAG-SIMILES  OF  MAULE'S  "  TRUTH  HELD  FORTH  "     ........    580,  581 

FAC-SIMILE  TITLE-PAGE  OF  THE  FIRST  PRAYER-BOOK 582 

FAC-SIMILE  OF  A  CONVEYANCE  OF  PROPERTY  BY  RICHARD  NICOLLS     .   .  583 

PORTRAITS  OF  DR.  LAZARE  BAYARD  AND  MRS.  JUDITH  BAYARD  ....  584 
BRADFORD'S  PROPOSALS  TO  PRINT  A  LARGE  BIBLE: 

FAC-SIMILE  OF  LETTER  OF  BRADFORD'S 586 

FAC-SIMILE  OF  PROPOSALS  IN  MANUSCRIPT 588 

FAC-SIMILE  OF  SAME  IN  TYPE 590 

FAC-SIMILE  OF  FLETCHER'S  PROCLAMATION  IN  DUTCH 593 

FAC-SIMILE  OF  FIRST  PAGE  OF  "  THE  NEW-YORK  GAZETTE  "  .    .   .   .  598 


CHAPTER  I 

EXPLOKATIONS  OF  THE  NOETH  AMERICAN  COAST  PREVIOUS 
TO  THE  VOYAGE  OF  HENRY  HUDSON 

NE  of  the  earliest  Greek  dreams,  prominent  in  the  classie 
literature,  was  that  of  a  beautiful  island  in  the  ocean  at 
the  far  West.  Perhaps,  nevertheless,  we  have  been  ac- 
customed to  think  of  the  conception  too  much  as  a 
dream,  a  piece  of  pure  imagination ;  for  it  is  absolutely  certain,  as 
Pliny  and  Strabo  prove,  that  bold  Phenician  navigators  passed  far 
beyond  the  Pillars  of  Hercules  into  the  vast  Atlantic,  discovering  and 
naming  the  Canary  Islands,  pushing  their  observations  far  and  wide. 
Possibly,  like  Columbus,  as  on  his  first  voyage,  they  sailed  over  tran- 
quil seas,  smooth  as  the  rivers  in  Spain,  and  through  ambient  air,  soft 
as  the  air  of  Andalusia  in  spring,  until  they  reached  the  Edenic 
Cuba,  and  thus  furnished  the  foundation  of  that  Greek  conception  of 
an  exquisitely  fair  isle,  the  home  of  the  immortals,  an  Elysium  on 
whose  happy,  fragrant  shores  the  shrilly-breathing  Zephyrus  was 
ever  piping  for  the  refreshment  of  weary  souls. 

In  the  fifteenth  century  the  islands  in  the  west  formed  the  object 
of  many  a  voyage,  but  even  in  1306  Marino  Sanuto  laid  down  the 
Canaries  anew,  while  Bethencourt  found  them  in  1402.  The  Azores 
and  the  Madeira  Islands  appear  in  the  chart  of  Pizigani  in  1367,  and 
the  sailors  of  Prince  Henry  the  Navigator  went  to  the  Azores,  the 
Isles  of  the  Hawks,  in  1431,  as  preparatory  to  those  voyages  which, 
beginning  with  the  rediscovery  of  the  Cape  Verde  Islands  in  1460, 
were  destined  to  prepare  the  way  for  the  circumnavigation  of  Africa, 
and  thus  open  the  way  to  the  Indies  by  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope. 
Long  before  this,  however,  the  Spaniards  were  credited  with  the 
establishment  of  colonies  in  the  western  ocean,  and  on  the  globe  of 
Martin  Behaim,  1482,  may  be  seen  the  legend  crediting  Spanish  bish- 
ops with  the  founding  of  seven  cities  in  a  distant  island  in  the  year 
734.  In  1498  De  Ayala,  the  Spanish  ambassador  in  England,  reported 
to  his  sovereign  that  the  city  of  Bristol  had  for  seven  years  sent  out 
VOL.  I.— 1.  i 


HISTORY     OF    NEW-YOEK 


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a 


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DaodDecnUeoo0b5i^pc^(atierraraber(iauiai  rev 


qual  feboliu'erp  yoenteoia  bataoe 
ota&jnDi00qyatema  tomato 


FAC-SIMILE    OF    THE    FIRST    PAGE    OF    COLUMBUS'S    LETTER    TO    LUIS    DE    SANT    ANGEL.1 


l  In  March,  1891,  at  the  sale  of  a  private  library  in 
this  city,  a  copy  in  Spanish  of  the  letter  written  by 
Columbus,  announcing  to  Ferdinand  and  Isabella 
his  discovery  of  "  that  famous  land,"  was  sold  for 
$4300.  As  the  small  quarto  consists  of  but  four 
leaves  of  eight  pages,  containing  only  about  2500 
words,  it  is,  in  proportion  to  its  size,  the  most  ex- 
pensive book  in  the  world.  The  sum  mentioned  is 
about  the  price  of  a  perfect  copy  of  the  folio 
Shakespeare  of  1623,  and  the  value  per  volume  of 
the  equally  large  Mazarin  or  Gutenburg  Bible, 
of  which  there  are  two  copies  in  the  United  States. 
Some  rare  books  are  said  to  be  worth  their  weight 


in  gold,  but  this  brochure  is  worth  more  than  its 
weight  in  diamonds !  Several  editions  of  the 
Columbus  letter  in  Latin  may  be  seen  in  the  Astor 
and  Lenox  libraries,  but  there  are  only  three  copies 
in  the  original  Spanish  known  to  have  survived 
the  four  centuries,  lacking  two  years,  which  have 
elapsed  since  the  brochure  was  printed  at  Barce- 
lona and  elsewhere  early  in  1493.  The  above  page 
is  from  the  New- York  copy ;  another  larger  octavo 
edition  is  in  the  possession  of  a  London  dealer  in 
Americana,  while  the  third  copy 'is  among  the 
treasures  of  the  Ambrosian  library  of  Milan,  Italy. 
(See  p.  32,  for  translation.)  EDITOR. 


EXPLORATIONS    OF    THE    NOETH    AMERICAN    COAST 


ships  in  search  of  the  island  of  Brazil  and  the  Seven  Cities,  which 
were  commonly  laid  down  in  maps,  together  with  the  great  island  of 
"  Antillia,"  by  many  supposed  to  refer 
to  the  American  Continent. 

In  the  time  of  Columbus  enterprise 
was  generally  active,  and  men  every- 
where were  eager  to  realize  the  predic- 
tion of  Seneca,  who  declared  that  the 
Ultima  Thule,  the  extreme  bounds  of 
the  earth,  would  in  due  time  be  reached. 
But  Columbus  would  win  something 
more  than  beautiful  islands.  He  aimed 
at  a  continent,  and  would  reach  the 
eastern  border  of  Asia  by  sailing  west, 
in  accordance  with  the  early  philoso- 
phers, who  had  accepted  the  spherical 
form  of  the  earth,  not  dreaming  that, 
instead  of  a  few  islands,  scattered  like 
gems  in  the  ocean,  a  mighty  continent 
barred  the  way.  Dominated  by  the  an- 
tique notions  of  the  classic  writers,  Co- 
lumbus, after  encountering  and  overcoming  every  discouragement, 
finally  sailed  towards  the  golden  West,  finding  the  voyage  a  pleasant 
excursion,  interrupted  only  by  the  occasional  fears  of  the  sailors,  lest 
the  light  breeze  might  prevent  their  return  to  Spain,  by  blowing  all  the 
time  one  way.  At  a  given  point  of  the  voyage  Columbus  met  with  an 
experience,  and  made  a  decision,  -that  perhaps  determined  the  destiny 
of  North  America.  October  7, 1492,  Martin  Pin  son  saw  flocks  of  parrots 
flying  southwest,  and  argued  that  the  birds  were  returning  to  land, 
which  must  lie  in  that  direction.  He  accordingly  advised  the  Admiral 
to  change  the  course  of  the  ship.  Columbus  realized  the  force  of  the 
argument  and  knew  the  significance  of  the  flights  of  birds,  the  hawk 
having  piloted  the  Portuguese  to  the  Azores.  He  was  now  sailing 
straight  for  the  coast  of  North  Carolina,  and  must  inevitably  have 
discovered  our  continent,  but  the  parrots  were  accepted  as  guides, 
the  course  was  changed  to  the  southwest,  and  in  due  time  the  Island 
of  San  Salvador  rose  before  their  expectant  eyes.  All  his  efforts, 
therefore,  after  this  memorable  voyage,  were  devoted  to  the  West 
Indies,  and  in  the  fond  belief  that  he  had  reached  fair  Cathay.  Con- 
sequently John  Cabot  was  left  to  discover  North  America  at  least  one 
year  before  Columbus  sighted  the  southern  portion  of  the  western 
continent.  Even  then  Columbus  held  that  South  America  was  a  part 
of  India,  and  he  finally  died  in  ignorance  of  the  fact  that  he  had 
reached  a  new  world. 


HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 


His  error  proved  a  most  fortunate  one  for  the  English-speaking 
people ;  since,  if  he  had  continued  on  the  western  course,  the  Carolinas 
would  have  risen  to  view,  and  the  splendors  and  riches  of  the  Antilles 
might  have  remained  unknown  long  enough  for  Spanish  enterprise  to 
establish  itself  upon  the  Atlantic  coast.  This  done,  the  magnificent 
Hudson  would  have  become  the  objective  point  of  Spanish  enterprise, 

and  a  Spanish  fortress  and  castle 
would  to-day  look  down  from  the 
Weehawken  Heights,  the  island  of 
New- York  yielding  itself  up  as  the 
site  of  a  Spanish  city. 

The  mistake  of  Columbus,  how- 
ever, was  supplemented  by  what, 
perhaps,  may  properly  be  called  a 
series  of  blunders,  all  of  them  more 
or  less  fortunate,  or  at  least  in  the 
interest  of  a  type  of  civilization 
very  unlike  that  of  Spain,  especi- 
ally as  expanded  and  interpreted 
in  Central  and  South  America.  It 
is,  therefore,  to  the  series  of  nauti- 
cal adventures  following  the  age  of 
Columbus,  and  extending  down  to 
the  voyage  of  Henry  Hudson,  the 
Englishman,  in  1609,  that  this 
chapter  is  mainly  devoted,  show- 
ing how  this  entire  region  was 
preserved  from  permanent  occupation  by  Europeans,  until  it  was 
colonized  by  the  Walloons  under  the  Dutch,  who  providentially 
prepared  the  way  for  the  English. 

First,  however,  it  may  be  interesting  to  glance  at  voyages  made 
during  the  Middle  Ages,  considering  whether  they  had  any  possible 
connection  with  the  region  now  occupied  by  the  city  of  New- York. 

That  Northmen  visited  the  shores  of  North  America  no  reasonable 
inquirer  any  longer  doubts.  Even  Mr.  George  Bancroft,  who  for 
about  half  a  century  cast  grave  reflections  upon  the  voyages  of  the 
Northmen,  and  inspired  disbelief  in  many  quarters,  finally  abandoned 
all  allusion  to  the  subject,  and  subsequently  explained  that  in  throw- 
ing discredit  upon  the  Icelandic  narratives  he  had  fallen  into  error.1 
The  probability  now  seems  to  be  that  the  Irish  had  become 
acquainted  with  a  great  land  at  the  west,  and  gave  it  the  name  of 
"  Greenland,"  which  name  was  simply  applied  by  Eric  the  Red  to  a 
separate  region,  when  he  went  to  the  country  now  known  as  Green- 

1  Letter  addressed  to  the  writer  in  1890. 


EXPLOBATIONS    OF    THE    NORTH    AMERICAN    COAST  5 

land  in  the  year  985.  The  next  year  Biarne  Heriulfsson,  following 
Eric,  was  blown  upon  the  north  Atlantic  coast,  and  in  the  year  1000-1 
Leif,  son  of  Eric,  went  in  quest  of  the  land  seen  by  Biarne,  reaching 
what  is  generally  recognized  as  New  England.  Others  followed  in 
1002  and  1005,  while  from  1006  to  1009  Thorfinn  Karlsefne  visited  the 
same  region,  then  known  as  "  Vinland  the  Good,"  and  made  a  serious 
but  abortive  effort  to  found  a  colony.  Freydis,  daughter  of  Eric  the 
Eed,  visited  New  England  in  1010  to  1012.  Vague  accounts  in  the 
Icelandic  chronicles  tell  of  a  visit  of  one  Are  Marson  to  a  region 
called  White  Man's  Land  (Hvitrammanaland)  in  983,  antedating  Eric's 
appearance  in  Greenland.  We  also  hear  of  Biorn  Asbrandson  in  999, 
and  of  the  voyage  of  Gudlaugson  in  1027.  Certain  geographical  frag- 
ments refer  to  Bishop  Eric,  of  Greenland,  as  searching  for  Wineland  in 
1121,  while  in  1357  a  small  Icelandic  ship  visited  "Markland,"  the 
present  Nova  Scotia.1  The  voyages  of  Asbrandson  and  of  Gudlaug- 
son are  generally  viewed  as  standing  connected  with  a  region  extend- 
ing from  New  England  to  Florida,  known  as  White  Man's  Land,  or 
Ireland  the  Great.  In  these  accounts  there  is  found  no  definite 
allusion  to  the  region  of  the  Hudson,  though  Karlsefne's  explora- 
tions may  have  extended  some  distance  southwesterly  from  Rhode 
Island ;  while  later  adventurers,  who  came  southward  and  followed 
the  course  of  Are  Marson,  who  was  discovered  in  the  country  by 
Asbrandson,  must  have  sailed  along  our  shores.  Still  no  record  of 
such  a  visit  now  remains,  which  is  not  at  all  singular,  since  many  a 
voyager  went  by,  both  before  and  afterwards,  with  the  same  failure 
to  signalize  the  event  for  the  information  of  posterity.  "They  had  no 
poet  and  they  died." 

Turning  to  the  voyages  of  the  Welsh,  who,  some  think,  reached 
the  western  continent  about  the  year  1170,  led  by  Madoc,  Prince  of 
Wales,  there  is  the  same  failure  to  connect  them  with  this  region. 
Catlin,  who  visited  the  White  or  Mandan  Indians,  supposes  that  the 
Welsh  sailed  down  the  coast  to  the  Bay  of  Mexico  and  ascended 
the  Mississippi ;  although  there  is  just  as  much  reason  to  hold,  if  the 
Mandans  were  their  descendants,  that  they  entered  the  continent  and 
found  their  way  westward  from  the  region  of  Massachusetts  or  New- 
York.  The  latter,  however,  might  be  favored,  for  the  reason  that  our 
noble  river  forms  to-day  the  most  popular  and  certainly  the  most 
splendid  gateway  to  the  far  West. 

The  voyages  of  the  Zeno  brothers,  who  are  believed  by  most  com- 
petent critics  to  have  reached  America  about  the  close  of  the  fourteenth 

i  The  great  authority  on  the  Sagas  relating  to  essential  in  this  connection  may  be  found  in  the 
the  discovery  of  America  by  the  Northmen  is  writer's  "  Pre-Columbian  Discovery  of  America 
Rafn's  work,  entitled  "  Antiquitates  Americanse,"  by  the  Northmen."  Also  in  such  works  as  "  Find- 
giving  the  Icelandic  text  with  translations    in  ing  of  Vinland  the  Good,"  by  Beeves. 
Latin  and  Danish.     Everything,  however,  that  is 


HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 


SEBASTIAN    CABOT. 


century,  and  who  left  a  chart,  first  published  in  1558,  show  a  country 
called  "  Drogeo,"  a  vast  region  which  stretched  far  to  the  south,  whose 
inhabitants  were  clothed  in  skins,  and  subsisted  by  hunting,  being 

armed  with  bows  and  arrows, 
and  living  in  a  state  of  war.1 
The  description  would  apply 
to  our  part  of  the  coast.  At 
this  period  the  Red  Indians 
had  come  from  the  west, 
and  dispersed  the  original 
inhabitants,  known  to  the 
Northmen  as  Skraellings. 
The  red  man  on  this  coast 
was  an  invader  and  conquer- 
or, not  the  original  proprietor 
of  the  land.  In  a  very  brief 
time,  however,  he  forgot  his 
own  traditions  and  indulged 
in  the  belief  that  he  was  the 
first  holder  of  this  region, 
which  was  deeded  to  him  by  the  Great  Father  in  fee  simple;  and  it 
was  in  this  belief  that,  in  turn,  the  simple  savage  conveyed  vast 
tracts  of  territory  to  the  white  man,  in  consideration  of  trinkets  and 
fire-water. 

So  far  as  can  be  discovered,  the  Skraelling  was  the  first  proprietor, 
and  by  the  Skraelling  is  meant  what  is  called  the  "  Glacial  Man,"  who 
appeared  on  this  coast  when  the  great  ice-sheet  that  once  covered  the 
highlands  of  America  was  melting  and  sliding  into  the  sea.  Geologi- 
cally the  island  of  New- York  is  one  of  the  souvenirs  or  wrecks  of  that 
ice-period  which  shaped  the  character  of  the  entire  coast ;  being,  for 
a  large  part,  simply  a  mass  of  ice-ground  rock  covered  with  the 
gravelly  deposits  of  the  glaciers.  At  the  time  when  nature  was  en- 
gaged in  putting  the  finishing  touches  to  this  rude,  Titanic,  and 
wonderful  work,  the  glacial  man  appeared.  Then  this  ancient  island, 
afterwards  known  as  Manhattan,  received  its  first  inhabitant.  Whence 
did  this  mysterious  man  come  ?  No  one  can  say,  though  it  seems  to 
be  satisfactorily  established  that,  at  the  period  referred  to,  there  were 
two  peoples  of  similar  character  and  habits  living  on  opposite  sides 
of  the  Atlantic,  dwelling  on  the  estuaries,  rivers,  and  fiords,  and 
obtaining  the  means  of  subsistence  amid  similar  dangers  and  priva- 
tions. The  evidences  of  the  so-called  glacial  man  are  found  at  the 
present  time  in  the  gravels  of  the  Trenton  River,  of  New  Jersey,  con- 
sisting of  stone  implements  that  seem  to  have  been  lost  while 

i  See  Major's  "  Voyages  of  the  Zeno  Brothers,"  also  Kohl's  "Maine,"  pp.  92,  106. 


EXPLORATIONS    OF    THE    NORTH    AMERICAN    COAST  7 

engaged  in  hunting  and  fishing.  With  the  disappearance  of  the  ice 
and  the  moderation  of  the  climate,  these  men  of  the  ice-period  spread 
along  the  Atlantic  coast  from  Labrador  to  Florida,  their  descendants 
being  the  modern  Eskimo  and  Greenlander,  whose  ancestors  were 
driven  northward  by  the  red  man  when  he  conquered  the  country. 
The  immediate  region  of  the  Hudson  has  thus  far  afforded  none  of  the 
stone  implements  that  abound  at  Trenton,  yet  it  may  be  regarded  as 
beyond  question  that  the  first  inhabitant  of  New- York  was  a  glacial 
man,  ruder  than  the  rudest  red  savage,  and  in  appearance  resembling 
the  present  Eskimo.  In  the  time  of 
Zeno,  the  glacial  man  had  been  suc- 
ceeded by  the  red  man,  who  showed 
a  superior  condition  under  the  in- 
fluence of  the  improved  climate,  and 
"  Drogeo  "  was  the  name  of  the  region, 
which  included  the  territory  of  New- 
York.3 

We  must  turn,  however,  to  note 
what,  in  this  immediate  connection, 
may  be  styled  the  course  of  maritime 
enterprise,  the  first  voyage  of  interest 
in  connection  with  our  subject  being 
the  voyage  said  to  have  been  made  by 

Sebastian  Cabot  along  the  coast  from  ~\OA'UA^  V       *V 

Newfoundland   in   1515.      Upon   this  /™ 

initial  voyage  many  Englishmen  based 
their  claim,  but  in  the  present  state  of  knowledge  the  expedition  itself 
is  considered  debatable  by  some.  That  John  and  Sebastian  Cabot 
saw  the  continent  in  1498,  or  one  year  before  Columbus  saw  South 
America,  can  hardly  be  doubted ;  but  convincing  testimony  is  required 
respecting  the  alleged  voyage  down  this  part  of  the  coast  in  1515.  If 
we  accept  the  voyage  as  a  fact,  this  expedition,  whose  objective  point 
was  Newfoundland,  may  be  regarded  as  the  first  known  English 
expedition  to  these  shores.2 

Before  this  time,  however,  the  Portuguese  were  very  active,  and  had 
run  the  coast  from  Florida  to  Cape  Breton,  evidence  of  which  they 
left  in  the  "  Cantino  "  Map,  and  in  the  Ptolemy  of  1513.  This  was  in 
continuation  of  the  enterprise  of  the  Costas,  or  "  Cortereals,"  who  made 

l  The  first  inhabitant  evidently  used  the  oldest  who  in  our  own  times  have  taken  temporary  pos- 

historical  language,  since  Max  Miiller,  in  a  letter  session  of  the  same  rocks  in  upper  New- York  and 

to  the  writer,   allows  that  the  language  of  the  dwell  in  cabins  of  a  primitive  character.     See 

present  Eskimo  is  a  very  primitive  language,  that  Pre-Columbian  Discovery,  p.  110  ;  and  "  Popular 

has  lasted  over  in  its  integrity.     If  this  is  so,  the  Science  Review,"  18 :  31. 

Indo-European  dialects  may  be  modern  compared  2  See  the  discussion  in  Kohl's  "  Maine,"  pp.  206 

with  the  language  spoken  at  the  end  of  the  ice-  and  502.    Also  the  most  careful  monograph  of 

period  on  this  coast,  by  men  who  perched  their  Dr.  Charles  Deane  on  "  John  and  Sebastian  Ca- 

huts  on  the  rocks,  after  the  fashion  of  the  class  hot.    A  Study,"  Cambridge,  1886. 


8  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

voyages  to  the  north  in  1500-1-2.  The  expedition  made  along  our 
coast  at  this  period  left  no  memorials  now  known,  save  the  maps  to 
which  allusion  has  been  made.  As  early  as  1520  the  Spaniards  began 
to  navigate  to  the  north  from  the  West  Indies,  and  in  that  year  Ayllon 
reached  the  coast  of  Carolina,  on  an  expedition  to  capture  slaves, 
though  Martyr  speaks  of  the  country  he  visited  as  "  near  the  Bacca- 
loos,"  a  term  applied  at  that  time  to  the  region  far  south  of  New- 
foundland. Nevertheless,  in  the  year  1524,  we  reach  a  voyage  of 
deep  interest,  for  in  this  year  the  Bay  of  New- York  comes  distinctly 
into  view,  Europeans  being  known  for  the  first  time  to  pass  the  Nar- 
rows. Reference  is  here  made  to  the  voyage  of  the  celebrated  Italian, 
Giovanni  da  Verrazano,  in  the  service  of  Francis  I.  of  France. 

This  celebrated  navigator  is  supposed  to  have  been  the  son  of  Piero 
Andrea  di  Bernardo  de  Verrazano  and  Fiametta  Capella.  He  was 
born  at  Val  di  Greve,  a  little  village  near  Florence,  in  the  year  1485. 
At  one  time  a  portrait  of  Yerrazano  adorned  the  walls  of  a  gallery  in 
Florence.  This  portrait1  was  engraved  for  the  well-known  work  enti- 
tled, "Uomini  Illustri  Toscani."  A  medal  was  also  struck  in  his 
honor,  but  no  copy  of  it  can  now  be  found.  The  family  nevertheless 
appears  to  have  maintained  a  definite  place  in  local  history,  the  last 
known  Florentine  representative  being  the  Cavaliere  Andrea  da 
Yerrazano,  who  died  in  1819. 

Yerrazano,  the  great  explorer  of  the  American  coast,  seems  to  have 
had  a  large  experience  as  a  sailor  upon  the  Mediterranean,  eventually 
entering  the  service  of  Francis  I.  of  France,  as  a  privateer  or  corsair, 
in  which  calling  Columbus  and  many  of  the  old  navigators  shone 
conspicuously,  the  profession  at  that  time  being  quite  creditable, 
even  though  dangerous.  In  1523  Yerrazano  was  engaged  in  captur- 
ing Spanish  ships  that  brought  the  treasures  of  Montezuma  from 
Mexico.  In  the  following  year  he  made  his  voyage  to  America,  and 
one  statement  makes  it  appear  that,  subsequently,  he  was  captured 
by  the  Spaniards  and  executed.  Ramusio  tells  us  that  on  a  second 
voyage  he  was  made  a  prisoner  by  the  savages,  and  was  roasted  and 
eaten  in  the  sight  of  his  comrades.  The  light  which  we  have  at 
the  present  time  does  not  suffice  for  the  settlement  of  the  question 
relating  to  the  manner  of  his  death,  but  we  have  overwhelming  evi- 
dence of  the  reality  of  his  voyage  in  1524,  which  is  vouched  for  by 
invaluable  maps  and  relations  contained  in  a  lengthy  Letter  addressed 
to  his  employer,  Francis  I. 

This  Letter  is  of  unique  interest,  especially  for  the  reason  that  it 
contains  the  first  known  post-Columbian  description  of  the  North 
Atlantic  coast,  and  the  first  pen-picture  of  the  Bay  and  Harbor  of 
New -York.  In  connection  with  our  local  annals  Giovanni  da  Verra- 

l  The  vignette  on  another  page  is  a  faithful  representation  of  the  Florentine  portrait. 


EXPLORATIONS    OF    THE    NORTH    AMERICAN    COAST 


9 


zano  must  hold  a  high  place.  As  might  be  supposed,  the  narrative  of 
Verrazano  has  exerted  a  commanding  influence  upon  historical  litera- 
ture. For  more  than  three  centuries  it  has  furnished  quotations. 
This  fact  has  not  prevented  one  or  two  occasional  writers  from  ques- 
tioning the  authenticity  of  the  Letter  of  Verrazano,  though  the 
discussion  which  followed  simply  resulted  in  the  production  of 
additional  proof,  especially  that  found  in  two  maps  previously 
unknown,  establishing  the  au- 
thenticity of  both  voyage  and 
Letter,  and  taking  the  subject 
from  the  field  of  controversy. 

The  voyage  of  Verrazano  was 
projected  in  1523.  On  April  25th 
of  that  year,  Silveira,  the  Por- 
tuguese ambassador  at  the  Court 
of  Francis  I.,  wrote  to  his  mas- 
ter :  "  By  what  I  hear,  Maestro 
Joas  Verrazano,  who  is  going  on 
the  discovery  of  Cathay,  has  not 
left  up  to  date  for  want  of  oppor- 
tunity, andbecause  of  differences, 
I  understand,  between  himself 
and  his  men.  ...  I  shall  con- 
tinue to  doubt  unless  he  takes 
his  departure."  It  appears  that 
he  first  went  to  sea  with  four  ships,  but  met  a  severe  gale  and 
was  obliged  to  return  to  port,  apparently  with  the  loss  of  two 
ships.  After  making  repairs,  he  sailed  for  the  Spanish  coast 
alone  in  the  Dolphin,  the  captain  of  the  remaining  ship  leaving 
Verrazano,  and  giving  color  to  the  story  of  Silveira,  that  he 
had  quarreled  with  his  men.  In  the  Carli  correspondence,  there  is 
a  reference  to  one  Brunelleschi,  "  who  went  with  him  and  unfor- 
tunately turned  back." 

On  January  17,  1524  (old  style),  Verrazano  finally  sailed  from  a 
barren  rocky  island,  southeast  of  Madeira,  though  Carli  erroneously 
says  that  he  departed  from  the  Canaries.  The  discrepancy  is  useful, 
in  that  it  proves  an  absence  of  collusion  between  writers  in  framing  a 
fictitious  voyage.  Steering  westward  until  February  14th,  he  met  a 
severe  hurricane,  and  then  veered  more  to  the  north,  holding  the 
middle  course,  as  he  feared  to  sail  southward,  by  the  accustomed 
route  to  the  West  Indies,  lest  he  should  fall  into  the  hands  of  the 

lAmericusVespucius,  the  illustrious  Italian  nav-  he  took  precedence  both  of  Columbus  and  the  Ca- 

igator  of  the  fifteenth  century,  was  born  at  Flor-  bots  in  the  discovery  of  the  mainland  of  the  New 

ence,  March  9,  1451,  and  died  in  Seville,  Spain,  World  has  long  been,  and  still  remains,  a  matter  of 

February  22, 1512.    The  controversy  as  to  whether  dispute.  EDITOR. 


10  HISTORY    OF    NEW- YORK 

Spaniards/  who,  with  the  Portuguese,  claimed  the  entire  New  World, 
in  accordance  with  the  decree  of  Pope  Alexander.  Hence  the  navi- 
gator, to  avoid  the  Spanish  cruisers,  held  his  course  westward  in  sun- 
shine and  storm,  until  the  shores  of  the  American  continent  appeared 
above  the  waves.  March  7th  he  saw  land  which  "  never  before  had 
been  seen  by  any  one  either  in  ancient  or  modern  times,"  a  statement 
that  he  was  led  into  by  the  desire  to  claim  something  for  France.  He 
knew  that  his  statement  could  not  be  exactly  true,  because,  like  all 
the  navigators  of  his  day,  he  was  familiar  with  the  Ptolemy  of  1513, 
containing  a  rude  map  of  the  coast  from  Florida  to  55°  N.  Evidently 
he  did  not  attach  any  value  to  the  explorations  of  the  Portuguese  as 
represented  by  the  maps,  and  hence,  after  sighting  land  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  34°  N.,  he  sailed  southward  fifty  leagues  to  make  sure  of 
connecting  with  the  actual  exploration  of  the  Portuguese,  and  then 
began  coasting  northward  in  search  of  a  route  through  the  land  to 
Cathay.  Columbus  died  in  1508,  believing  that  he  had  reached 
Cathay,  but  in  the  day  of  Verrazano  it  was  understood  by  many  that 
the  land  found  formed  a  new  continent,  though  this  was  not  every- 
where accepted  until  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century. 

Navigating  northward,  Verrazano  reached  the  neighborhood  of  the 
present  site  of  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  describing  the  country 
substantially  as  it  appears  to-day,  bordered  with  low  sand-hills,  the 
sea  making  inlets,  while  beyond  were  beautiful  fields,  broad  plains, 
and  vast  forests.  On  landing  they  found  the  natives  timid,  but  by 
friendly  signs  the  savages  became  assured,  and  freely  approached  the 
French  followers  of  Verrazano,  wondering  at  their  dress  and  com- 
plexion, just  as,  in  1584,  Barlow,  in  the  same  locality,  said  that  the 
natives  wondered  "  at  the  whiteness  of  our  skins." 2  The  descriptions 
of  Verrazano  were  so  faithful  that  Barlow,  though  without  credit, 
employed  his  language,  especially  when  he  says,  speaking  of  the 
forests  before  reaching  the  land,  "We  smelt  so  sweet  and  strong  a 
smell  as  if  we  had  been  in  the  midst  of  some  delicate  garden."3  As 
Verrazano  held  northward,  his  descriptions  continued  to  exhibit 
the  same  fidelity,  being  used  by  Barlow  and  confirmed  by  Father 
White.4  They  are  also  confirmed  by  Dermer,  who  ran  the  coast  in 
1619,  finding  the  shores  low,  without  stones,  sandy,  and,  for  the  most 

l  The  usual  course  was  to  sail  southward  and  along  northward  close  in  to  New- York.    The  fact 

reach  Florida  coasting  north,  or  to  sail  to  New-  that  Verrazano  sailed  the  direct  course  at  that 

foundland  and  coast  southward.     It  required  es-  time  proves  the  authenticity  of  his  voyage,  as  a 

pecial  boldness  to  take  the  direct  course,  and,  in  forger  would  not  have  invented  the  story. 
1562,  when  Ribault  followed  this  course,  he  was         2  Buckingham  Smith,  who  wrote  strictures  on 

proud  of  the  achievement.    In  1602,  Gosnold's  Verrazano  in  his  "Inquiry"  (10),  admits  that  the 

voyage  was  considered  memorable,  because  he  country  could  have  been  so  accurately  described 

took  the  direct  route  by  the  Azores.     Drake,  in  only  "  from  actual  information." 
one  of  his  return  yoyages,  sailed  up  this  coast,          3  Hakluyt's  "Voyages,"  3:  246. 
and  as  late  as  1614  Dutch  vessels  going  home  to         *  See  "Verrazano  the  Explorer,"  pp.  17  and  29. 

Holland  from  the  West  Indies  crept  carefully  Also  Father  White,  in  "Force's  Tracts,"  Vol.  4. 


EXPLORATIONS    OF    THE    NOETH    AMERICAN    COAST 


11 


part,  harbor-less.  When  near  Chesapeake  Bay,  Verrazano  found  that 
the  people  made  their  canoes  of  logs,  as  described  by  Barlow  and 
Father  White.1  The  grape-vines  were  also  seen  trailing  from  the 
trees,  as  indicated  by  these  writers ;  and,  speaking  of  the  fruit,  Verra- 
zano says  that  it  was  "very  sweet 
and  pleasant."  This  language,  being 
used  early  in  the  season,  led  to  the 
rather  thoughtless  objection  that  Ver- 
razano never  made  the  voyage.  The 
simple  explanation  is  that  the  natives 
were  accustomed  to  preserving  fruits 
by  drying  them;  and  hence  Hudson, 
m  1609,  found  dried  "  currants,"  which 
were  sweet  and  good,  meaning  by  the 
word  "currant"  what  all  meant  at 
that  period,  namely,  a  dried  grape.2 
The  letter  of  Verrazano  contains  ex- 
aggerations, like  all  similar  produc- 
tions. Cortez  made  Montezuma  drink 
wine  from  cellars  in  a  country  where 
both  wine  and  cellars  were  unknown. 
Cartier  caused  figs  to  grow  in  Canada,  and  Eric  the  Red  called  the 
ice-clad  hills  of  the  land  west  of  Iceland,  "Greenland."  Verrazano, 
however,  falls  into  none  of  these  flat  contradictions,  and  often  the 
objection  to  the  authenticity  of  the  voyage  has  grown  out  of  the 
ignorance  of  the  critic  of  very  common  things. 

Leaving  Delaware  Bay,  Verrazano  coasted  northward,  sailing  by 
day  and  coming  to  anchor  at  night,  finally  reaching  the  Bay  of  New- 
York,  which  forms  the  culmination  of  the  interest  of  the  voyage,  so 
far  as  our  present  purpose  is  concerned.  After  proceeding  a  distance 
roughly  estimated,  on  the  decimal  system,  at  a  hundred  leagues,  he 
says:  "We  found  a  very  pleasant  situation  among  some  little  steep  hills, 
through  which  a  very  large  river  (grandissimariviera),  deep  at  its  mouth, 
forced  its  way  to  the  sea,"  and  he  adds :  "  From  the  sea  to  the  estuary  of 
the  river  any  ship  might  pass,  with  the  help  of  the  tide,  which  rises 
eight  feet."  This  is  about  the  average  rise  at  the  present  time,  and 
the  fact  is  one  that  could  have  been  learned  only  from  actual  observa- 
tion. It  points  to  the  "  bar  "  as  then  existing,  and  gives  the  narrative 
every  appearance  of  reality.  Many  things  observed  were  noted  in 
what  Verrazano  calls  a  "  little  book,"  and  evidently  it  was  from  data 
contained  in  this  book  that  his  brother  compiled  the  map  which 

1  "  Maryland  Historical  Collections  "  (1874),  p.  35.  What,  in  the  amusing  ignorance  of  the  objector, 

2  Currants  were  originally  "  corinths,"  or  small,  was  supposed  to  confirm  doubt  really  vindicates 
dried  grapes  brought  from  Corinth.     Afterwards  the  truth  of  the  narrative.     See  "Verrazano  the 
the  lesser  dried  fruit  came  to  have  the  same  name.  Explorer,"  pp.  31  and  42. 


12  HISTOBY    OF    NEW- YORK 

illustrates  the  voyage.  Verrazano,  however,  was  cautious,  as  he 
possessed  only  one  ship,  and  he  says :  "  As  we  were  riding  at  anchor- 
in  a  good  berth '  we  would  not  venture  up  in  our  ship  without  a 
knowledge  of  the  mouth ;  therefore,"  he  says,  "  we  took  the  boat  and, 
entering  the  river,  we  found  the  country  on  its  banks  well-peopled, 
the  inhabitants  not  differing  much  from  the  others,  being  dressed  out 
with  feathers  of  birds  of  various  colors."  The  natives,  by  their  action, 
showed  that  their  faith  in  human  nature  had  not  been  spoiled  by  men 
leading  expeditions  like  those  of  Ayllon,  in  1521,  to  the  Carolinas  for 
slaves.  They  were  still  a  simple  and  unaffected  people,  not  spoiled 
by  European  contact,  as  in  the  time  of  Hudson,  and  accordingly,  unlike 
the  sly  people  met  where  Ayllon's  kidnappers  had  done  their  work, 
"they  came  towards  us  with  evident  admiration,  and  showing  us 
where  we  could  most  securely  land  with  our  boat."  Continuing,  the 
narrative  says :  "  We  passed  up  this  river  about  half  a  league,  when 
we  found  it  formed  a  most  beautiful  lake,  three  leagues  in  circuit, 
upon  which  were  rowing  thirty  or  more  of  their  small  boats  from  one 
shore  to  the  other,  filled  with  multitudes  who  came  to  see  us."  This 
"beautiful  lake"  (bellissimo  lago)  was,  so  far  as  one  is  able  to  judge, 
the  Bay  of  New- York. 

Verrazano  passed  the  bar  and  anchored  at  the  entrance  of  the  Nar- 
rows, the  position  being  defined  as  between  "  little  steep  hills  "  (infra 
piccoli  colli  eminenti),  which  exactly  describes  the  heights  of  Staten 
Island,  and  the  shore  of  Long  Island  as  far  up  as  Yellow  Hook,  the 
present  Bay  Ridge.  Then  far  and  wide  the  spacious  harbor  was  sur- 
rounded by  well-wooded  shores,  upon  which  Verrazano  and  his 
followers,  evidently  the  first  of  Europeans  to  enter  the  port,  gazed 
with  admiration.  It  would  appear  that  they  did  not  cross  the  harbor, 
but  they  probably  espied  in  the  distance  the  island  upon  which  our 
city  now  stands,  clothed  in  the  dusky  brown,  touched  only  here  and 
there  with  patches  of  the  evergreen  pine.  Nothing  is  said  of  the 
beauty  of  the  foliage  in  this  region,  since  in  March  none  could  have 
been  apparent,  though  the  population  was  evidently  numerous,  and 
from  the  shores  the  smoke  of  many  wigwams  was  seen  by  day,  with 
the  distant  illuminations  that  filled  the  eye  of  the  sailor  by  night. 
Verrazano  little  dreamed  of  the  value  of  the  situation.  It  never 
occurred  to  him  that  on  this  "  beautiful  lake  "  would  one  day  stand  a 
city  which  in  wealth  and  importance  would  eclipse  the  far-famed  city 
of  Montezuma.  The  situation  was  pleasing,  but  it  did  not  offer  what 
Verrazano  sought,  namely,  an  opening  to  India.  He  learned  that  he 
was  at  the  mouth  of  a  swift  river  that  poured  out  a  powerful  tide 

1  Verrazano  says  that  at  one  place  the  coast  ignoring  the  fact  that  shore  and  water  continually 

was  so  bold  that  twenty-four  feet  of  water  could  vary,  and  that  great  changes  have  taken  place 

be  found  within  four  or  five  fathoms  of  the  shore  within  a  few  years, 
at  all  tides.     This  has  been  pointed  out  as  false, 


EXPLORATIONS    OF    THE    NORTH    AMERICAN    COAST  13 

from  between  the  hills,  and  he  saw  the  unreasonableness  of  continuing 
his  search  at  this  place.  What  conclusion  he  might  have  reached 
eventually,  had  his  stay  been  prolonged,  we  cannot  predict,  but  he 
was  soon  hurried  away.  He  says :  "  All  of  a  sudden,  as  it  is  wont  to 
happen  to  navigators,  a  violent  contrary  wind  blew  in  from  the  sea 
and  forced  us  to  return  to  our  ship,  greatly  regretting  to  leave  this 
region,  which  seemed  so  commodious  and  delightful,  and  which  we 
supposed  must  contain  great  riches,  as  the  hills  showed  many  indica- 
tions of  minerals."  By  a  glance  at  the  chart  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
ship  lay  in  a  position  in  the  lower  bay  perilous  for  a  stranger,  and 
in  case  of  a  gale  she  would  be  in  danger  of  being  driven  upon  the 
shore  of  either  Long  Island  or  Staten.  Island.  Verrazano  would  not 
take  his  ship  through  the  Narrows  into  the  harbor,  on  account  of  his 
ignorance  of  the  situation,  and  when  the  wind  set  upon  shore  from 
the  sea  he  at  once  decided  to  get  out  of  danger.  Accordingly  he 
says :  "  Weighing  anchor  we  sailed  fifty  leagues  towards  the  east,  the 
coast  stretching  in  that  direction,  and  always  in  sight  of  it."  Thus  he 
coasted  along  the  shores  of  Long  Island,  and  "  discovered  an  island  in 
triangular  form,  some  ten  leagues  from  the  main  land,  in  size  about 
equal  to  the  Island  of  Rhodes."  This  was  Block  Island,  and  we  men- 
tion the  circumstance  here,  in  order  that  the  reader  may  appreciate 
the  fact  that  Verrazano  first  visited  New- York,  and  that  he  properly 
describes  the  coast.  Block  Island  is  distinctly  a  triangular  island. 
Then  he  went  to  a  harbor  in  the  main,  identified  as  Newport  Harbor.1 
The  natives  who  appeared  in  the  harbor,  it  will  be  noticed,  had  some 
thirty  small  boats  (barchettes).  The  word  itself  does  not  indicate  the 
manner  of  their  construction,  but,  when  at  Newport,  Verrazano  says 
distinctly,  that  these  barchettes  were  hollowed  out  of  single  logs  of 
wood  (un  solofusto  dl  legno.)  The  Dutch  found  the  natives  using  the 
same  kind  of  boats  here  in  the  early  days,  though  the  bark  canoe  was 
also  employed.2  The  objections  urged  against  the  authenticity  of  the 

l  On  the  Map  of  Verrazano,  to  which  attention  any  verdure.  One  should  distinctly  keep  in  mind, 
will  be  directed,  this  triangular  island  is  deline-  in  connection  with  this  and  the  following  accounts 
ated.  The  voyager  approaching  the  island  from  of  the  coast,  what  is  described  as  lying  on  either 
the  west  comes  to  a  point  of  the  triangle  where  side  of  the  region  of  New- York,  since,  when  these 
he  can  look  away  in  the  easterly  direction,  and  at  points  are  clear,  our  identification  of  the  Bay  of 
a  glance  take  in  two  sides  ;  while  on  reaching  the  New- York  in  maps  and  narratives  becomes  clear 
eastern  limit  the  third  side  plainly  appears.  In  beyond  question.  We  may  be  certain  that  the 
sailing  past  Block  Island,  as  Verrazano  did,  from  region  we  identify  as  the  Bay  of  New- York  is  the 
west  to  east,  the  navigator  could  not  fail  to  discover  place  in  question,  for  the  reason,  among  others, 
its  triangular  shape.  Indeed  it  is  so  marked  that  that  it  lay  in  a  bight  of  the  coast,  which  Verrazano 
one  is  struck  by  the  fact.  On  the  Verrazano  Map  reached  by  sailing  northerly  and  in  a  northeast- 
and  the  Maijolla  Map,  the  point  of  the  triangle  is  erly  direction,  and  then  turned  and  sailed  east, 
placed  to  the  west,  agreeing  with  the  statements  Sandy  Hook  is  the  only  place  on  the  coast  from 
of  the  Letter.  Verrazano  named  the  island  which  he  could  have  taken  such  a  departure. 
''  Luisa,"  after  the  king's  mother,  and  said  that  it  2  It  is  important  to  notice  this  matter,  in  con- 
was  about  the  size  of  the  Island  of  Rhodes,  an  nection  with  the  authenticity  of  the  voyage,  for 
over-estimate  or  a  deliberate  exaggeration  de-  this  reason,  that  Mr.  Murphy,  in  his  "  Voyage  of 
signed  to  please  his  Majesty ;  saying,  also,  with  Verrazano,"  ignorant  of  the  fact  that  the  New 
truth,  that  it  was  hilly  and  well  covered  with  trees,  England  Indians  made  canoes  of  logs,  obliges  the 
but  the  season  being  early  he  does  not  describe  statement  of  Verrazano  to  do  duty  as  a  proof  that 


14 


HISTOEY    OF    NEW- YORK 


EXPLOEATIONS    OF    THE    NOETH    AMERICAN    COAST  15 

voyage  of  Verrazano  have  simply  resulted  in  fresh  investigation  and 
the  production  of  proofs  that  establish  beyond  question  the  truth 
of  the  narrative,  which  is  supplemented  by  a  long  series  of  maps. 
The  series  begins  with  the  Map  of  Verrazano,  drawn  in  the  year  1529, 
by  Hieronimo  da  Verrazano,  brother  of  the  navigator,  and  the 
Maijolla  Map,  which  also  represents  the  voyage,  giving  particulars 
not  given  in  the  narrative  of  Verrazano.  The  Map  of  Verrazano  is 
now  preserved  in  the  museum  of  the  "  Propaganda  Fide  "  at  Rome,1 
and  forms  a  wonderful  advance  upon  the  Ptolemy  of  1513,.  which, 
after  passing  Florida,  is  vague  and,  upon  the  whole,  quite  useless  as 
respects  our  present  purpose,  since  it  shows  no  knowledge  of  the 
Bay  and  Harbor  of  New- York,  and  calls  for  no  particular  notice  here. 

It  has  already  been  observed  that  much  of  that  which  is  wanting  in 
the  Letter  is  furnished  by  the  Map  of  Verrazano,  noticeably  the  Shoals 
of  Cape  Cod.  The  map  was  constructed  by  the  aid  of  the  "  little 
book,"  in  which,  as  Verrazano  told  Francis  I.,  there  were  many 
particulars  of  the  voyage,  and  it  forms  the  best  sixteenth  century 
map  of  the  coast  now  known  to  be  extant  in  the  original  form.  After 
Verrazano  the  delineation  of  the  coast,  as  a  whole,  gradually,  in  the 
neglect  of  cartography,  became  more  and  more  corrupt,  culminating 
in  the  monstrous  distortions  of  Mercator.2 

On  the  Map  of  Verrazano  the  Cape  of  Florida  is  most  unmistakable, 
though,  by  an  error  in  following  Ptolemy,  the  draftsman  placed  the 
cape  nine  degrees  too  high,  thus  vitiating  the  latitudes,  also  failing  to 
eliminate  the  error  before  reaching  Cape  Breton.  This,  however,  does 
not  prevent  us  from  recognizing  the  leading  points  of  the  coast.  At 
Cape  "  Olimpo  "  we  strike  Cape  Hatteras,  and  near  "  Santanna  "  is  the 
mouth  of  Chesapeake  Bay.  "  Palamsina,"  a  corruption  perhaps  of  Pal- 
lavicino,  marks  the  entrance  to  the  Delaware.  "  Lamuetto,"  possibly 
Bonivet,  after  the  general  of  that  name,  distinguishes  what  apparently 
was  intended  for  Sandy  Hook ;  while  "  San  Germano  "  and  "  La  Vic- 
toria "  stand  on  the  lower  Bay  of  New- York.  Verrazano  did  not  know 
enough  about  the  river  of  "  the  steep  hills  "  to  enable  him  to  give  it  a 
pronounced  name,  though  in  after  times  the  Hudson,  as  we  shall  see, 
was  called  "  the  river  of  the  mountains."  It  will  be  readily  recognized 

the  voyage  of  Verrazano  was  a  fabrication.  A  and  afterward  reprinted  in  "Verrazano  the  Ex- 
very  little  inquiry  would  have  shown  him  his  error,  plorer,"  pp.  43-63.  For  the  discussion  and  the 
as  Lescarbot  says  that  he  saw  the  sea  in  one  case  Verrazano  bibliography,  see  that  work.  The  plane 
all  covered  over  with  boats  of  the  Indians  "  being  of  the  present  chapter  does  not  call  for  any  critical 
nothing  else  than  trees  hollowed  out."  ("Nou-  treatment  of  the  map,  which  has  already  been 
velle  France,"  Ed.  1612,  pp.  561,  576.)  This  forms  carefully  studied,  and  the  results  given  in  an  ac- 
a  sample  of  the  idle  objections  that  at  one  time  cessible  form. 

were  brought  against  the  voyage  of  Verrazano.  2 gee   "Verrazano   the    Explorer,"    pp.    49-56. 

The  entire  subject  has  been  treated  by  the  writer  Mercator  leaves  a  great  bay  in  the  place  where 

in  "Verrazano  the  Explorer," New-York,  1881.  Connecticut,    Rhode  Island,   and  Massachusetts 

l  The  story  of  this  map  is  curious.    The  Ameri-  should    appear.     We    shall    see,   however,    that 

can  contents  were  first  given  to  the  public  by  the  Oviedo  had  a  good  map  before  him,  namely,  that 

writer  in  the  "Magazine  of  American  History,"  of  Chaves. 


16  HISTOEY    OF    NEW- YORK 

that  San  Germane  is  a  name  given  out  of  compliment  to  his  patron 
by  Verrazano,  as  it  recalls  the  splendid  palace  of  Francis  I.,  at 
St.  Germaine-en-Lay.  If  circumstances  had  favored,  the  name  of 
Francis  might  have  been  affixed  to  a  great  French  metropolis  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Hudson. 

The  influence  of  the  Verrazano  Map  upon  succeeding  charts  was 
most  marked,  down  even  to  1610,  when  all  obscurity  in  regard  to  the 
position  of  the  Harbor  of  New- York  had  passed  away.  The  same  is 
true  of  the  exhibition  of  the  relation  of  New- York  Bay  to  Rhode 
Island  and  the  Island  of  Luisa.  The  influence  of  Verrazano  upon  the 
Globe  of  Vlpius,  1542,  was  most  emphatic,  as  will  be  noticed  later ; 
though  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  Verrazano's  voyage  was  pic- 
tured on  the  Map  of  Maijolla  before  the  Verrazano  Map  was  drawn, 
notes  from  Verrazano,  probably  out  of  the  "little  book"  that  he 
mentions,  aifording  the  requisite  material.  Verrazano  evidently  fur- 
nished an  abundance  of  names  for  localities,  and  the  various  drafts- 
men seem  to  have  exercised  their  judgment  to  some  extent  respecting 
their  use.  It  would,  however,  prove  wearisome  to  the  reader  to 
peruse  any  minute  statement  of  the  contents  of  the  many  maps  that 
indicate  the  Bay  of  New- York ;  since  neither  the  authenticity  nor  the 
influence  of  the  voyage  of  Verrazano  can  now  be  questioned.  In 
directions  where  it  was  never  suspected,  the  Letter  of  Verrazano  to 
Francis  I.  had  a  decided  influence,  as  will  be  noted  hereafter,  though 
attention  may  again  be  called  to  the  fact  that  Barlow,  in  his  voyage 
to  North  Carolina,  1584,  used  the  Letter  without  credit,  according  to 
the  custom  of  the  time ;  while,  when  Gosnold  visited  New  England, 
in  1602,  he  sailed,  as  tacitly  acknowledged,  with  the  Letter  of  Verra- 
zano, translated  by  Hakluyt,  as  his  guide.1 

The  Maijolla  Map,  made  by  Viscount  Maijolla,  a  well-known  car- 
tographer at  Venice,  in  1527,  or  two  years  earlier  than  the  Verrazano 
Map,  makes  Sandy  Hook  "  Cabo  de  S.  Maria,"  omitting  "  San  Ger- 
mano "  from  the  Bay  of  New- York,  and  fixing  a  "  Cabo  de  San 
Germano  "  south  of  the  Cape  of  Mary.  In  the  bay  is  placed  "  Angou- 
leme,"  recognizing  the  birthplace  of  Francis  I.,  called  by  Louis  XII. 
"  Le  gros  gargon  cPAngouleme."  This  name  might  also  be  a  recogni- 
tion of  the  sister  of  Francis,  Marguerite  of  Angouleme. 

Next,  however,  the  reader's  attention  must  be  directed  to  the  voyage 
of  Estevan  Gomez,  who  followed  Verrazano  in  1525.  This  adventurer 
was  a  Portuguese  in  the  service  of  Spain.  While  Verrazano  was 
abroad  on  his  voyage,  Gomez  attended  the  nautical  congress  at 
Badajos,  in  Spain,  when,  we  are  told,  Sebastian  Cabot  was  present. 
At  this  congress  Portugal  opposed  the  plan  presented  for  an  expedi- 
tion to  the  Indies,  being  very  jealous,  as  usual,  of  the  power  of  Spain. 

1  See  "Verrazano  the  Explorer"  on  the  Letter,  pp.  16-20. 


EXPLORATIONS    OF    THE    NORTH    AMERICAN    COAST 


17 


The  differences  of  the  two  powers  were  nevertheless  reconciled,  and 
the  king  of  Spain,  with  the  aid  of  several  merchants,  fitted  out  a 
caravel  and  put  Gomez  in  command.  Gomez,  if  he  did  not  stand  as 
high  as  some  men  of  his  time,  was  a  navigator  of  experience.  In  1519 
he  sailed  as  chief  pilot  with  Magellan,  but  incurred  much  odium  by 
leaving  him  in  the  Straits  which  now 
bear  Magellan's  name,  and  returning  to 
Spain.  Peter  Martyr,  who  gives  an 
account  of  the  congress  at  Badajos, 
says :  "  It  is  decreed  that  one  Stephanus 
Gomez,  himself  a  skilful  navigator,  shall 
go  another  way,  whereby,  between  Bac- 
calaos  and  Florida,  long  since  our  coun- 
tries, he  says  he  will  find  out  a  way  to 
Cataia.  Only  one  ship,  a  caravel,  is 
furnished  for  him,"  and,  the  chronicler 
continues,  "  he  will  have  no  other  thing 
in  charge  than  to  search  out  whether  any 
passage  to  the  great  Chan  from  among 
the  various  windings  and  vast  compass- 
ing of  this  our  ocean  is  to  be  found." f 
Of  the  voyage  out  from  Spain  few  par- 
ticulars are  now  available,  though  the 
account  of  the  return  was  penned  by  Martyr  subsequently  to 
November  13,  1525,  and  probably  before  the  close  of  the  year.  The 
voyage  was,  upon  the  whole,  a  short  one.  Martyr,  however,  says 
that  he  returned  at  the  end  of  "  ten  months,"  while  Navarrete 
states  that  he  sailed  in  February.  Galvano  tells  us  that,  having 
failed  to  obtain  the  command  of  an  expedition  to  the  Moluccas, 
he  went  on  the  coast  of  the  new  world  in  search  of  a  passage  to 
India,  observing  that  "the  Earl  Don  Fernando  de  Andrada,  and  the 
doctor  Belt  ram,  and  the  merchant  Christopher  de  Serro,  furnished 
a  galleon  for  him,  and  he  went  from  Groine,  in  Gallicia,  to  the  Island 
of  Cuba,  and  to  the  Cape  of  Florida,  sailing  by  day  because  he  knew 
not  the  land."  Galvano  tells  us,  likewise,  that  he  passed  the  Bay  of 
Angra  and  the  river  Enseada,  and  so  "  went  over  to  the  other  side, 
reaching  Cape  Eazo  in  46°  N."  This  means  that  he  sailed  up  from 
Florida  past  the  coast  of  Maine.3  Martyr,  writing  after  the  return 
of  Gomez,  indulges  in  a  strain  of  ridicule,  and  says:  "He,  neither 
finding  the  Straight,  nor  Cataia,  which  he  promised,  returned  back 


1  Martyr's  "  Decades,"  6,  chap.  10. 

2  Sir  Francis  Drake,  the  chief  of  the  English 
navigators  of  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  and 
the  first  captain  who  circumnavigated  the  globe  in 
a  single  voyage,  was  born  in  1546,  near  Tavistock 
in  Devonshire,  and  died  on  board  his  own  ship  off 

VOL.  I.  — 2. 


Puerto  Bello,  Venezuela,  January  28,  1596,  and  was 
buried  at  sea.  The  admiral  was  the  boldest  among 
the  band  of  heroes  who  baffled  and  beat  the  so- 
called  invincible  Spanish  Armada.  '  EDITOR. 

3  Galvano  in  Hakluyt's  "Voyages,"  3:  34.    (Ed. 
1812.) 


18  HISTORY     OF    NEW-YOEK 

in  ten  months  after  his  departure  ";  and  continues :  "  I  always  thought 
and  supposed  this  worthy  man's  fancies  to  be  vain  and  frivolous. 
Yet  he  wanted  not  for  suffrages  and  voices  in  his  favor  arid  defense." 
Still,  Martyr  admits  that  "  he  found  pleasant  and  profitable  countries 
agreeable  with  our  parallels  and  degrees  of  the  pole." 

The  narrative  of  the  voyage  is  wanting,  and  we  are  left  to  judge  of 
some  of  the  transactions  on  our  coast  by  Martyr's  account  of  what  took 
place  upon  the  return  of  Gomez  to  Spain.  Martyr  tells  the  Pope  one 
story  that  he  considered  very  laughable,  saying :  "  In  this  adventure 
your  Holiness  shall  hear  a  pleasant  and  conceited  puff  of  wind  arising, 
able  to  excite  laughter.  This  Stephanus  Gomez,  having  obtained  none 
of  those  things  which  we  thought  he  would  find,  lest  he  should  return 
empty — contrary  to  laws  set  down  by  us,  that  no  man  should  offer 
violence  to  any  natron, — loaded  his  ship  with  people  of  both  sexes, 
taken  from  certain  innocent,  half-naked  people,  who  lived  in  huts 
instead  of  houses.  And  when  he  came  into  the  harbor  of  Clunia, 
whence  he  set  sail,  a  certain  man  hearing  of  the  arrival  of  his  caravel, 
and  that  he  had  brought  esdavos,  that  is  to  say,  slaves,  inquiring  no 
further,  came  posting  to  us,  breathless  and  panting,  saying  that  Ste- 
phanus  Gomez  brought  his  ship  loaded  with  cloves  and  precious 
stones,  and  thought  thereby  to  have  received  some  rich  present  or 
reward.  They  who  believed  this  story,"  continues  Martyr,  "  attentive 
to  this  man's  foolish  and  idle  report,  wearied  the  whole  court  with 
exceeding  great  applause,  cutting  the  word  by  aphseresis,  declaring 
that  for  esclavos  he  had  brought  clavos  (for  the  Spanish  tongue  calls 
slaves  csclavos,  and  cloves  clavos),  but  after  the  court  understood 
that  the  story  was  transformed  from  cloves  to  slaves,  they  broke  out 
in  great  laughter,  to  the  shame  and  blushing  of  favorers,  who  shouted 
for  joy."  Martyr  could  scarcely  recover  from  the  incident,  so  keen 
was  his  sense  of  the  humor,  and  continues:  "If  they  had  learned  that 
the  influence  of  the  heavens  could  nowhere  be  infused  into  terrestrial 
matters,  prepared  to  receive  that  aromatic  spirit,  save  from  the  equi- 
noxial  sun,  or  next  unto  it,  they  would  have  known  that  in  the  space 
of  ten  months,  in  which  he  performed  the  voyage,  aromatic  cloves 
could  not  be  found."1  Thus  it  appeared  that  when  on  the  coast,  after 
the  example  of  Ayllon,  he  loaded  his  ship  with  Indians,  though  con- 
trary to  express  commands  of  the  authorities  in  Spain. 

The  results  of  the  voyage  along  the  coast  from  Florida  to  New- 
foundland are  indicated  on  the  Map  of  Eibeiro,  1529,  which  represents 
a  new  exploration,  as  nothing  seems  to  have  been  borrowed  from 
either  the  voyage  of  Verrazano  or  from  the  voyages  made  by  the 

l  Martyr's  "Decades,"  8:  c.  10;  and  "Sailing  afforded  "  nutmegs."    It  is  probable  that  the  man 

Directions  of  Henry  Hudson,"  p.  42.    Hakluyt,  3:  had  some  ground  for  his  report  other  than  that 

686-7.  Nevertheless,  Popham  wrote  home  to  King  which  appeared  to  Martyr. 
James  from  the  Kennebec,  in  1607,  that  the  country 


EXPLOKATIONS    OF    THE    NORTH    AMERICAN    COAST  19 

Portuguese,  with  the  exception  that  Ribeiro  used  old  Portuguese  maps 
of  Newfoundland,  which  was  the  case  with  Verrazano.  We  must, 
however,  confine  our  observations  to  things  that  relate  to  this  im- 
mediate region,  and  notice  what  the  accompanying  maps  so  fully 
exhibit,  the  difference  of  the  delineation  of  Sandy  Hook  and  Long 
Island.  On  the  Ribeiro  Map  Sandy  Hook  appears  as  "Cabo  de 
Arenas,"  the  Sandy  Cape,  exaggerated  in  size,  while  Long  Island  is 
hardly  distinguishable,  as  the  coast  line  runs  too  close  to  the  north. 
It  is  indicated  by  the  section  of  the  coast  between  two  rivers,  "Mon- 
tana Vue,"  evidently  one  of  the  hills  of  Long  Island  that  the  navigator 
now  views  from  the  sea.  On  the  Verrazano  Map  the  region  of 
Sandy  Hook  is  "  Lamuetto  "  and  "  Lungavilla,"  while  Long  Island  is 
indicated  as  a  part  of  the  mainland,  bearing  the  names  of  "  Cabo 
de  Olimpo"  and  "Angolesme,"  the  bay  of  "San  Germano"  lying 
between.  The  delineations  of  Verrazano  exhibit  his  short  stay  and 
hasty  departure,  while  the  survey  of  Gomez  must  have  occupied  more 
time,  at  least  around  Sandy  Hook.  That  this  map  resulted  from 
the  voyage  of  Gomez  is  evident  from  the  legend,  which  calls  the  land 
"  Tierra  de  Estevan  Gomez  "\ 1  while  eastward,  where  the  coast  of  Maine 
is  delineated,  is  the  "  Arcipelago"  of  Gomez.  On  this  Map  of  Ribeiro 
the  lower  Bay  of  New- York  is  indicated  by  "J5.  de  S.  Xpoal,"  with 
several  islands.  A  river  appears  between  this  bay,  given  in  later 
documents  as  Bay  of  "  St.  Chripstabel,"  and  Long  Island,  but  the 
name  of  the  river  is  not  given.  UB.  de  S.  Atonio?  however,  is 
given,  which  indicates  the  upper  bay  or  harbor,  and  subsequently 
we  shall  see  the  river  itself  indicated  as  the  river  "  San  An- 
tonio," while  the  place  of  Sandy  Hook  in  the  old  cartography  will 
be  fully  established  and  identified  with  Cape  de  Arenas.  Ribeiro 
evidently  had  pretty  full  notes  of  the  calculations  and  observations 
of  Gomez.2 

As  the  reverential  old  navigators  were  often  in  the  habit  of  marking 
their  progress  in  connection  with  prominent  days  in  the  Calendar,  it 
is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  the  Hudson  was  discovered  by  Gomez  on 
the  festival  of  St.  Anthony,  which  falls  on  January  17.  Navarrete 
indeed  says  that  he  left  Spain  in  February,  but  the  accounts  are  more 
or  less  confusing.  If  Martyr,  who  is  more  particular,  is  correct,  and 
Gomez  was  absent "  ten  months,"  he  must  have  sailed  early  in  Decem- 
ber, which  would  have  brought  him  to  our  coast  on  the  Festival  of 
the  celebrated  Theban  Father.  At  this  time  the  navigator  would 
have  seen  the  country  at  its  worst.  Evidently  he  made  no  extended 

1 "  The  country  of  Stephen  Gomez,  which  hedis-  2  A  map  less  complete  than  Ribeiro's  was  drawn 

covered  at  the  command  of  his  Majesty,  in  the  year  two  years  earlier,  in  1527,  by  an  anonymous  hand, 

1525.     There  are  many  trees  and  fruits  similar  to  probably  from  material  derived  from  the  same 

those  in  Spain,  and  many  wall-uses  and  salmon  and  source,  but  it  was  so  unsatisfactory  that  the  cele- 

lishof  all  sorts."  "Discovered "here means, accord-  brated  cosmographer  himself  was  directed  to  pre- 

ing  to  the  common  use  of  the  term,  "  explored."  pare  one. 


20  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YOKE 

exploration  of  the  river,  as  in  January  it  is  often  loaded  with  ice 
and  snow.1 

Gomez  was  laughed  at  by  the  courtiers,  and  had  no  disposition  to 
return  to  the  American  coast.  The  legend  on  the  Map  of  Ribeiro 
proclaiming  his  discovery,  that  is,  exploration  of  the  coast,  declared 
that  here  were  to  be  found  "many  trees  and  fruits  similar  to  those  in 
Spain,"  but  Martyr  contemptuously  exclaims,  "  What  need  have  we  of 
these  things  that  are  common  to  all  the  people  of  Europe?  To  the 
South !  to  the  South ! "  he  ejaculates,  "  for  the  great  and  exceeding 
riches  of  the  Equinoxial,"  adding,  "  They  that  seek  riches  must  not  go 
to  the  cold  and  frozen  North."  Gems,  spices,  and  gold  were  the  things 
coveted  by  Spain,  and  our  temperate  region,  with  its  blustering  winters, 
did  not  attract  natures  accustomed  to  soft  Andalusian  air. 

After  the  voyage  of  Gomez,  which,  failing  to  find  a  route  to  the 
Indies,  excited  ridicule,  there  is  nothing  of  special  interest  to  em- 
phasize in  this  connection  until  1537.  In  the  meanwhile,  the  English 
were  active,  and  in  1527  two  ships,  commanded  by  Captain  John  Rut, 
were  in  American  waters.  It  has  been  claimed  that  he  sailed  the 
entire  coast,  often  sending  men  on  land  "  to  search  the  state  of  these 
unknown  regions,"  and  it  has  been  affirmed  that  this  is  "the  first 
occasion  of  which  we  are  distinctly  informed  that  Englishmen  landed 
on  the  coast."  Also  that,  "  after  Cabot,  this  was  the  second  English 
expedition  which  sailed  along  the  entire  east  coast  of  the  United 
States,  as  far  as  South  Carolina."  Granting,  however,  that  the  expe- 
dition of  Rut  actually  extended  down  the  American  coast,  there  is  no 
proof  that  he  gave  any  attention  to  the  locality  of  the  Hudson.- 

We  turn  now  to  the  account  of  our  particular  locality,  as  given  by 
Oviedo  in  1537,  who  wrote  an  account  of  the  coast  based  largely  upon 
the  Map  of  Alonzo  Chaves.  It  appears  that,  in  1536,  Charles  V. 
ordered  that  the  official  charts  should  "  be  examined  and  corrected  by 
experienced  men,  appointed  for  that  purpose."  Acting  under  their 
instructions,  Alonzo  Chaves  drew  up  a  chart,  embodying  the  infor- 
mation that  he  had  been  able  to  collect  from  maps  and  narratives. 
It  is  evident  that  he  had  notes  of  the  voyage  of  Gomez,  and  that  he 
used  the  Ribeiro  Map,  but  he  had  no  information  about  the  voyage  of 
Verrazano  or  that  of  Cartier  in  1534.  His  delineation  of  the  coast 
began  in  the  Bay  of  Mexico,  and  extended  to  Newfoundland.  Oviedo, 
in  his  "  History  of  the  Indies," 3  used  this  map,  and  describes  the  coast 

1  St.  Anthony,  the  Father  of  Monasticism,  was  Maine,"  pp.  43-62.     The  probability  is  that  Rut 
born  in  the  Thebiad,  at  Coma,  A.  D.  251,  and  died  did  not  go  south  of  Cape  Breton,  and  that  his 
in  the  mountain  region  on  the  Red  Sea,  356.    He  voyage  has  been  exaggerated.    At  present  it  is 
was  of  an  old  Coptic  family,  and  gave  all  his  wealth  impossible  to  say  who  was  the  first  Englishman 
to  the  poor.     His  life  was  written  by  Athanasius.  to  land  on  these  shores. 

2  Those  who  wish  to  study  this  question  can  3  "  Historia  General  y  Natural  de  las  Indias," 
consult  Dr.   Kohl's  "Maine"   (published  by  the  etc.,  Tomo  I.  (segundo  parte),  146  (ed.  1852);  and 
Maine  Historical  Society),  pp.  281-89;  with  the  Historical  Magazine,  1866,  p.  372. 

contrary  view  in    the  writer's    "Northmen   in 


EXPLORATIONS    OF    THE    NORTH    AMERICAN    COAST 


21 


by  its  aid.  The  Map  of  Chaves  does  not  appear  to  be  accessible,  but 
its  American  features  have  been  reconstructed1  from  the  descriptions 
of  Oviedo,  and  this  portion  of  the  map  is  given  herewith,  the  latitudes 
and  distances  being  exactly  preserved.  From  the  Cape  of  Florida, 
Oviedo  moves  northward  in  his  descriptions,  which  are  distinctly  rec- 
ognizable. "  Cabo  de  Sanct  Johan  "  stands  at  the  mouth  of  the  Ches- 
apeake, and  from  this  place  "Cabo  de  los  Arenas"  is  thirty  leagues 
to  the  north-northeast.  The  latter  cape  is  in  38°  20'  N.  From  "Arenas" 
the  coast  runs  thirty  leagues  to  "  Cabo  de  Santiago,"  which  is  39°  20'  N. 


A    SKCTION    OP   THH 

MAP  OF 
ALONZO  CHAVES. 

Showing  the 

Eastern  Coast  of  the 

UNITED  STATES. 


Reconstructed  from  the  description  of  Oviedo 
in  his  "  Historia  General,"  &c.  1537. 

By  B.  F.  DE  COSTA. 

To  which  is  added  an  extract  from  the 

Map  of  Ribcro. 


On  this  map  Sandy  Hook  appears  as  Cape  Santiago,  but  generally  the 
name  of  "Arenas,"  the  Sandy  Cape,  is  affixed  to  the  Hook.2  Oviedo, 
on  reaching  the  end  of  Sandy  Hook,  proceeds  to  give  an  unmistakable 
delineation  of  the  Bay  and  Harbor  of  New- York,  and  of  the  river 
which  is  now  known  as  the  Hudson.  "  Thence,"  continues  Oviedo,  with 
his  eye  on  the  Map  of  Chaves,  "the  coast  turns  southwest  twenty 
leagues  to  the  Bay  of  Sanct  Christobal,  which  is  in  39°,  passes  said 
bay,  and  goes  thirty  leagues  to  Rio  de  Sanct  Antonio,  north  and  south 
with  the  bottom  of  this  bay ;  and  the  '  Rio  de  Sanct  Antonio '  is  in  41° 
N." 3  Dr.  Kohl  says  that  "  it  is  impossible  to  give  a  more  accurate 
description  of  Hudson  River,"  but  this  is  not  quite  true.  It  was  an 


1  See  the  writer's  method  of  reconstruction,  in 
"  Cabo  de  Arenas  "  (New-York,  1885). 

2  In  "Cabo  de  Arenas,"  the  coast  names  taken 
from  a  large  collection  of  maps  are  arranged  in 
parallel  columns,  illustrating  three  main  divisions 
of  the  coast,  showing  that  Cabo  de  Baxos  was  the 


name  applied  to  Cape  Cod,  and  Cabo  de  Arenas 
to  Sandy  Hook.  Cape  Cod  in  the  early  times  was 
not  a  sandy  cape,  but  a  beautiful  and  well-wooded 
cape.  Sandy  Hook  ever  since  it  was  known  has 
borne  its  present  character. 
3  ''Historia,"  t'ol.  xx. 


22  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

excellent  description  for  that  period,  considering  the  material  at  hand ; 
yet  it  must  be  remembered  that  all  the  distances  are  given  as  general 
estimates  on  the  decimal  system.  Besides,  the  Map  of  Chaves,  like 
all  the  maps,  was  drawn  on  a  small  scale,  and  Sandy  Hook  and  the 
Lower  Bay  are  both  exaggerated,  as  on  the  Map  of  Eibeiro,  which 
will  be  seen  by  a  comparison  of  the  two  maps,  placed  side  by  side  to 
facilitate  investigation.  Both  Eibeiro  and  Chaves  had  erroneous 
measurements  of  distances,  and  made  the  Lower  Bay  quite  a  large 
gulf,  while  the  latitude  of  "  Rio  Sanct  Antonio  "  is  placed  one  degree 
too  high.1  Ribeiro,  however,  gave  the  Hook  its  right  name,  "Arenas." 
The  size  of  the  Hook  is  exaggerated  on  the  Maijolla  Map,  15277 
though  not  on  the  Verrazano,  1529.  These  things  show  free-hand 
drawing  on  the  part  of  map-makers,  and  defective  rule-of-thumb 
measurements  by  the  navigator,  who  probably  viewed  the  waters 
behind  the  Hook  when  veiled  in  mist,  failing  to  test  his  own  estimates.2 
Oviedo  says  that  "  from  the  Eio  de  Sanct  Antonio  the  coast  runs 
northeast  one-fourth  east  forty  leagues  to  a  point  (pimtd),  that  on  the 
western  side  it  has  a  river  called  the  Buena  Madre,  and  on  the  east- 
ern part,  in  front  of  (dc  lante)  the  point,  is  the  Bay  of  Sanct  Johan  Bap- 
tista,  which  point  (pimta]  is  in  41°  30'  N.";  or,  rather,  correcting  the 
error  of  one  degree,  in  40°  30'  N.  This  point  is  Montauk  Point,  Long 
Island  being  taken  as  a  part  of  the  main.  The  Thames  Eiver  in  Con- 
necticut answers  to  the  Eiver  of  the  Good  Mother,  and  the  Bay  of 
John  Baptist  is  evidently  the  Narragansett.  Oviedo  then  goes  on  to 
the  region  of  Cape  Cod,  varying  from  the  general  usage,  and  calling 
it  "  Arrecifes,"  or  the  Eeef  Cape,  instead  of  "  Cabo  de  Baxos,"  which 
signifies  substantially  the  same  thing.3  Under  the  circumstances,  the 
description  of  Long  Island  is  remarkably  exact,  as  its  shore  trends 
northward  almost  exactly  half  a  degree  in  running  to  Montauk  Point. 
What,  therefore,  lies  on  either  side  of  the  Eiver  San  Antonio  fixes 
beyond  question  the  locality  of  the  Hudson,  and  proves  that  it  was 
clearly  known  from  the  time  of  G-omcz  to  1537.4 

1  Those  who  have  fancied  that  Cape   Arenas  tory  of  America,''  dealing  with  this  point,  sup- 
was  Cape  Cod,  and  that  the  bay  behind  it  was  presses  all  allusion  to  the  fact  that  Kohl  recog- 
Massachusetts  Bay,  have  the  same  difficulty  as  nizes  the  cape  on  the  Map  of  Chaves  with  the 
regards  dimensions.     Students  of  American  car-  names  "Santiago'1  and  "Arenas "as Sandy  Hook, 
tography  understand  perfectly  well  that  latitudes  which  follows,  as  the  river  inside  of  the  Hook  he 
in  the  old  maps  were  often  more  than  two  degrees  identifies  with  the  Hudson.     Dr.  Kohl,  though 
out  of  the  way,  the  instruments  of  that  period  generally  very  acute,  failed  to  see  that  Oviedo's 
being  so  defective.  description  of  the  Map  of  Chaves  was,  substan- 

2  See  full  explanations  of  the  map  and  all  related  tially,  the' description   of  Ribeiro,  and  that  in 
matters  in  "  Cabo  de  Arenas,"  pp.  13,  14.  identifying,  as  he  chanced  to,  the  "Arenas"  of 

3  "Arrecifes"  is  an  Arabic  word  that,  in  the  Ribeiro  with  Cape  Cod.  he  stultified  his  own  rea- 
old  charts,  came  to  be  replaced  by  the  Castilian  soning.      Nor  did   he  consider  this,  that  if   the 
"  Baxos,"  meaning  shallows,  with  rocks  and  sand.  great  Cape  "  Arenas  "  was  intended  for  Cape  Cod, 

*  To  convince  himself  of  this  fact  the  reader  there  is  no  representation  whatever  of  Sandy 

may  compare  the  reconstructed  Map  of  Chaves  Hook  and  the  Hudson  in  the  old  cartography,  and 

with  the  coast  surveys,  when  the  main  difference  that  all  the  voyages  to  this  region  geographically 

will  be  found  to  consist  in  the  exaggeration  of  went  for  nothing.    Credat  Judceus  Appellus  !   This 

Sandy  Hook.     The  "Narrative  and  Critical  His-  exaggeration  of  Sandy  Hook  is  conceded,  yet  the 


EXPLORATIONS    OF    THE    NORTH    AMERICAN    COAST  23 

The  next  navigator  whose  work  touched  our  part  of  the  coast  was 
Jehan  or  Jean  Allefonsce,  who,  in  1542,  came  to  Canada  as  pilot  of 
Roberval,  and  gained  considerable  knowledge  of  the  North  Atlantic 
shores.  This  hardy  sailor  was  a  native  of  Saintonge,  a  village  of  Cog- 
nac, France.  After  following  the  sea  for  a  period  of  more  than  forty 
years,  and  escaping  many  dangers,  he  finally  received  a  mortal  wound 
while  engaged  in  a  naval  battle  in  the  harbor  of  Rochelle.  Melin  Saint- 
Gelais  wrote  a  sonnet  in  his  honor  during  the  year  1559.1  It  can 
hardly  be  doubted  that  Allefonsce  himself  ran  down  the  coast  in  one 
of  the  ships  of  Roberval,  probably  when  returning  to  France. 

With  the  aid  of  Paulin  Secalart  he  wrote  a  cosmographical  descrip- 
tion, which  included  Canada  and  the  West  Indies,  with  the  American 
coast.2  Very  recognizable  descriptions  are  given  as  far  down  as  Cape 
Cod  and  the  islands  to  the  southward.  The  manuscript  also  possesses 
interest  in  connection  with  the  region  of  the  Hudson,  though  farther 
south  the  description  becomes  still  more  available. 

Allefonsce,  after  disposing  of  the  region  of  New  England,  turns 
southward,  and  says:  "From  the  Norombega15  River,"  that  is,  the 
Penobscot,  "the  coast  runs  west-southwest  about  two  hundred  and  fifty 
leagues  to  a  large  bay  (anse)  running  inland  about  twenty  leagues, 
and  about  twenty-nine  leagues  wide.  In  this  bay  there  are  four 
islands  close  together.  The  entrance  to  the  bay  is  by  38°  N.,  and  the 
said  islands  lie  in  39°  30'  N.  The  source  of  this  bay  has  not  been  ex- 
inlets  along  the  New  Jersey  shore  may  have  been  reached  the  eastern  border  of  Asia.  This  was  the 
viewed  as  connected  by  Gomez ;  and  indeed,  so  belief  held  by  Columbus  when  he  was  at  the  east- 
great  have  been  the  changes  along  the  coast  that  ern  end  of  Cuba. 

no  one  can  well  deny  that  they  were  connected  2  This  work  is  in  the  manuscript  department  of 
in  1525,  and  formed  a  long  bay  running  down  be-  the  "  Bibliotheque  Nationale,''  Paris,  No.  676,  un- 
hind  Sandy  Hook.  It  will  prove  more  historic  to  der  Secalart,  and  has  frequently  been  studied  by 
followthe  writer,  who  says  "that  the  coasts  of  New-  the  writer.  The  MS.  is  described  in  the  Narr. 
York  and  the  neighboring  district  were  known  to  and  Crit.  Hist.,  4:  69.  The  writer  has  also  exam- 
Europeans  almost  a  century  before  Hudson  as-  ined  in  the  same  repository  a  MS.  volume  in 
cended  the  '  Great  River  of  the  North,'  and  that  verse,  which  gives  a  considerable  portion  of  the 
this  knowledge  is  proved  by  various  maps  made  cosmography  relative  to  the  New  England  coast, 
in  the  course  of  the  sixteenth  century.  Nearly  all  This  MS.,  which  was  prepared  for  Francis  I.,  is 
of  them  place  the  mouth  of  a  river  between  the  attributed  to  Jehan  Maillard.  The  verses  give 
fortieth  and  forty-first  degrees  of  latitude,  or  what  points  not  made  in  the  prose  manuscript.  He 
should  be  this  latitude,  but  which  imperfect  in-  probably  saw  the  manuscript  volume  afterwards 
strumeuts  have  placed  farther  north." — Nar.  and  printed  and  entitled,  "  Les  voyages  avantureux 
Crit.  His.  of  Amer.,  4:  432.  dv  Captaine  lean  Alfonce"  (Rouen.  1578). 

l  See  Sonnet  as  frontispiece  of  the  "Northmen  in  3  A  writer,  who  took  up  with  the  fanciful  notion 
Maine,''  Albany,  1870,  and  the  chapter  in  the  same  that  the  Norombega  was  the  Hudson,  imagines 
work  on  his  discovery  of  Massachusetts  Bay.  that  the  French  in  the  time  of  Allefonsce  built  a 
Also  the  discussion  of  Allefonsce  in  the  Narr.  and  fort  on  an  island  or  tongue  of  land  that  extended 
Crit.  His.  of  Amer.,  4  :  59-72.  The  material  used  into  the  old  Collect  Pond,  which  once  covered  the 
in  connection  with  Allefonsce,  beginning  with  site  of  the  Tombs,  at  Elm  and  Baxter  Streets.  His 
Mui'phy,  in  his  work  on  Verrazano,  1875,  was  ob-  idea  was  that  "Norombega"  was  derived  from 
tained  by  the  writer  from  Paris  at  different  visits,  "  L'Auorme'e  Beige,"  the  Grand  Scarp,  and  re- 
having  originally  been  assisted  by  the  late  M.  ferred  to  the  Palisades.  The  subject  of  the  fort 
Davezac.  Allefonsce  entered  the  Bay  of  Massa-  on  the  island  cannot  command  attention,  while  it 
chusetts.  where  he  was  searching  for  a  route  to  is  understood  that  Norombega  River  was  in  New 
Cathay,  but  he  came  to  the  conclusion  at  his  late  England,  having  long  been  identified  as  the  Pen- 
period  that  "these  lands  reach  to  Tartary,"  add-  obscot.  For  many  speculations  on  this  subject, 
ing,  "and  I  think  that  it  is  the  end  of  Asia,  see  Prof.  Eben  N.  Horsford's  monographs  on 
according  to  the  roundness  of  the  world."  That  is,  Norombega. 
going  west,  the  earth  baing  spherical,  he  had 


24  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

plored,  and  I  do  not  know  whether  it  extends  further  on.  .  .  .  The 
whole  coast  is  thickly  populated,  but  I  had  no  intercourse  with  them." 
Continuing,  he  says :  "  From  this  bay  the  coast  runs  west-northwest 
about  forty-six  leagues.  Here  you  come  upon  a  great  fresh-water 
river,  and  at  its  entrance  is  a  sand  island."  What  is  more,  he  adds  : 
"  Said  island  is  in  39°  49'  N." ' 

Allefonsce  also  says  that,  "  From  this  river  the  coast  runs  northeast 
by  southwest,  veering  one-fourth  east  and  west  sixty  leagues ;  here  a 
cape  arises  stretching  some  fifty-six  leagues  into  the  sea.  Said  cape 
is  in  36°  N.,  very  high  and  presenting  a  bold  white  cliff  (fallaise  blanche)." 
Here  we  reach  Delaware  Bay,  where  the  white  cliff  is  a  noticeable  ob- 
ject. From  the  description  of  Allefonsce,  it  is  evident  that  the  "  great 
fresh-water  river"  is  the  Hudson,  described  five  years  before  by 
Oviedo,  out  of  the  Map  of  Chaves,  as  the  River  of  St.  Anthony,  while 
the  "  island  of  saud  " 2  was  Sandy  Hook.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the 
outline  maps  contained  in  the  manuscript  of  Allefonsce  are  too  rude  to 
throw  any  light  upon  the  geography  of  this  particular  region. 

Turning  from  the  manuscript  of  Allefonsce  to  the  printed  cosmog- 
raphy, we  discover  that  the  latter  is  only  an  abridgment,  it  being 
simply  said  that  after  leaving  Norombega,  the  coast  turns  to  the 
south-southeast  to  a  cape  which  is  high  land3  and  has  a  great  island 
arid  three  or  four  small  isles.  New- York  and  the  entire  coast  south 
have  no  mention.  The  manuscript,  however,  suffices  for  our  purpose 
and  proves  that  the  coast  was  well  known. 

It  would  be  instructive  in  this  connection  to  enter  upon  an  exami- 
nation of  the  maps  and  globes  of  the  period  from  Verrazano  down  to 
the  "  Figurative  Map  "  of  1614,  when  Sandy  Hook  appears  as  "  Sand 
Punt."  It  will  not  be  possible,  however,  to  do  more  now  than  to  indi- 
cate the  fact,  that,  out  of  a  series  of  delineations  numbering  more  than 
forty,  no  less  than  twenty-three  describe  the  sandy  character  of  the  cape, 
while  "  Baxos,"  the  Cape  of  the  Shoals,  is  the  term  generally  applied  to 
Cape  Cod ;  showing  that  the  navigators  were  well  acquainted  with  the 
position  and  character  of  these  two  very  marked  headlands.  The  Globe 
of  Vlpius,  however,  deserves  mention  at  this  point,  being  of  the  date  of 
1542,  and  showing  the  exploration  of  Verrazano.  The  Bay  of  New- 
York,  as  the  Gulf  of  St.  Germaine,  forms  a  recognition  of  Francis  I.4 

1  Here  we  should  observe  the  force  of  what  is  was  composed  of  the  central  portion  of  France, 
said  in  a  previous  note  (p.  13),  as  we  have  reached  In  the  Old  Testament  distant  regions  were  islands, 
the  bight  in  the  coast  indicated  by  the  Letter  of  and  the  dry  bed  of  a  river  bore  the  same  name  : 
Verrazano ;  the  description  of  the  coast  by  Alle-  "  I  will  make  the  rivers  islands,"  Isaiah  xlii.15. 
fonsce,  north  and  south,  indicating  clearly  that  he  3  The  well-known  "High-land"  of  Cape  Cod. 
is  now  speaking  of  the  Bay  of  New- York.  See  "  Cabo  de  Baxos." 

2  Allefonsce  seems  to  have  taken  Sandy  Hook  *  The  Globe  of  Vlpius,  made  for  Cardinal  Cervi- 
for  an  "  island"  in  the  modern  sense  of  the  word,  nus,  afterward  Pope  Marcellus,  in  1542,  is  one  of 
and  it  may  have  been  an  island  at  that  time  like  the  most  valuable  of  our  historical  treasures.  It  is 
large  sections  of  the  Jersey  coast  to-day.    But,  of  copper,  and  is  the  property  of  the  New- York 
in  an  ancient  sense,  the  word  had  a  different  sig-  Historical  Society.  See  "  Verrazano  the  Explorer  " 
niflcation,  and  the  "  Isle  of  Franco"  in  old  maps  for  delineation  and  dissertation. 


EXPLORATIONS    OF    THE    NOETH    AMERICAN    COAST 


25 


Reaching  1552,  we  have  the  testimony  of  the  Spanish  historian, 
Lopez  de  Gomara,  who  describes  the  coast,  beginning  at  Newfound- 
land, and  proceeding  southward,  making  the  distance  eight  hundred 
and  seventy  leagues  to  the  Cape  of  Florida.  He  says,  from  "Rio 
Fondo  "  to  "  Rio  de  los  Gamos,"  the 
Stag  River,  are  seventy  leagues, 
and  thence  to  "Cabo  Santa  Maria," 
fifty  leagues,  with  forty  more  to 
"Cabo  Bajo"  (Baxos)  or  Cape 
Cod;  and  "thence  to  Rio  San 
Anton  [Antonio]  they  reckon 
more  than  a  hundred  leagues," 
while  "from  the  Rio  San  Anton 
are  eighty  leagues  along  the 
shore  of  a  gulf  to  Cabo  de  Arenas 
[Sandy  Hook],  which  is  in  nearly 
39°  N."1 

It  is  also  worthy  of  notice  in 
this  connection,  that,  prior  to 
1562,  the  French  had  visited  this 
region ;  as  Ribault  writes  in  that 
year  that  they  undertook  to  go 
northward  from  Florida  "and 
view  the  coast  vntil  XL  degrees 
of  the  eleuation,"  where  "our  pilots  and  some  others"  had  been 
before.2  There  are  no  particulars,  however,  to  be  obtained  in  con- 
nection with  these  visits  of  the  French. 

It  has  been  already  stated  (page  20)  that  it  would  be  impossible  to 
say  when  the  first  Englishman  visited  this  region ;  yet  in  the  year 
1567-8,  evidence  goes  to  prove  that  one  David  Ingram,  an  English- 
man set  ashore  with  a  number  of  companions  in  the  Bay  of  Mexico, 
journeyed  on  foot  across  the  country  to  the  river  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick,  and  sailed  thence  for  France.  Possibly  he  was  half 
crazed  by  his  sufferings,  yet  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  he  crossed 
the  continent  and  passed  through  the  State  of  New- York,  traveling 
on  the  Indian  paths  and  crossing  many  broad  rivers.  If  the  story  is 
true,  Ingram  is  the  first  Englishman  known  to  have  visited  these  parts.3 


l  This  calculation  is  not  so  careful  as  that  of 
Oviedo  in  1537,  nor  that  of  Linschoten,  which  will 
follow,  in  1596.  Oviedo  measures  the  distances 
differently,  pursuing  the  coast  line  in  its  various 
windings,  computing  the  distance  on  some  map 
that  exaggerated  the  size  of  Sandy  Hook,  mak- 
ing a  great  bay  within,  which  he  followed  from 
Bio  Antonio,  footing  up  the  distance  as  eighty 
leagues.  On  his  map,  too,  as  on  the  Map  of 
Chaves,  Arenas  was  probably  placed  a  degree 


south  of  the  point  of  the  Hook,  which,  on  the 
map  of  Chaves,  contrary  to  custom  as  we  have 
seen,  was  called  "  Santiago,"  while  Arenas  was 
the  common  name.  His.  Gen.  de  las  Ind., 
Edition  1555,  c.  12,  and  His.  Mag.,  1866,  p.  368. 

2  Hakluyt's  "  Divers  Voyages,"  p.  114. 

3  See  article  in  Mag.  Amer.  His.,  9:  174.    This 
achievement  takes  rank  with  that  of  Cabeza  de 
Vaca,  who  came  to  America  in  1528,  was  six  years 
in  captivity,  and  occupied  twenty  months  of  tra- 


26  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

In  April,  1583,  Captain  Carlile  wrote  out  propositions  for  a  voyage  "to 
the  latitude  of  fortie  degrees  or  thereabouts,  of  that  hithermost  part 
of  America,"1  and,  in  1583,  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert  had  this  region 
under  consideration,  Hakluyt  observing  on  the  margin  of  his  "  Divers 
Voyages"  that  this  was  "the  Countrey  of  Sir  H.  G.  Uoyage."2 
Hays  says  in  his  account  of  the  region,  that  "  God  hath  reserved  the 
same  to  be  reduced  unto  Christian  civility  by  the  English  nation " ; 
and,  also,  that  "God  will  raise  him  up  an  instrument  to  effect  the 
same."3  All  this  is  very  interesting  in  connection  with  English 
claims  and  enterprise.  In  the  same  year  the  French  were  active  on 
the  coast,  and  one  Stephen  Bellinger,  of  Rouen,  sailed  to  Cape  Bre- 
ton, and  thence  coasted  southwesterly  six  hundred  miles  "  and  had 
trafique  with  the  people  in  tenne  or  twelve  places."4  Thus  the 
French  were  moving  from  both  the  north  and  the  south  towards  this 
central  region ;  but  we  cannot  say  how  far  south  Bellinger  actually 
came,  as  there  is  nothing  to  indicate  his  mode  of  computation.  It 
is  not  improbable  that  he  knew  and  profited  by  the  rich  fur-trade  of 
the  Hudson. 

In  Kunstman's  "Atlas"  there  is  a  map  bearing  date  of  1592,  in  which 
Sandy  fiook  is  represented  as  "  C.  de  las  Arenas."  It  was  the  work  of 
an  Englishman,  as  the  inscription  reads,  "  Thomas  Hood  made  this 
platte,  1592."  This  may  be  the  result  of  some  visit  made  to  the 
Hudson  at  this  period  by  the  English  colonists  of  Virginia. 

In  1598  and  there  about,  we  find  it  asserted  that  the  Dutch  were  upon 
the  ground,  for,  in  the  year  1644,  the  Committee  of  the  Dutch  West 
India  Company,  known  as  the  General  Board  of  Accounts,  to  whom 
numerous  documents  and  papers  had  been  intrusted,  made  a  lengthy 
report,  which  they  begin  as  follows:  "New  Netherland,  situated  in 
America,  between  English  Virginia  and  New  England,  extending  from 
the  South  [Delaware]  river,  lying  in  34£  degrees  to  Cape  Malabar, 
in  the  latitude  of  41£  degrees,  was  first  frequented  by  the  inhabitants 
of  this  country  in  the  year  1598,  and  especially  by  those  of  the  Green- 
land Companjr,  but  without  making  any  fixed  settlements,  only  as  a 
shelter  in  winter.  For  which  they  built  on  the  North  [Hudson]  and 
the  South  [Delaware]  rivers  there  two  little  forts  against  the  attacks 
of  the  Indians."  ~°  Mr.  Brodhead  says  that  the  statement  "  needs  con- 
firmation." G  Still  it  is  somewhat  easy  to  understand  why  a  statement 
of  this  kind  coming  from  such  a  body  should  require  confirmation ; 
but  the  Committee  had  no  reason  for  misstating  the  facts,  and  ought 

vel  to  make  his  escape.  Si  r  Humphrey  Gilbert  con-  5  "  Documents  relating  to  the  Colonial  History 

f erred  with  Ingram,  and  Carlile  knew  of  Ms  case.  of  the  State  of  New- York,"   1  :  149.    See  on  the 

lHakluyt's  "Navigations,"  3:  184.  Dutch  at  the  North,  Hakluyt,  3:183;    Purchas. 

2  "  Divers  Voyages,"  Hakluyt  Society,  p.  64.  "  His  Pilgrimage, "  3 :  466  and  5  : 814;  New-York 

3  "Navigations,"  3:  144.  Colonial   Documents,    1:59.      The   Dutch   called 
<See   Hakluyt's  "Westerne   Planting,"  Maine  Spitzbergen  "  Greenland." 

Collections,  Second  Series,  2:  2G,  84,  and  101.  6  "  History  of  New-York,"  1 :  35  n. 


EXPLORATIONS    OF    THE    NORTH    AMERICAN    COAST  27 

to  have  been  accurately  informed.  Yet  if  confirmation  is  insisted 
upon,  we  are  prepared  to  give  it,  such  as  it  is,  from  an  English  and,  in 
fact,  an  unexpected  source.  Our  authority  is  no  less  a  personage  than 
Governor  Bradford,  of  Plymouth  Colony,  whose  office  and  inclinations 
led  him  to  challenge  all  unfounded  claims  that  might  be  put  forth  by 
the  Dutch.  Nevertheless,  writing  to  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  the  father 
of  New  England  colonization,  who  likewise  was  hostile  to  the  preten- 
sions of  the  Dutch,  Bradford  says,  under  date  of  June  15, 1627,  that  the 
Dutch  on  the  Hudson  "  have  used  trading  there  this  six-  or  seven-and- 
twenty  years,  but  have  begun  to  plant  of  later  time,  and  now  have 
reduced  their  trade  to  some  order."1  Bradford  lived  in  Holland  in 
1608,  and  had  abundant  opportunities  for  knowing  everything  relating 
to  Dutch  enterprise.  It  is  perfectly  well  known  that  the  Plymouth 
Colonists  of  1620  intended  to  settle  at  the  Hudson,  though  circum- 
stances directed  them  to  the  spot  pointed  out  by  Dermer  in  1619, 
when  in  the  service  of  Gorges.  Thus,  about  seventeen  years  before 
the  Committee  of  1644-  reported,  Governor  Bradford,  an  unwilling, 
but  every  way  competent  and  candid,  witness,  carried  back  the  Dutch 
occupancy,  under  the  Greenland  Company,  to  the  year  1600.  Besides, 
on  the  English  map  of  the  voyage  of  Linschoten,  1598,2  there  is  a 
dotted  trail  from  the  latitude  of  the  Hudson,  40°  .N.  to  the  St.  Law- 
rence, showing  that  the  route  was  one  known  and  traveled  at  that 
time.  It  is  evident,  from  a  variety  of  considerations,  that  both  the 
Dutch  and  French  resorted  to  the  Hudson  at  this  period  to  engage  in 
the  trade.  Linschoten  was  one  of  the  best  informed  of  Dutch  writers, 
and  probably  understood  the  significance  of  the  representation  upon 
his  map.  The  probability  is  that  this  route  was  known  a  long  time 
before,  and  that  it  may  be  indicated  by  Cartier,  who,  when  in  Canada, 
1534,  was  told  of  a  route,  by  the  way  of  the  river  Richelieu,  to  a 
country  a  month's  distance  southward,  supposed  to  produce  cinnamon 
and  cloves,  which  Cartier  thought  the  route  to  Florida.3  Champlain, 
writing  in  Canada,  says  that,  in  the  year  previous,  certain  French  who 
lived  on  the  Hudson  were  taken  prisoners  when  out  on  an  expedition 
against  the  northern  Indians,  and  were  liberated,  on  the  ground  that 
they  were  friends  of  the  French  in  Canada.  This  agrees  with  the  re- 
port of  the  Labadists,  who  taught  that  a  French  child,  Jean  Vigne, 

1  "  Massachusetts  Historical  Collections,"  3 :  57.  tier."   Paris,  1863,  p.  34.    See  also  De  Laet's  view, 
(Ed.  of  1810.)  "Nieuwe  Wereldt,"  B.  I.  C.  9.     O'Callaghan,  in 

2  The    map  is  a   large   folding  map,   entitled  his  "  New  Netherland "  (1 :  26),    curiously    says 
"Tvpvs  ORBIS   TERRABVM."     The  following  is  that  one  Sieur  Beveren  in  1519  came  to  America 
the  title  of  the  work:  "lohn  Hvighen  van  Lin-  with  two  armed  ships,  "the  first  Dutch  ships  that 
schoten,    his    Discourse    of    Voyages     into    ye  ever  ventured  on  these  seas."    He  refers  to  the 
Easte    and   West  Indies.      Deuided    into    foure  French  edition  of  Sir  John  Carr's  work  on  Dutch 
Bookes.     Printed  by  lohn  Wolfe,  Printer  to  ye  Commerce  (2 :  233,  234),  but  the  reference  contains 
Honorable  Cittie  of  London."    [1598.]  The  Dutch  nothing  to  the  point.     Charles  V.  was  only  ten 
edition  appeared  in  1596,  and  the  Latin  in  1599.  years  of  age  at  the  time  O'Callaghan  exhibits  him 

3  "  Bref  Re"cit  de  la  Navigation  faite  par  J.  Car-  as  granting  to  Beveren  an  island  in  America. 


28 


HISTORY    OF    NEW- YORK 


was  born  here  in  1614.  Evidently  the  French  had  been  on  the  ground 
in  force  for  some  years,  and  were  able  to  make  expeditions  against 
the  savages.1  Very  likely  the  French  were  here  quite  as  early  as  the 
Hollanders. 

There  seems  to  be,  however,  another  curious  piece  of  confirmation, 
which  comes  from  the  writings  of  the  celebrated  Father  Isaac  Jogues, 
who  was  in  New  Amsterdam  during  the  year  1646.  In  a  letter  written 

on  August  3d  of  that  year,  he  says 
that  the  Dutch  were  here  "  about  fifty 
years "  before,  while  they  began  to 
settle  permanently  only  about  "twenty 
years  "  since.  The  latter  statement  is 
sufficiently  correct,  as  1623  was  the 
year  when  a  permanent  colony  was 
established  by  the  Dutch.  The  for- 
mer statement  carries  us  back  to  the 
date  of  the  "Greenland  Company."" 

It  is  also  interesting  to  note  that 
the  "Remonstrance,"  describing  the 
occupation  of  the  country  by  the 
Dutch,  says :  "  East  of  the  North 
River,  beginning  at  Cape  Cod,  named 
in  1600  by  our  own  people  New  Hol- 
land (whereof  also  possession  was 
taken,  if  we  are  correctly  informed, 
by  the  erection  of  their  High  Mightinesses'  arms),  down  to  within 
six  leagues  of  the  North  River."  This  again  recognizes  the  Dutch 
as  here  in  the  year  given  by  Bradford.4 

So  far  as  present  evidence  goes,  it  is  perhaps  unnecessary  to  say 
anything  more  in  vindication  of  the  statement  of  the  Dutch  Com- 
mittee of  1644,  claiming  that  representatives  of  the  Greenland  Com- 
pany wintered  hero  in  1598.  Nevertheless,  as  a  matter  of  interest, 
and  to  show  how  well  the  Hudson  was  known  at  this  time  by  both 
Dutch  and  English,  we  may  quote  from  the  English  translation  of 
the  Dutch  narrative  of  Linschoten,  which  clearly  describes  the  coast. 
He  says :  "  There  is  a  couutrey  under  44  degrees  and  a  halfe,  called 
Baccalaos,  taking  the  name  of  some  kind  of  fishes,  which  there- 


1  See  Murphy's  "  Journal  of  the    Labadists," 
1867,  pp.  114.  117. 

2  Sir  Martin  Frobisher,  the  famous  English  nav- 
igator, was  born  in  Doncaster,  Yorkshire,  about 
1536,  and  died  in  Plymouth,  November  7,  1594. 
After  exploring  different  parts  of  the  American 
coast,  and  entering  the  strait  that  bears  his  name, 
he  accompanied  his  friend  Sir  Francis  Drake  to 
the  West  Indies,  taking  part  on  board  the  Tri- 
umph in  the  destruction  of  the  Spanish  Armada 


in  1588,  for  which  he  was  knighted  by  Queen  Eliz- 
abeth. EDITOR. 

3  See  fac-simile  and  translation  by  Dr.  John  Gil- 
mary  Shea,  4to  edition,  privately  printed.  New- 
York,  1862,  pp.  29  and  49.   But  as  the  report  of  the 
Board  of  Accounts  was  published  in  1644,  Father 
Jogues  may  have  obtained  his  information  thence. 

4  Doc.  rel.  Col.  His.  N.  Y.,  Holl.  Doc.  1:  284; 
the  note  says  that  in  the  "printed  Vertoogh  "  the 
phrase  "  correctly  informed  "  is  omitted. 


EXPLORATIONS    OF    THE    NORTH    AMERICAN    COAST  29 

i 

abouts  are  so  abundant  that  they  let  the  shippes  from  sailing."  This 
is  an  old  story  told  in  connection  with  the  Cabots.  Continuing,  he 
says :  "  This  country  of  Baccalaos  reacheth  nine  hundred  miles,  that 
is,  from  the  Cape  de  Baccalaos  [Cape  Race]  to  Florida,  which  is 
accounted  in  this  sort " ;  that  is,  the  nine  hundred  miles  are  divided 
as  follows :  "  From  the  point  of  Baccalaos  to  the  bay  of  the  river  are 
70  miles;  from  the  bay  of  the  river  to  the  Bay  de  las  Islas,  70 
miles ;  from  thence  to  Rio  Fundo,  70  miles ;  from  thence  to  Cabo 
Baxo  [Cape  Cod],  160  miles;  and  again  to  the  river  of  Saint  An- 
thony, 100  miles ;  from  thence  to  the  farthest  cape,  180  miles ;  and 
again  to  the  Cape  Saint  Elena,  110  miles ;  and  from  Saint  Elena  to 
the  poynt  of  Cananeall  the  Reedhoke,  100  miles;  thence  to  Florida,  40 
miles ;  which  in  all  is  900  miles."  l 

These  distances  are  given  approximately,  of  course,  being  on  the 
decimal  system,  but  they  distinctly  mark  the  principal  divisions  of  the 
coast,  and  fix  the  fact  beyond  question  that  the  Hudson  was  perfectly 
well  known.  May,  who  followed  Hudson  in  1611-12,  was  under 
orders  to  find  a  passage  to  China  by  the  northwest,  and  at  last  came 
to  the  Hudson  because,  like  his  predecessor,  he  failed  on  the  north- 
east and  had  nothing  else  to  do.2 

On  the  general  subject  it  may  be  said,  that  the  record  of  the 
"Greenland  Company  "  is  not  satisfactory,  yet  the  word  "Greenland  " 
at  that  time  had  a  very  general  use,  and  all  that  the  Committee  of 
Accounts  may  have  meant  by  the  phrase  was,  that  a  company  or  as- 
sociation engaged  in  the  fur  and  fish  trade,  which  for  centuries,  even, 
had  been  prosecuted  at  the  north,  had  sent  some  ships  to  this  region 
in  1598.  There  is  certainly  nothing  unreasonable  in  this  supposition, 
the  coast  being  so  well  known.  Various  adventurers  of  whom  we 
know  nothing  doubtless  came  and  went  unobserved,  being  iii  no 
haste  to  publish  the  source  from  which  they  derived  such  a  profit- 
able trade  in  peltries.  The  Committee  of  Accounts  either  falsified 
deliberately  or  followed  some  old  tradition.  Why  may  not  a  tradi- 
tion be  true!3 

We  turn  next  to  examine  a  map  recently  brought  to  notice  and 
which  is  of  unique  value.  Formerly  the  map  usually  pointed  out  as 
the  oldest  seventeenth  century  map  of  this  region  was  the  Dutch 
"  Figurative "  Map,  wrhich  was  found  by  Mr.  Brodhead  in  the  Dutch 
archives.4  We  have  now,  however,  an  earlier  map  of  1610,  which  was 

1  Linschoten,"Discours,"B.II.,p.217.  (Ed.  1598.)  the  English  might  base  upon  the  voyage  of  the 
The  first  "  Book  "  of  this  work  has  been  reprinted  Englishman,  Henry  Hudson.     The  writer  prefers 
in  two  volumes  by  the  Hakluyt  Society,  1885.  to  believe  that  the  Committee  was  both  honest  and 

2  Murphy's  Sale  Catalogue,  p.  232.  well  informed. 

3  If  Bradford  and  Jogues  had  their  information  *  See  New- York  Historical  Society,  Proceedings, 
exclusively  from  one  source,  it  merely  simplifies  1845,  p.   185;    also  in   Brodhead's  "New- York," 
the  inquiry  respecting  the  truth  of  the  Commit-  1 :  757.   See  map  in  Holland  Documents,  in  Doc. 
tee's  statement.   It  may  be  said  that  this  claim  of  Bel.  Col.  Hist.  N.  Y.,  1 :  10 ;  also  Narr.  and  Crit. 
1598  was  invented  to  overshadow  any  claim  that  His. ,  4  :  433. 


30  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

prepared  from  English  data  for  James  L,  a  copy  finding  its  way  to 
Philip  III.,  by  Velasco,  March  22,  1611.'  Sandy  Hook,  though  with- 
out name,  is  delineated  about  as  it  appears  in  later  maps,  while  Long 
Island  is  shown  as  a  part  of  the  main,  with  no  indication  of  the  Sound, 
though  Cape  Cod  and  the  neighboring  islands  are  well  delineated, 
and  Verrazano's  Island  of  "  Luisa  "  appears  as  "  Cla[u]dia,"  the  mother 
of  Francis  I.  Clearly  at  this  time  neither  Block  nor  any  other  Dutch 
navigator  had  passed  through  Hell  Gate  into  Long  Island  Sound. 

There  is  nothing  whatever  in  this  map  relating  to  explorations  by 
any  nation  later  than  1607.  Jamestown  appears  on  the  Virginia  por- 
tion, and  Sagadehoc  in  Maine.  It  was  simply  a  copy  of  a  map  made 
soon  after  the  voyage  to  New  England  and  Virginia  in  1607.  The 
compiler  had  not  heard  of  Hudson's  voyage,  as  that  navigator  did  not 
reach  England  until  November  7,  1609.  If  he  had  received  any  infor- 
mation from  Hudson,  he  would  have  shown  the  river  terminating  in  a 
shallow,  innavigable  brook,  whereas  the  river  is  indicated,  in  accordance 
with  Captain  John  Smith's  idea,  as  a  strait,  leading  to  a  large  body  of 
water.  Further,  the  map  contradicts  Hudson,  who  represents  the 
Hoboken  side  of  the  river  as  "  Manhatta,"  while  this  map  puts  the 
name  on  both  sides,  "Manahata"  on  the  west  and  "Manahatin"  on 
the  east.2  It  is  not  unlikely  that  Hudson  had  with  him  a  copy  of  the 
map,3  for  his  guidance  on  the  voyage  in  the  Half-Moon. 

Though  this  map  boars  a  date  subsequent  to  Hudson's  voyage,  the 
contents  prove  that  the  original  could  not  have  been  drawn  later  than 
1608.  It  was  evidently  one  of  the  various  maps  of  which  Smith  spoke 
and  which  he  underrated.  Its  substance  indicates  that  it  was  drawn 
from  a  source  independent  of  the  Dutch  and  French,  showing  that 
the  English  knew  of  the  Bay  of  New- York  and  its  relation  to  Sandy 
Hook,  and  that  they  supposed  the  great  river  delineated  was  a  broad 

1  See  Alexander  Brown's  invaluable  work,  "  The      "Manahata."     Monltcm,    "New-York,"    Part  1, 
Genesis  of  the  United  States,"  1 :    456.   Boston,      272,  says  that  Hudson  applied  the  name  to  the 
1890.     The  map  covers  the  region  of  Canada  from      Jersey  side  of  the  river. 

Newfoundland  to  Cape  Fear,  and  shows  Sandy  3  Asher  calls  special  attention  to  the  fact  that 
Hook  without  a  name.  New- York  Island  is  Van  Meteren  says  with  regard  to  Hudson's  ex- 
"  Manahatin,"  and  Jersey  "  Mannahata."  The  ploration  in  latitude  40°  N. :"  This  idea  had  been 
river,  which  has  no  name,  is  made  to  extend  to  suggested  to  Hudson  by  some  letters  and  maps 
the  great  lakes.  Much  that  evidently  was  on  the  which  his  friend  Captain  Smith  had  sent  him  from 
original  map  is  omitted  in  the  Velasco  copy.  A  Virginia,  and  by  which  he  informed  him  that 
legend  west  of  the  Hudson  region  says:  ''All  the  there  was  a  sea  leading  to  the  western  ocean  by 
blue  is  dune  by  the  relations  of  the  Indians."  I  the  north  side  of  the  southern  English  colony.'' 
am  indebted  to  Mr.  Brown  for  a  full-size  copy  of  Asher  suggests  that  one  of  the  maps  sent  by 
a  portion.  He  says :  "  The  copy  in  the  '  Genesis'  Smith  to  Hudson  was  Lok's  Verrazano  Map  pub- 
is  two-thirds  of  the  original.  The  colors  used  in  lished  in  Hakluyt's"  Divers  Voyages,"  and  Ribeiro's 
the  original  are  black,  blue,  brown,  and  yellow.  Map.  He  also  reminds  us  of  Smith's  long  resi- 
Their  use,  with  the  exception  of  the  Indian  iegend,  dence  among  the  Indians,  and  his  opportunities 
is  not  explained,  but  I  am  convinced  that  they  for  obtaining  knowledge  of  them  with  respect 
indicate  the  different  surveys  from  which  the  map  to  the  geography  of  the  country.  It  is  probable 
was  compiled. "  The  map  is  in  the  "  General  Ar-  that  if  Asher  had  known  of  this  English  map 
chives  of  Simancas,"  vol.  2588,  fol.  22.  that  was  made  for  James  I.,  in  1610,  he  would 

2  Hudson's  "  Journal  "  would  seem  to  be  seeking  have  said  that,  among  the  maps  furnished  Hud- 
tocorrectafalseimpressionpreviouslyabroadwith  son,  was  a  map  similar  to  this,  with  its  broad 
regard  to  the  proper  application  of  the  name  river  leading  to  an  inJand   sea,  which  is  indi- 


EXPLORATIONS    OF    THE    NORTH    AMERICAN    COAST 


31 


stream  which,  in  some  way,  communicated  with  the  Pacific.  On  the 
original  map  of  which  Velasco's  example  was  a  copy,  the  land  west  of 
the  river  was  colored  blue,  and  the  legend  says  that  it  is  described  by 
information  drawn  from  the  Indians.1  What  we  need  now  is  the 
original  map,  which  may  still  exist  in  some  obscure  collection  in 
England  or  Holland,  and  quite  as  likely  in  the  archives  of  Spain,  sent 
thither  by  jealous  Spanish  spies, 
who  lingered,  like  Velasco,  at  the 
court  of  James  I.,  to  learn  what 
they  could  with  respect  to  Eng- 
lish enterprise  in  America.2  At 
all  events  we  have  in  this  English 
map  the  first  seventeenth  century 
delineation  of  this  region,  and  one 
showing  that  the  English  knew 
the  form  and  general  character 
of  the  country  which  the  crown 
conveyed  to  the  colonists  of 
North  and  South  Virginia  in 
1606.  So  far  as  now  known, 
it  was  clearly  the  English  who 
first  became  acquainted  with  the 
name  that  the  Aborigines  applied 
to  the  island  upon  which  our 
great  metropolitan  city  stands.3 
Whether  or  not  this  was  an 
aboriginal  word  or  a  corruption  of  a  Castilian  term  future  inves- 
tigators may  decide.  The  unexpected  finding  of  this  old  English 


cated  without  a  western  end.  Hudson  hoped 
to  find  the  representation  true,  but  returned  to 
Holland  disappointed  and  chagrined.  The  Figu- 
rative Map  of  1614-16  exhibits  the  Hudson,  show- 
ing the  termination  of  the  river  iu  a  shallow, 
innavigable  stream.  This  Figurative  Map  shows 
the  result  of  Hudson's  exploration. 

1  This  map  was  sent  to  Spain  with  a  copy  of  a 
plan  of  Fort  Popham,  built  on  the  Kennebec,  the 
ancient  Sagadehoc,  by  the  English  colonists  of 
1607.    Evidently  the  map  and  the  plan,  which  is 
simply    invaluable,    proceeded    from    the    same 
source. 

2  Everything  goes  to  prove  that  the  Spaniards 
were  watching  the  English,  and  the  English  the 
Dutch  ;  while  in  1607  the  Popham  expedition  was 
delayed  at  the  Azores  by  a  Dutch  vessel.    An  un- 
published letter,  written  off  the  Isle  of  Wight, 
May  4,  1623,  shows  that  the  English  knew  of  the 
intention  of  the  Dutch  to  settle  on  the  Hudson  in 
1623,  and  were  prepared  to  sink  their  ship.     This 
map  of  1610  could  not,  as  has  been  suggested, 
have  resulted  from  the  observations  of  Argall  in 
1610.  Argall  sailed  from  Jamestown  to  Sagadehoc, 


but  his  journal  shows  that  he  did  not  approach 
this  neighborhood,  either  in  going  or  returning. 
See  "Journal"  in  Purchas,  4:  1758-1762;  and 
Brown's  "Genesis,"  1:  428.  Strachey,  indeed, 
referring  to  Argall's  voyage  of  June-August, 
1610,  says  that  "he  made  good  from  44  degrees, 
what  Captayne  Barthol.  Gosnoll  and  Captayne 
Waymouth  wanted  in  their  discoveries,  observing 
all  along  the  coast  and  drawing  platts  thereof  as 
he  steered  homewards,  unto  our  Bay."  "  Gene- 
sis," 1 :  457.  The  most  superficial  examination  of 
the  "Journal,"  however,  shows  that  he  did  not 
anywhere  come  in  sight  of  the  coast,  and  that,  in 
sailing,  he  went  about  fifty  miles  east  of  Cape  Cod. 
This  map  gives  a  new  and  controlling  fact. 

3  On  the  origin  of  the  name  "Manhattan,"  see 
Narr.  and  Crit.  Hist.,  4 :  434,  in  connection 
with  the  "Figurative  Map,"  bearing  the  word 
"  Capitanasses,"  which  may  suggest  the  Spanish 
capitan6zo,  while  Manhattan,  which  may  come 
from  the  Spanish  monas,  appears  in  some  maps 
as  "  Monados  "  and  "  Manatoes,"  etc.  The  English 
map  with  its  "  Manahatin"  furnishes  the  earliest 
form  that  most  resembles  the  present. 


32  HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YOKK 

map  in  the  Spanish  archives  revives  our  hopes  relating  to  the 
discovery  of  new  sources  of  information  concerning  early  voyages 
to  this  coast.  English  enterprise  and  adventure  on  the  Virginia 
coast,  extending  from  Raleigh's  expedition,  1584,  to  Gosuold's  fatal 
quest,  1603,  must  have  brought  Englishmen  into  the  Bay  of  New- 
York,  unless  miracle  was  balanced  against  curiosity  and  chance. 
There  are  archives  yet  to  be  opened  that  may  give  the  origin  of 
the  delineations  of  this  region  found  in  the  remarkable  map  from 
Samancas,  and  we  need  to  be  cautious  in  making  claims  even  for 
the  priority  of  the  Dutch  in  1598. 

The  period  under  consideration  was  a  period  of  reconnoissance,  one 
that  offered  some  romantic  incident,  but  more  of  disappointment  and 
mortification.  Here  was  a  site  for  one  of  the  noblest  cities  in  the 
world,  but  the  voyager  was  blind.  The  river  offered  no  route  to  the 
gorgeous  Indies,  and  Verrazano  had  little  inclination  to  test  its  swift 
tide.  Gomez,  in  the  short  January  days  of  1525,  had  no  desire  to 
ascend,  for  when  his  ship  met  the  drift  ice  tossing  on  the  cold,  swirling 
stream,  he  thought  of  Anthony  in  his  desolate  retreat  on  the  Red  Sea, 
put  the  river  under  his  charge,  and  sailed  away  in  search  of  happier 
shores.  Sailors  of  other  nationalities,  doubtless,  ascended  the  river ; 
but,  finding  it  simply  a  river,  they  took  what  peltries  they  could  get, 
and,  like  Gomez,  turned  the  whole  region  over  to  the  care  of  the 
solitary  Saint,  who  for  nearly  a  century  stood  connected  with  its 
neglect.  Much  remained  to  be  done  before  steps  could  be  taken  with 
regard  to  colonization.  The  initial  work,  however,  was  inaugurated 
by  the  sturdy  Englishman,  Henry  Hudson,  and  in  a  succeeding  chapter 
the  proud  Spanish  caravel  disappears,  while  the  curtain  rises  upon 
the  memorable  voyage  of  the  quaint  Dutch  fly-boat,  the  Half-Moon. 

Translation  of  the  fac-simile  page  of  the  Colum-  found  no  towns  nor  villages  on  the  seacoast,  ex- 
bus  letter  (page  2) :  cept  a  few  small  Settlements,  where  it  was  impos- 

"  SIR:  As  I  know  you  will  be  rejoiced  at  the  sible  to  speak  to  the  people,  because  they  fled  at 

glorious  success  that  our  Lord  has  given  me  in  my  once,  I  continued  the  said  route  thinking  I  could 

voyage,  I  write  this  to  tell  you  how  in  thirty-three  not  fail  to  see  some  great  cities  or  towns ;  and 

days  I  sailed  to  the  Indies  with  the  fleet  that  the  finding  at  the  end  of  many  leagues  that  nothing 

Illustrious  King  and  Queen  our  Sovereigns  gave  new  appeared,  and  that  the  coast  led  northward 

me,  where  I  discovered  a  great  many  islands  in-  contrary  to  my  wish,  because  the  winter  had 

habited  by  innumerable  people,  and  of  all  I  have  already  set  in,  I  decided  to  make  for  the  south, 

taken  possession  for  their  Highnesses  by  procla-  and  as  the  wind  also  was  against  my  proceeding, 

mation  and  display  of  the  Royal  Standard,  with-  I  determined  not  to  wait  there  longer,  and  turned 

out  opposition.  To  the  first  island  I  discovered  I  back  to  a  certain  port,  from  whence  I  sent  two 

gave  the  name  of  San  Salvador,  in  commemora-  men  on  shore  to  find  out  whether  there  was  any 

tion  of  His  Divine  Majesty,  who  has  wonderfully  king  or  large  city.  They  explored  for  three  days 

granted  all  this.  The  Indians  call  it  Guanaham.  and  found  numerous  small  communities  and  innu- 

The  second  I  named  the  Island  of  Santa  Maria  de  merable  people,  but  could  hear  of  no  kind  of  Gov- 

Concepcion ;  the  third,  Fernandina ;  the  fourth,  ernment.  so  they  returned.  I  heard  from  other 

Ysabella ;  the  fifth,  Juana  ;  and  thus  to  each  one  Indians  I  had  already  taken  that  this  land  was  an 

I  gave  a  new  name.  When  I  came  to  Juana,  I  island,  and  thus  followed  the  eastern  coast  for  one 

followed  the  coast  of  that  isle  towards  the  west,  hundred  and  seven  leagues,  until  I  came  to  the 

and  found  it  so  extensive  that  I  thought  it  might  end  of  it.  Prom  that  point  I  saw  another  isle  to 

be  mainland,  the  province  of  Cathay ;  and  as  I  the  east." 


34  HISTORY    OF    NEW- YORK. 

but  the  more  important  fact,  in  this  connection,  that  it  fixes  beyond 
all  question  either  the  precise  object,  or  the  district  of  country  to 
which  the  original  inhabitants  gave  the  name,  which,  after  passing 
through  many  changes  in  orthography,  is  now  written  "  Manhattan," 
and  is  applied  specifically  to  the  island  which  throbs  with  the  activities 
of  the  metropolis  of  the  nation.1 

"  On  that  side  of  the  river  called  Manna-hata  "  was  taken  by  Hud- 
son to  Holland,  and  embraced  the  only  name  which  had  been  given  to 
him  by  the  native  inhabitants  as  that  of  any  of  the  points  which  he 
had  visited,  and  it  was  at  once  adopted  as  defining  the  bay  and  the 
harbor  in  which  the  Half -Moon  anchored,  and  also  as  the  name  of  the 
native  inhabitants  who  resided  in  that  vicinity,  who,  although  im- 
properly classified  by  it,  will  continue  to  bear  on  the  pages  of  history, 
to  the  latest  recorded  time,  the  title  of  Manhattans. 

Who  were  the  Manhattans  as  embraced  in  this  general  classifica- 
tion ?  "  With  the  Manhattans  we  include,"  says  Van  der  Donck, 
"  those  who  live  in  the  neighboring  places  along  the  North  Eiver,  on 
Long  Island,  and  at  the  Neversinks."  De  Easieres,  writing  in  1627  or 
1628,  says,  referring  to  Long  Island,  "  It  is  inhabited  by  the  old  Man- 
hattans" (Manhatesen),  and  Block  bears  testimony  in  1614  that  he  was 
fed  and  protected,  after  his  vessel  had  been  wrecked  in  the  lower  bay, 
"  by  the  Manhattans  "  of  Long  Island.  These  statements  show  con- 
clusively that  the  application  of  the  name  was  made  under  the  cir- 
cumstances which  have  been  stated,  and  was  due  to  the  absence  of  any 
other,  being  justifiable  not  only  for  that  reason,  but  also  on  account 
of  the  similarity  of  dialect  and  the  evidences  which  were  apparent  that 
the  people  were  generically  allied.  The  illusion,  however,  did  not 
long  continue.  Under  the  inspiration  of  more  intelligent  examina- 

tion,  De  Laet  wrote :  "  On  the  east  side, 
on  the  mainland,  dwell  the  Manhat- 
tans";  and  Wassenaer  adds,  in  1632, 
"On  the  east  side,  on  the  mainland, 
dwell  the  Manhattans ;  a  bad  race  of  savages,  who  have  always 
been  unfriendly  to  our  people.  On  the  west  side  are  the  Sanhi- 
kans,  who  are  the  deadly  enemies  of  the  Manhattans,  and  a  much 
better  people.  They  dwell  along  the  bay,  and  in  the  interior." 
Later  still  it  came  to  be  known  that  there  were  no  Manhattans — that 
the  chieftaincy  or  clan  to  which  Wassenaer  and  De  Laet  had  given 
the  title  as  a  last  resort,  defining  them  as  living  "  on  the  mainland  on 
the  east  side,"  bore  the  name  of  the  Reckgawawancs,  and  that  they 
were  a  sub-tribe  or  chieftaincy  of  the  Siwanoys,  "  one  of  the  seven 

l  De  Vries  confirms  Hudson's  location  of  the  evening  at  the  Manattes,  opposite  Fort  Amster- 
name.  Relating  his  return  voyage  from  a  visit  dam." — "New  York  Historical  Society  Collec- 
to  Hartford,  in  1639,  he  writes  :  "  Arrived  about  tions,  Second  Series,  1 :  261. 


THE    NATIVE    INHABITANTS    OF    MANHATTAN 


35 


l 


v  l  N  G  E 


tribes  of  the  sea-coast,"  and  one  of  the  largest  of  the  sub-divisions  of 
the  Wapanachki,  or  "  Men  of  the  East,"  who  were  indeed  a  very  dif- 
ferent people  from  the  Sanhikans,  their  neighbors  on  the  west  side  of 
the  Hudson  River. 

Notwithstanding  the  stern  logic  of  facts,  it  is  not  an  agreeable  task 
to  divest  Manhattan  Island  of  other  claim  to  that  title  than  that  of 
adoption  ;  to  break  the  glamour  which  enshrines  the  Manhattans,  or 
destroy  the  fine  interpretations  which  have  been  given  to  their  pre- 
sumed name  ;  yet  it  cannot  longer  be  received  as  an  historical  fact  that 
the  name  Manhattan  is  from  or  after  the  tribe  of  savages  among  whom 
the  Dutch  made  their  first  settle- 
ment, nor  can  the  interpretation 
be  accepted  that  the  name  was  NIEUVV-  NEDERLANT 
from  Menohhanet,  in  Mohican  the 

armivnlpnf   rvF 
eqUlVaie 

ing  "the  people  of  the  islands"; 

for  both  are  incorrect.    The  Man- 

na-hata  of  Hudson  did  not  refer 

to  the  east  side  of  the  river,  nor 

to  a  people,  but  was  and  is  a  com- 

pound Algonquin  descriptive  term, 

than  which  there  is   none  more 

pure,  none  more  comprehensive, 

and  none  more  appropriate  to  the 

object  described.    Divested  of  its 

coalescents  it  presents  ma,  as  in 

Manitto,  the  Great  Spirit,  or,  in  a 

more  modified  sense,  any  object 

that  is  noble  or  that  may  command 

reverence;   na,   excellence,  abun- 

dance, something  surpassing;  ata 

or  ta,  a  beautiful  scene,  valley,  or  landscape,  or,  omitting  the  final  a, 

atj  an  object  near  by.    The  significance  of  these  root  terms  cannot 

be  escaped.     How  charmed  Hudson  was  when  he  gazed  upon  the 

primeval  beauties  of  the  landscape  which  enveloped  his  little  ship, 

as  it  rocked  on  the  ocean  swells  of  the  great  river  of  the  moun- 

tains, Juet  did  not  attempt  to  conceal.     Standing  upon  the  deck  of 

the  Half  -Moon,  and  gazing  out  upon  the  territory  to  which  the  term 

l  "Description  of  New  Netherland  (as  it  is  to-day)  and  habits  of  the  Beavers;  to  which  is  added  a 
comprising  the  nature,  character,  situation,  and 
fertility  of  the  said  country  ;  together  with  the  ad- 
vantageous and  desirable  circumstances  (both  of 
their  own  production  and  as  brought  about  by  ex- 
ternal causes)  for  the  support  of  people  which  pre- 
vail there  ;  as  also  the  manners  and  peculiar 


Or  as  defin-      BegrijpendedeNamre,Aert,gelcgentheytenvrucht- 
baerheytvanhctftlveLantjmitfgadcrsdeproffijtelijckecn- 
degcwenftctocvallen.dieaidaer  tot  onderhout  der  Meufcben ,  (foo 
uy  t  bacr  felven  all  van  buytcn  ingebracht )  gevondcn  wordcn. 

A    L    S        M    B  D    B 

Demaniete  en  ongljememe  r  pgrnfcijappm 
•  toanDc  roilDmoftr$aturcllmlJan«n1tanar. 

Een  byfondcr  verhael  vanden  wondcrlijcken  Acre 

«nde  het  Weefen  dcr  B  E  V  f.  R  S  , 
DAER   N-ocu    BY   GEVOEOHT  Is 

<?tn Wrourg  ourr  tie  gtlcgtnt htpt  ban  Nieuw  Nederlandc > 

tUfftJtn  ten  Nederlandts  Patriot  ,  (ntK  CfH 
•  Nieuw  Ncderlander. 
"Sefcbrerm  doer 

A   D    R    I   A   E    N    vander    D    O    N    C  "K , 

Bcyder  Rechten  Doftoor,  die  teghenwobp- 

<Ugh  noch  in  Nieuw  Ncderlant  is. 


PA  E  M  S  T  E  L  D  A  M, 


23p  Evert  Nicuwenhof,  ;3occh-btrhooptr  /  teoonniDtop't 
*Uiftan&tin't£cl)2!jf-bo«ft/  Anno  i6ff, 

TITLE-PAGE    OF    VAN    DER    DONCK'S    WORK.1 


qualities  of  the  Wild  Men  or  Natives  of  the  Land. 
And  a  separate  account  of  the  wonderful  character 


Conversation  on  the  condition  of  New  Netherland 
between  a  Netherland  patriot  and  a  New  Nether- 
lander, described  by  AdriaenVan  der  Donck,  Doctor 
in  Both  Laws,  who  is  at  present  still  in  New  Neth- 
erland. In  Amsterdam,  at  Evert  Nieuwenhof's, 
Bookseller'  dwelling  on  the  Rusland  [street]  in 
the  Writing-book,  Anno  1655."  EDITOR. 


36  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

applied,  well  may  he  have  exclaimed, "  Manna-hata,  the  handsomest 
and  pleasantest  country  that  man  can  behold " ;  and  well  may  Ver- 
razano  have  written  of  its  people,  "Manna-hata — kings  more  beauti- 
ful in  form  and  stature  than  can  possibly  be  described." 

^u* we  may  n°t  c^s~ 

Pense  with  the  history 
of  the  period,  or  that 
of  the  people,  during  which  the  term  Manhattans  was  presumed  to 
embrace  the  native  inhabitants  who  lived  "  in  the  neighboring  places 
along  the  North  River,  on  Long  Island,  and  at  the  Neversinks,"  because 
it  is  necessarily  a  part  of  the  early  history  of  the  Indians  with  whom 
the  Dutch  first  came  in  contact,  and  reveals  them  in  a  light  that 
cannot  be  so  comprehensively  stated  in  any  other  connection,  for 
it  must  be  acknowledged  that  to  pass  intelligent  judgment  on  the  ab- 
origines of  America,  and  especially  on  those  to  whom  the  Dutch  gave 
the  title  of  Manhattans,  they  must  be  taken  as  they  were  found,  and 
not  as  they  may  have  generally  appeared  after  years  of  association 
with  Europeans,  and  when  they  had  become  the  victims  of  their 
cupidity,  their  inhumanity,  and  their  vices.  Verrazano,  who  sailed 
along  the  coast  of  North  America  in  1524,  speaks  of  the  natives  whom 
he  met  in  this  vicinity  as  being  "  dressed  out  with  the  feathers  of  birds 
of  various  colors" — "the  finest-looking  tribe  and  the  handsomest  in 
their  costumes  "  of  any  that  he  had  found  on  his  voyage.  In  person, 
he  says,  they  were  of  good  proportions,  of  middle  stature,  broad 
across  the  breast,  strong  in  the  arms,  and  well-formed.  Among  those 
who  came  on  board  his  vessel  were  "  two  kings  more  beautiful  in  form 
and  stature  than  can  possibly  be  described " ;  one  was  perhaps  forty 
years  old,  and  the  other  about  twenty-four.  "They  were  dressed," 
he  continues,  "  in  the  following  manner :  the  oldest  had  a  deer-skin 
around  his  body,  artificially  wrought  in  damask  figures,  his  head 
without  covering ;  his  hair  was  tied  back  in  various  knots ;  around  his 
neck  he  wore  a  large  chain  ornamented  with  many  stones  of  different 
colors.  The  young  man  was  similar  in  his  general  appearance."  In 
size,  he  says,  "  they  exceed  us,  their  complexion  tawny,  inclining  to 
white,  their  faces  sharp,  their  hair  long  and  black,  their  eyes  black 
and  sharp,  their  expression  mild  and  pleasant,  greatly  resembling  the 
antique."  The  women,  he  says,  were  "  of  the  same  form  and  beauty, 
very  graceful,  of  fine  countenances  and  pleasing  appearance  in  man- 
ners and  modesty.  They  wore  no  clothing  except  a  deer-skin  orna- 
mented like  those  of  the  men."  Some  had  "very  rich  lynx-skins 
upon  their  arms,  and  various  ornaments  upon  their  heads,  composed 
of  braids  of  hair,"  which  hung  down  upon  their  breasts  upon  each 
side.  The  older  and  the  married  people,  both  men  and  women,  "  wore 
many  ornaments  in  their  ears,  hanging  down  in  the  oriental  manner." 


THE    NATIVE    INHABITANTS    OF    MANHATTAN 


37 


In  disposition  they  were  generous,  giving  away  whatever  they  had ; 
of  their  wives  they  were  careful,  always  leaving  them  in  their  boats 
when  they  caine  on  shipboard,  and  their  general  deportment  was  such 
that  with  them,  he  says,  "  we  formed  a  great  friendship." 

Eighty-five  years  later,  Hudson  writes :  "  Many  of  the  people  came 
on  board,  some  in  mantles  of  feathers,  and  some  in  skins  of  divers 
sorts  of  good  furs."  The  Dutch  historians,  Wassenaer,  Van  der  Douck, 
and  others,  agree  that  the  natives  were  generally  well-limbed,  slender 
around  the  waist,  and  broad-shouldered;  that  they  had  black  hair 
and  eyes,  and  snow-white  teeth,  and  resembled  the  Brazilians  in 
color.  The  dress  of  the  Indian  belle  was  more  attractive  than  any 
which  civilized  life  has  produced.  Van  der  Donck  writes :  "  The 
women  wear  a  cloth  around  their  bodies,  fastened  by  a  girdle  which 
extends  below  their  knees,  and  is  as  much  as  a  petticoat ;  but  next  to 
the  body  under  this  skirt  they  wear  a  dressed  deer-skin  coat,  girt 
around  the  waist.  The  lower  body  of  the  skirt  they  ornament  with 
great  art,  and  nestle  the  same  with  stripes  which  are  beautifully  deco- 
rated with  wampum.  The  wampum  with  which  one  of  these  skirts  is 
decorated  is  frequently  worth  from  one  to  three  hundred  guilders. 
They  bind  their  hair  behind  in  a  club  of  about  a  hand  long,  in  the 
form  of  a  beaver's  tail,  over  which  they  draw  a  square  cap,  which  is 
frequently  ornamented  with  wampum. 
When  they  desire  to  be  fine  they  draw 
a  headband  around  the  forehead,  which 
is  also  ornamented  with  wampum,  etc. 
This  band  confines  the  hair  smooth, 
and  is  fastened  behind,  over  the  club, 
for  a  beau's  knot.  Their  head-dress 
forms  a  handsome  and  lively  appearance. 
Around  their  necks  they  wear  various  or- 
naments, which  are  also  decorated  with  wam- 
pum. Those  they  esteem  as  highly  as  our 
ladies  do  their  pearl  necklaces.  They  also 
wear  handbands  or  bracelets,  curiously  wrought 
and  interwoven  with  wampum.  Their  breasts 
appear  about  half  covered  with  an  elegant  wrought 
dress.  They  wear  beautiful  girdles,  ornamented  with 
their  favorite  wampum,  and  costly  ornaments  in  their 
ears.  Here  and  there  they  lay  upon  their  faces  black 
spots  of  paint.  Elk-hide  moccasins  they  wore  before 
the  Dutch  came,"  and  they  too  were  richly  ornamented." 
Shoes  and  stockings  they  obtained  from  the  Dutch,  and  also  bonnets. 

Not  only  were  they  a  people  of  taste  and  industry,  but  in  morals 
they  were  quite  the  peers  of  their  Dutch  neighbors ;  indeed,  had  the 


A    BELT    OP 
WAMPUM. 


38  HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YOKK 

Dutch,  with  all  their  boasted  civilization  and  Christian  principles,  been 
the  superiors  of  the  untutored  savages  they  would  not  have  been 
dragged  down  to  their  level  and  destroyed  by  their  vices.  Chastity 
was  an  established  principle  with  them.  To  be  unchaste  during  wed- 
lock was  held  to  be  very  disgraceful.  Foul  and  improper  language 
was  despised  by  them.  Most  of  the  diseases  incident  to  females  of 
the  present  day  were  unknown  to  them.  So  highly  were  the  women 
esteemed  that  the  Dutch  made  wives  of  them,  and  refused  to  leave 
them  for  females  of  their  own  country.  Instances  could  be  named 
where  the  blood  of  the  boasted  ancient  Knickerbockers  was  enriched 
by  that  of  those  who  were  called  Manhattans.1 

Their  food,  says  one  Dutch  writer,  was  gross,  "for  they  drank 
water,  having  no  other  beverage."  They  ate  the  flesh  of  all  sorts  of 
game  and  fish,  and  made  bread  of  Indian  meal  and  baked  it  in  hot 
ashes ;  they  also  made  "  a  pap  or  porridge,  called  by  some  sapsis,  by 
others  dundare  (literally  boiled  bread),  in  which  they  mixed  beans  of 
different  colors,  which  they  raised."  The  maize,  from  which  their 
bread  and  sapsis  were  made,  was  raised  by  themselves,  and  was 
broken  up  or  ground  in  rude  mortars.  Beavers'  tails,  the  brains  of 
fish,  and  their  sapsis,  ornamented  with  beans,  were  their  state  dishes 
and  highest  luxuries.  They  knew  how  to  preserve  meat  and  fish  by 
smoking,  and  when  hunting  or  while  on  a  journey  carried  with  them 
corn  roasted  whole.  The  occupations  of  the  men  were  hunting,  fish- 
ing, and  war.  The  women  made  clothing  of  skins,  prepared  food, 
cultivated  the  fields  of  corn,  beans,  and  squashes,  and  made  mats. 
They  were  workers  and  faithful  helpmates,  and  shared  in  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  nation,  having  rights  granted  to  them  which  are  not 
conceded  to  females  in  civilized  countries. 

They  were  a  wealthy  people.  The  treasure-chest  of  the  savage 
world  was  in  their  keeping,  in  the  inside  little  pillars  of  the  conch- 
shells,  which  the  sea  cast  up  twice  a  year,  and  from  the  inside  of  the 
shell  of  the  quahoug.  The  former  was  called  wampum,  signifying 
white,  and  the  latter  sucki,  signifying  black.  The  black  was  the  most 
valuable.  The  shell  of  the  quahoug  was  broken  and  about  half  an  inch 
of  the  purple  color  of  the  inside  chipped  out,  ground  down  into 
beads,  bored  with  sharp  stones,  and  strung  upon  the  sinews  of  ani- 
mals. The  black  was  the  gold,  the  white  the  silver,  and  as  such 
formed  the  circulating  medium  of  the  country,  for  both  the  Indians 
and  their  European  neighbors,  the  latter  regulating  its  price  by  law 
and  receiving  it  for  both  goods  and  taxes.  Three  purple  or  black 
beads,  or  six  of  white,  were  equal  to  a  stiver  among  the  Dutch,  or 

l  "  Several  of  our  Netherlander  were  connected  N.  Y.  Hist.  Soc.  Col.,  Second  Series,  1 :  191.  "  We 
with  them  before  our  women  came  over,  and  re-  have  given  them  our  daughters  for  wives,  by  whom, 
main  firm  in  their  attachments." — Vander  Donck,  they  had  children." — De  Vries,  Ib.,  p.  271. 


THE    NATIVE    INHABITANTS    OF    MANHATTAN 


39 


a  penny  among  the  English.  A  single  string  of  wampum  of  one 
fathom  ruled  as  high  as  five  shillings  in  New  England,  and  is  known 
in  New  Netherland  to  have  reached  as  high  as  four  guilders,  or  one 
dollar  and  sixty  cents.  Aside  from  its  commercial  value,  it  was  used, 
as  already  stated,  for  the  ornamentation  of  dresses,  and  when  the 
strings  were  united  they  formed  the  broad  wampum  belts  which 
figured  in  solemn  public  transactions.  The  In- 
dians made  it  with  their  imperfect  implements  on 
the  Matouwacka  and  Manacknong  islands,  where 
great  banks  of  broken  shells,  the  accumulation  of 
ages,  remain.1  When  the  patient  and  painstak^ 
ing  labor  that  was  required  to  produce  it  in  the 
quantities  that  were  required  is  considered,  the 
admission  will  be  forced  that  these  so-called 
savages  were  not  mere  idle  vagabonds,  but  that 
they  occupied  a  much  higher  plane  than  has 
been  generally  assigned  to  them.  True,  their  in- 
dustry and  development  brought  upon  them  raids 
by  the  barbarians  of  the  interior  country,  and 
compelled  them  to  purchase  peace  by  the  pay- 
ment of  tribute  ;  but  the  many  evidences  of  their 
primal  genius  and  prosperity  still  remain. 

The  houses  which  they  occupied  were,  for  the 
most  part,  built  after  one  plan,  differing  only  in 
length,  according  to  the  number  of  families  em- 


INDIAN  BOWS  AND  ARROWS. 


braced  in  the  clan.  They  were  formed  by  long, 
slender  hickory  saplings  set  in  the  ground,  in  a  straight  line  of  two 
rows,  as  far  asunder  as  they  intended  the  width  to  be,  and  continued 
as  far  as  they  intended  the  length  to  be.  The  poles  were  then  bent 
towards  each  other  at  the  top  in  the  form  of  an  arch  and  secured 
together,  giving  the  appearance  of  a  garden  arbor.  Split  poles  were 
lathed  up  the  sides  and  roof,  and  over  this  was  bark,  lapped  on  the 
ends  and  edges,  which  was  kept  in  place  by  withes  to  the  lathings. 
A  hole  was  left  in  the  roof  for  smoke  to  escape,  and  a  single  door  of 
entrance  was  provided.  Rarely  exceeding  twenty  feet  in  width,  these 
houses  were  sometimes  a  hundred  and  eighty  yards  long.  From  six- 
teen to  eighteen  families  occupied  one  house,  according  to  its  size.  A 
single  fire  in  the  center  served  them  all,  although  each  family  occupied 
at  night  its  particular  division  and  mats.  The  modern  "  flat n  houses 
that  tower  up  fourteen  stories  are,  of  course,  an  improvement  upon 
these  rude  structures  (as  seen  in  the  illustration  on  another  page),  but 
are  little  more  than  the  Indian  plan  of  building  elevated. 

l  The  Dutch,  in  adopting  the  currency,  applied  to  its  manufacture  the  proper  tools,  and  made  it 

at  Hackensack,  N.  J. 


40  HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YORK 

A  number  of  these  houses  together  formed  a  village,  and  these 
villages  were  usually  situated  on  the  side  of  a  steep,  high  hill,  near  a 
stream  of  water,  or  on  a  level  plain  on  the  crown  of  a  hill,  and  were 
inclosed  with  a  strong  stockade,  which  was  constructed  by  laying  on 
the  ground  large  logs  of  wood  for  a  foundation,  on  both  sides  of  which 
oak  palisades  were  set  in  the  ground,  the  upper  ends  of  which  crossed 
each  other  and  were  joined  together.  The  villages  so  stockaded  were 
called  castles  and  were  the  winter  retreats  of  families  of  the  same  sub- 
tribe  or  chieftaincy,  the  nomadic  members  of  which  found  the  open 
forests  or  the  seaside  more  congenial  in  the  summer  season,  where 
they  made  huts  for  temporary  occupancy,  caught  fish,  and  cultivated 
maize  and  beans  and  squashes  for  winter  use. 

Their  weapons  of  war  were  the  spear,  the  bow  and  arrows,  the  war- 
club,  and  the  stone  hatchet,  and  in  combat  they  protected  themselves 
with  a  square  shield  made  of  tough  leather.  A  snake-skin  tied  around 
the  head,  from  the  center  of  which  projected  the  tail  of  a  bear  or  a 
wolf,  or  a  feather,  indicating  the  totem  or  tribe  to  which  they  be- 
longed, and  a  face  not  recognizable  from  the  variety  of  colors  in  which 
it  was  painted,  was  their  uniform.  Some  of  their  arrows  were  of  ele- 
gant construction  and  tipped  with  copper,  and  when  shot  with  power 
would  pass  through  the  body  of  a  deer  as  certainly  as  the  bullet  from 
the  rifle.  The  more  common  arrows  were  tipped  with  flint,  as  well  as 
their  spears,  and  required  no  little  patience  and  skill  in  their  construc- 
tion. Armed  and  painted  and  on  the  war-path  they  were  formidable 
indeed,  while  their  war-cry,  "  Woach,  Woach,  Ha,  Ha,  Hach  Woach ! " 
aroused  a  terror  which  the  first  settlers  were  not  ashamed  to  confess. 

Not  only  were  they  a  skilful  people,  as  shown  in  their  manufacture 
of  wampum  and  of  their  implements  of  war  and  pipes,  surprising  the 
Dutch  that  "  in  so  great  a  want  of  iron  implements  "  they  were  "  able 
to  carve  the  stone,"  but  they  had  at  least  an  elementary  knowledge  of 
the  arts.  "  They  know  how  to  prepare  a  coloring,"  writes  Van  der 
Donck,  "  wherein  they  dye  their  hair  a  beautiful  scarlet,  which  excites 
our  astonishment  and  curiosity.  The  color  is  so  well  fixed  that  rain, 
sun,  and  wind  will  not  change  it.  Although  they  do  not  appear  to 
possess  any  particular  art  in  this  matter,  still  such  beautiful  red  was 
never  dyed  in  the  Netherlands  with  any  material  known  to  us.  The 
colored  articles  have  been  examined  by  many  of  our  best  dyers,  who 
admire  the  color,  and  admit  that  they  cannot  imitate  the  same,  and 
remark  that  a  proper  knowledge  of  the  art  would  be  of  great  impor- 
tance in  their  profession."  The  colors  which  they  made  were  red,  blue, 
green,  brown,  white,  black,  yellow,  etc.,  which,  the  same  writer  says, 
were  "  mostly  made  of  stone,  which  they  prepared  by  pounding,  rub- 
bing, and  grinding.  To  describe  perfectly  and  truly  how  they  pre- 
pare all  these  paints  and  colors  is  out  of  my  power." 


THE    NATIVE    INHABITANTS    OF    MANHATTAN  41 

They  were  not  skilled  in  the  practice  of  medicines,  notwithstanding 
the  general  belief  on  that  subject.  They  knew  how  to  cure  wounds 
and  hurts,  and  treated  simple  diseases  successfully.  Their  general 
health  was  due  more  to  their  habits  than  to  a  knowledge  of  remedies. 
Their  principal  medical  treatment  was  the  sweating-bath.  These  baths 
were  literally  earthen  ovens  into  which  the  patient  crept,  and  around 
which  heated  stones  were  placed  to  raise  the  temperature.  When 
the  patient  had  remained  under  perspiration  for  a  certain  time  he 
was  taken  out  and  immersed  suddenly  in  cold  water,  a  process  which 
served  to  cure,  or  certainly  to  cause  death.  The  oil  which  they  obtained 
from  beavers  was  used  in  many  forms  and  for  many  purposes.  It  was 
a  specific  for  dizziness,  for  rheumatism,  for  lameness,  for  apoplexy, 
for  toothache,  for  weak  eyes,  for  gout,  and  for  almost  all  ailments. 
It  was  the  calomel  of  Indian  allopathic  practice,  and  the  Dutch  took 
to  it,  and  attached  great  value  to  it.  The  use  of  certain  herbs  and 
plants,  which  the  Indians  employed  as  remedies,  also  became  familiar 
to  the  Dutch,  and  was  transmitted  by  them  to  the  English,  one  of 
which  was  a  cathartic  from  butternut-bark.  Blood-letting  was  un- 
known to  them.  Living  natural  and  well-ordered  lives,  there  were 
none  among  them  who  were  cross-eyed,  blind,  hunch-backed,  or  de- 
formed; all  were  well-fashioned,  strong  in  constitution  and  body, 
well-proportioned,  and  without  blemish,  and  the  scientific  treatments 
of  more  advanced  civilization  would  have  found  little  or  no  employ- 
ment among  them. 

Politically  their  form  of  government  was  an  absolute  democracy, 
and  unanimity  the  only  recognized  expression  of  the  popular  will. 
Law  and  justice,  as  civilized  nations  understand  them,  were  to  them 
unknown,  yet  both  they  had  in  a  degree  suited  to  their  necessities. 
Assaults,  murders,  and  other  acts  regarded  as  criminal  offenses  by 
all  nations,  were  so  regarded  by  them,  but  the  execution  of  punish- 
ment was  vested  in  the  injured  family,  who  were  constituted  judges 
as  well  as  executioners,  and  who  could  grant  pardons  and  accept 
atonements.  The  rights  of  property  they  understood  and  respected ; 
and  half  their  wars  were  retaliatory,  for  the  taking  of  their  territory 
without  making  just  and  proper  compensation.  Their  customs  were 
their  unwritten  laws,  more  effective  than  those  that  fill  the  tomes  of 
civilized  nations,  because  taught  to  the  people  from  infancy,  and 
woven  into  every  condition  and  necessity  of  their  being. 

The  ruling  chieftaincies,  or  sub-tribal  organizations,  had  represen- 
tation in  the  council  chamber  of  the  tribe  to  which  they  were  totemic- 
ally  attached,  and  these  totemic  tribes  were  in  turn  represented  in 
national  councils.  Each  chieftaincy  or  sub-tribe  had  its  chief,  and 
each  chief  his  counselors,  the  latter  composed  either  of  experienced 
warriors  or  aged  fathers  of  families.  In  times  of  peace  nothing  could 


42 


HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YORK 


be  done  without  the  consent  of  the  council  unanimously  expressed. 
The  councils  were  conducted  with  the  gravest  demeanor  and  the 
most  impressive  dignity.  No  stranger  could  visit  them  without  a 
sensation  of  respect.  The  chiefs  were  required  to  keep  good  order, 
and  to  decide  in  all  quarrels  and  disputes;  but  they  had  no  power  to 
command,  compel,  or  punish ;  their  only  mode  of  government  was 
persuasion  and  exhortation,  and  in  departing  from  that  mode  they 
were  deposed  by  the  simple  form  of  forsaking  them.  The  constant 
restraint  which  they  were  under  in  these  respects  made  them  the 
most  courteous,  affable,  and  hospitable  of  men.  Tribal  rulership  was 
similarly  constituted,  with  the  exception  that  the  counselors  were 
from  among  the  chiefs  of  the  sub-tribes,  while  national  councils  were 


TOTEMS    OF  VARIOUS    NEW- YORK    TRIBES. 


a  duplication  of  the  tribal,  except  that  they  were  composed  of  repre- 
sentatives selected  by  the  counselors  and  chiefs  of  tribes.  In  times 
of  war  the  power  of  the  civil  government  was  suspended,  but  the 
chief  could  not  declare  war  without  the  consent  of  his  captains,  and 
the  captains  could  not  begin  hostilities  except  by  unanimous  consent. 
The  king  or  sagamore  of  the  nation  was  a  king  both  with  and  with- 
out power;  a  sovereign  whose  rule  was  perpetuated  only  through 
the  love  of  his  people ;  a  monarch  the  most  polished,  the  most  liberal, 
the  poorest  of  his  race,  one  who  ruled  by  permission,  who  received 
no  salary,  who  was  not  permitted  to  own  the  cabin  in  which  he  lived 
or  the  land  he  cultivated,  who  could  receive  no  presents  that  did  not 
become  the  property  of  the  nation,  yet  whose  larder  and  treasure- 
chest  were  never  empty. 

Tribes  and  chieftaincies  among  them  were  especially  marked  by 
totemic  emblems.  Totems  were  rude  but  distinct  armorial  bearings 
or  family  symbols,  denoting  original  consanguinity,  and  were  univer- 
sally respected.  They  were  painted  upon  the  person  of  the  Indian, 
and  again  on  the  gable  end  of  his  cabin,  "  some  in  black,  others  in 
red."  The  wandering  savage  appealed  to  his  totem,  and  was  entitled 
to  the  hospitality  of  the  wigwam  which  bore  the  corresponding  em- 
blem. The  Lenni  Lenapes  had  three  totemic  tribes :  the  Turtle,  or 
Unami ;  the  Turkey,  or  Unalachto :  and  the  Wolf,  or  Minsi.  The 
Mahicans  had  three :  the  Bear,  the  Wolf,  and  the  Turtle.  The  Turtle 


THE    NATIVE    INHABITANTS    OF    MANHATTAN  43 

and  the  Turkey  tribes  occupied  the  sea-coast  and  the  southwestern 
shore  of  the  Hudson.  The  Wappingers  bore  the  totem  of  the  Wolf, 
and  the  Mahicans  proper  that  of  the  Bear,  by  virtue  of  which  they 
were  entitled  to  the  office  of  chief  sachem,  or  king  of  the  nation.  The 
paintings  of  these  totemic  emblems  were  not  only  rude,  but,  in  the 
form  in  which  they  have  been  preserved,  those  of  the  signatures  which 
they  made  to  deeds  for  lands  were  exceedingly  so ;  yet  they  would 
compare  favorably  with  the  characters  which  were  employed  to  verify 
the  signatures  of  very  many  of  their  more  civilized  neighbors. 

Their  religion  fully  recognized  the  existence  of  God,  who  dwelt  be- 
yond the  stars,  and  a  life  immortal  in  which  they  expected  to  renew 
the  associations  of  earth.  But  with  them,  as  with  many  Christians 
of  the  present  day  practically,  God  had  less  to  do  with  the  world  than 
the  devil,  who  was  the  chief  object  of  their  fears  and  the  source  of 
their  earthly  hopes.  No  expeditions  of  hunting,  fishing,  or  war  were 
undertaken  unless  the  devil  was  first  consulted,  and  to  him  they 
offered  the  first-fruits  of  the  chase  or  of  victory.  To  him  their  ap- 
peals were  made  through  monstrous  fires,  around  which  they  danced 
and  subjected  themselves  to  strange  contortions,  and  into  which  they 
cast  their  costly  robes  of  wampum  and  their  prized  ornaments,  and 
received  their  answer  in  good  or  bad  omens.  The  blaze  of  the  fires  at 
these  conjurations  early  excited  the  attention  of  the  Dutch  and  won 
for  their  devotees  the  title  of  Sanhikans,  fire-workers,  or  worshipers  of 
Satan.  They  were  startling  in  their  effect — so  startling,  indeed,  that 
the  Hollanders,  and  other  Europeans  who  attended  them,  became  so 
greatly  influenced  by  them  that  their  observance  was  ultimately  for- 
bidden within  the  limit  of  one  hundred  miles  of  Christian  occupation. 

There  were  remarkable  conjurers  among  them,  who  could  cause 
"  ice  to  appear  in  a  bowl  of  fair  water  in  the  heat  of  summer,"  which, 
adds  the  narrator,  "  was  doubtless  done  by  the  agility  of  Satan."  For 
the  spiritual  they  cared  nothing,  but  directed  their  study  principally 
to  the  physical,  "  closely  observing  the  seasons."  Their  women  were 
the  most  experienced  star-gazers ;  scarce  one  of  them  who  could  not 
name  them  all,  give  the  time  of  their  rising  and  setting,  and  their 
position,  in  language  of  their  own.  Taurus  they  described  as  the 
horned  head  of  a  big  wild  animal  inhabiting  the  distant  country,  but 
not  theirs ;  that  when  it  rose  in  a  certain  part  of  the  heavens  then 
it  was  the  season  for  planting.  The  first  moon  following  that  at  the 
end  of  February  was  greatly  honored  by  them.  They  watched  it  with 
devotion,  and  greeted  its  appearance  with  a  festival ;  it  was  their  new 
year,  and  they  collected  together  at  their  chief  village  or  castle,  and 
reveled  in  their  way  with  wild  game  or  fish,  and  drank  clear  river 
water  to  their  fill,  "  without,"  the  narrator  says,  "  being  intoxicated." 
The  new  August  moon  was  the  occasion  of  a  festival  in  honor  of  the 


44  HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YOEK 

harvest.  The  firmament  was  to  them  an  open  book,  wherein  they 
read  the  laws  for  their  physical  well-being,  the  dial-plate  by  which 
they  marked  their  years. 

Such  were  the  people  who  were  grouped,  without  tribal  classifica- 
tion, under  Hudson's  compound  geographical  term  Manna-hata,  as  the 
Manhattans.  But,  as  already  stated,  it  was  an  erroneous  classification, 
founded  on  similarity  in  dialect,  discovered  first  by  the  Dutch  them- 
selves, as  noted  by  De  Laet,  that  "  on  the  east  side,  on  the  mainland, 
dwell  the  Manhattans,"  and  as  shown  by  subsequent  tribal  analyza- 
tion.  "  The  finest-looking  tribe,  and  the  handsomest  in  their  cos- 
tumes," that  were  met  by  Verrazano  in  1524  were  the  Matouwacks  of 
Long  Island,  or  the  Montauks,  as  more  modernly  known ;  those  who 
were  met  by  Hudson  in  Newark  Bay  in  1609,  "  clothed  in  mantles 
of  feathers  and  robes  of  fur,"  were  Raritans,  who  spread  through 
the  valley  of  the  Raritan.  Both  of  these  enlarged  chieftaincies  were 
sub-tribes  of  the  Unami,  or  Turtle  Tribe,  of  the  Lenni  Lenapes,  or 
"  Original  People,"  whose  national  council-fire  was  lighted  at  Phil- 
adelphia, and  both  were  divided  into  numerous  family  groups  or  clans 
—  the  Carnarsees,  the  Rockaways,  the  Merikokes,  the  Marsapeagues, 
the  Matinecocks,  the  Nessaquakes,  the  Setaukets,  the  Corchaugs,  the 
Manhassets,  the  Secatogues,  the  Patchogues,  and  the  Shinecocks 
being  embraced  in  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Montauks,  while  the  Rari- 
tans  are  said  to  have  been  divided  in  two  sachemdoms  and  twenty 
chieftaincies.  They  were  the  Sanhikans,  or  fire-workers,  of  Dutch 
history,  but  removed  from  the  valley  at  an  early  period  in  consequence 
of  floods  which  destroyed  their  corn.  Wyandance  was  sachem  of  the 
Montauks  when  Block  built  his  ship  among  them  in  1614,  and  may 
have  been  the  young  king  described  by  Verrazano  in  1524.  The 
Hackinsacks,  when  Hudson  anchored  in  their  jurisdiction  at  Hoboken, 
were  ruled  by  their  grand  old  sachem  Oritany,  who  had  a  following 
of  three  hundred  warriors,  and  held  his  council-fire  at  Gamoenapa. 
They  were  all  a  peaceful  people  from  Montauk  to  the  Highlands  of 
the  Hudson,  as  their  totem  sufficiently  indicates,  though  suffering 
much  from  the  wars  of  others,  and  in  the  wars  that  were  forced  upon 
them,  until  they  became  extinct,  under  the  conditions  involved  in  the 
contact  of  themselves  and  their  kindred  with  an  opposing  civilization. 

"  On  the  east  side  upon  the  mainland,"  De  Laet  locates  the  "  Manat- 
thanes."  He  subsequently  writes  more  specifically :  "  On  the  right 
or  eastern  bank  of  the  river  from  its  mouth  dwell  the  Manhatta?  or 
Manatthanes,  a  fierce  nation  and  hostile  to  our  people,  from  whom 
nevertheless  they  purchased  the  island  or  point  of  land  which  is 
separated  from  the  main  by  Helle-gat,  and  where  they  laid  the  foun- 
dations of  a  city  called  New  Amsterdam."  There  is,  however,  no  more 
trace  here  of  a  people  bearing  the  name  of  "Manhattae  or  Manatthanes," 


THE    NATIVE    INHABITANTS    OF    MANHATTAN 


45 


except  as  a  title  which  was  conferred  by  others,  than  there  is  of  such 
a  people  on  the  west  side  of  the  river,  or  on  Long  Island.  In  the  rec- 
ord of  the  wars  and  treaties  with  them,  and  in  their  deeds  transferring 
title  to  lands,  their  tribal  and  sub-tribal  names  appear  distinctly  and 
conclusively.  Daniel  Nimham,  "  a  native  Indian  and  acknowledged 
sachem  or  king  "  of  the  Wappingers,  or  Wapanachki,  is  on  record  by 
affidavit  made  October  13,  1730,  that  "  the  tribe  of  the  Wappinoes," 
of  which  he  was  king,  "  were  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  the  eastern 
shore  of  Hudson's  river  from  the  city  of  New- York  to  about  the 
middle  of  Beekman's  patent"  (Dutchess  County),  and  that,  with  the 
Mahicondas  or  Mahicans,  "  they  constituted  one  nation."  Confirmed 
as  this  affidavit  is  by  all  anterior  facts  of  record,  it  must  be  accepted 
as  definitely  determining  the  question  to  which  it  relates.  True,  the 
possibility  exists  that  at  some  period  unrecorded — perhaps  before 
the  glacial  era  of  North  America — there  was  a  people  known  as  the 
Manhatta3 ;  that  they  were  overrun  and  absorbed  by  the  Wapanachki, 


TOTEMIC    SIGNATURES    OF    INDIAN    TRIBES    AND    FAMILIES. 

and  left  behind  them  a  traditionary  name  ;  but  it  is  with  the  facts  of 
history,  and  not  with  theories  based  on  shadowy  foundations,  that  we 
have  to  do  in  this  chapter. 

The  Mahican  nation  which  were  seated  upon  the  eastern  side  of  the 
Hudson,  and  to  which  river  they  gave  their  name,  the  "  Mahicanituck," 
were  recognized  among  Indian  tribes  as  a  family  of  the  Wapan- 
achki, or  "Men  of  the  East,"  and  as  "the  oldest  sons  of  their  grand- 
father," the  Lenni  Lenapes,  or  the  "Original  People."  Generically, 
they  were  classed  as  Algonquins,  as  were  also  the  tribes  on  the  west- 
ern side  of  the  river,  and  spoke  the  same  language,  but  in  a  radically 
different  dialect.  The  clans  with  whom  they  were  in  more  immediate 
contact — the  Unamis  of  Long  Island  and  the  New  Jersey  coasts — 
crossed  this  dialect  with  that  of  their  neighbors  and  formed  that  by 
which  they  were  classified  as  Manhattans,  but  the  fact  that  they  were 
a  different  people  the  Dutch  were  not  slow  to  recognize.  Bearing  the 
totem  of  the  bear  and  the  wolf ;  equal  in  courage,  equal  in  numbers, 
equal  in  the  advantages  of  obtaining  firearms  from  the  Dutch  at 


46  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

Albany,  and  in  their  treaty  alliances  with  both  the  Dutch  and  the  Eng- 
lish governments,  they  marched  unsubdued  by  their  rivals  of  the  Iro- 
quois  confederacy,  even  while  recoiling  from  and  crumbling  under  the 
touch  of  European  civilization,  and  crowned  their  decay  by  efficient 
service  in  behalf  of  the  liberties  of  a  people  from  whose  ancestors 
they  had  suffered  all  their  woes. 

Hudson  met  the  sub-tribal  representatives  of  the  Wapanachki  in 
the  bay  of  New- York,  as  he  did  those  of  other  nations  who  gathered 
around  his  ship,  and  received  their  presents  and  evidences  of  good- 
will. While  suspicious  of  them  all  and  withholding  himself  from  too 
immediate  contact  with  them,  he  nevertheless  detained  two  of  their 
young  men  on  board,  intending  to  take  them  to  Europe  with  him. 
It  was  unfortunate  that  he  did  so,  for  when  the  Half -Moon  reached 
the  highlands  at  West  Point,  they  escaped  from  a  port,  swam  ashore, 
and  "  laughed  him  to  scorn."  On  his  return  voyage,  and  near  the 
place  where  they  made  their  escape,  he  detected  an  Indian  in  a  canoe 
pilfering  from  his  cabin  windows.  He  was  shot,  and  the  goods 
recovered,  while  the  hand  of  one  of  his  companions,  who  seized  Hud- 
son's boat  and  sought  to  overturn  it,  was  cut  off  and  he  was  drowned. 
These  occurrences  were  a  breach  of  Indian  laws ;  the  kidnapping  of 
the  young  men  being  especially  so  regarded.  When  the  Half-Moon 
reached  the  Spuyten  Duyvel,  one  of  the  savages  who  had  escaped 
came  out  to  meet  the  betrayer  of  his  confidence,  accompanied  by 
several  companions.  They  were  driven  off,  only  to  be  succeeded  by 
two  canoes  full  of  men  armed  with  bows  and  arrows,  of  whom  two  or 
three  were  killed.  Then  "  above  a  hundred  of  them  came  to  a  point 
of  land  "  to  continue  the  attack,  and  two  of  them  were  killed.  "  Yet 
they  maimed  off  another  canoe  with  nine  or  ten  men  in  it,"  of  whom 
one  was  killed  and  the  canoe  shot  through,  and  while  the  savages 
were  struggling  in  the  water  three  or  four  more  of  them  were  killed. 
Finally  escaping  from  those  whom  he  had  enraged,  Hudson  anchored 
in  Hoboken  Bay,  where  we  met  him  at  the  opening  of  this  chapter, 
"  on  that  side  of  the  river  that  is  called  Manna-hata." 

The  Wappingers,  or  Wapanachki,  whose  conflict  with  Hudson  has 
been  thus  briefly  narrated,  were  of  the  sub-tribe  or  chieftaincy  subse- 
quently known  as  the  Reckgawawancs.  The  point  of  land  from  which 
their  attacks  were  precipitated  was  on  the  north  shore  of  the  Papiri- 
nimen,1  or  Spuyten  Duyvel  Creek,  where  their  castle  or  palisaded  vil- 
lage, called  by  them  Nipinichan,  was  located.  This  castle  commanded 
the  approach  of  their  inland  territory  from  the  Mahicanituck  on  the 
south,  while  a  similarly  fortified  village  at  Yonkers,  at  the  mouth  of 

l  So  given  in  the  deed  to  Van  der  Donck  in  1646,  people  Spyt  den  Duyvel,  '  in  spite  of  the  Devil.' " 
in  which  his  tract  is  described  as  extending  from  The  same  name  is  applied  to  a  tract  of  land  "  on 
the  Neparah  "  as  far  as  Papirinimen,  called  by  our  the  north  end  of  Manhattan  Island.'' 


THE    NATIVE    INHABITANTS    OF    MANHATTAN  47 

the  Neparah,  or  Sawmill  Creek,  and  known  as  Nappeckamak,  com- 
manded the  approaches  on  the  north.  Their  territorial  jurisdiction 
extended  on  the  east  to  the  Broncks  and  East  Rivers,  and  on  the  south 
included  Manhattan  Island,  which,  however,  was  only  temporarily  oc- 
cupied during  the  seasons  of  planting  and  fishing,  their  huts  there 
constituting  their  summer  seaside  resorts,  and  remaining  unoccupied 
during  the  winter.  Their  tract  on  the  mainland  was  called  Kekesick 
— literally  "  stony  country  " —  and  is  described  as  "lying  over  against 
the  flats  of  the  island  of  Manhates."  In  "  Breeden  Raedt "  their  name 
is  given  as  Reckewackes ;  in  the  treaty  of  peace  of  1643,  as  Reckgawa- 
wancs.1  Tackarew  was  their  sachem  in  1639,  and  was  the  first  one 
holding  that  office  whose  name  appears  in  Dutch  records.  The  most 
material  point  in  connection 
with  the  chieftaincy,  however, 
is  the  very  great  certainty  that 
it  was  the  Reckgawawancs  who  sold  Manhattan  Island  to  Director 
Minuit  in  1626,  and  that  they  were  the  "  Manhattae  or  Manatthanes," 
so  called  by  De  Laet  in  1633-40. 

From  the  district  occupied  by  the  Reckgawawancs  the  chieftain- 
cies of  the  Wappingers  extended  north  and  east.  On  the  north  came 
in  succession  the  Weckquaesgecks,  who  were  especially  conspicuous 
in  the  wars  with  the  Dutch ;  the  Sint-Sinks  ;  the  Tankitekes,  and  the 
Kitchawongs,  as  far  as  Anthony's  Nose ;  and  on  the  east  the  chief- 
taincies of  the  Siwanoys,  north  of  whom  were  the  Sequins.  The 
Siwanoys,  who  are  described  as  "  one  of  the  seven  tribes  of  the  sea- 
coast,"  extended  from  Hell-gate  twenty-four  miles  east  along  the 
Sound  to  Norwalk,  Connecticut,  and  thirty  miles  into  the  interior.-  In 
their  territory  on  Pelham  Neck  two  large  mounds  are  pointed  out.  One 
of  these  is  the  sepulcher  of  Sachem  Wampage,  also  called  Ann-Hoeck, 
the  presumed  murderer  of  Anne  Hutchinson,  but  quite  as  likely  to 
have  taken  that  alias  from  some  other  circumstance.  The  other  is 
that  of  Nimham,  who  became  the  king  of  the  Wappingers  about  the 
year  1730,  and  who  sealed  his  devotion  to  the  cause  of  the  colonists 
with  his  life  in  battle  with  Colonel  Simcoe's  cavalry,  near  King's 
Bridge,  in  August,  1779. 

More  extended  reference  may  properly  be  made  to  the  Weckquaes- 
gecks, who  have  been  incidentally  spoken  of.  The  district  which  that 
chieftaincy  occupied  is  described  by  De  Vries,  in  1640,  as  u  a  place 
called  Wickquaesgeck  and  the  people  as  Wickquaesgecks."  The  place 
to  which  he  refers  was  the  principal  village  of  the  chieftaincy,  which 

l  N.  Y.  Hist.  Soc.  Col.,  Second  Series,    1  :  275;          2  "  The  natives  are  here  called  Si wanoos  and  dwell 

"  Documentary  History  of  New- York,"  4  :  102.    In  along  the  coast  for  twenty-four  miles  to  the  neigh- 

the  making  of  this  treaty  they  were  represented  borhood  of  Helle-gat,  similar  in  dress  and  manners 

by  Aepjen,  the  king  of  the  Mahicans,  to  whose  to  the  other  savages."  —  De  Laet. 
jurisdiction  they  belonged. 


48 


HISTOBY    OF    NEW-YOEK 


then  occupied  the  site  of  Dobb's  Ferry,  where,  it  is  said,  its  outlines  are 
marked  by  numerous  shell-beds.  The  capital  or  chief  seat  of  the  clan, 
however,  was  near  Stamford,  Connecticut,  where  its  sub-tribal  assem- 
blages were  held,  and  where,  on  the  occasion  of  their  gathering,  in 
February,  1643,  to  celebrate  the  advent  of  their  new  year,  which  was 
the  most  important  festival  in  the  aboriginal  calendar,  they  were 
attacked  by  Dutch  forces  under  the  leadership  of  Captain  John  Un- 

derhill,  and  all  massacred 
indiscriminately.  Wickers 
Creek,  upon  which  they 
were  located  on  the  Hud- 
son, was  called  by  them 
Wysquaqua.1  Their  sec- 
ond village  and  castle  on 
the  Hudson  was  called 
Alipconck.  Its  site  is  now 
occupied  by  the  village  of 
Tarrytown.  The  Dutch 
forces  are  said  to  have 
burned  two  of  their  stock- 
aded villages  in  1644,  and 
to  have  retained  the  third 
as  a  place  to  which  they 
might  retreat.  Conquest 

of  the  castles  destroyed  was  easily  made,  the  occupants  having 
gone  to  the  new  year  festival  near  Stamford,  where  they  were 
subsequently  slaughtered  as  already  noted.  The  castles  which  were 
destroyed  are  spoken  of  as  having  been  constructed  of  "  plank  five 
inches  thick  and  nine  feet  high,  and  braced  around  with  thick  walls 
full  of  port-holes,"  in  which  "thirty  Indians  could  have  stood  against 
two  hundred."  These  castles,  however,  were  not  those  on  the  Hudson, 
but  were  approached  from  Greenwich  on  the  Sound,  from  which  it  is 
inferred  that  they  were  tribally  a  chieftaincy  of  the  Siwanoys,  who 
were  also  known  in  the  eastern  part  of  Westchester  County  and 
in  southwestern  Connecticut  as  the  Tankitekes.  Local  designations, 
however,  are  of  little  moment.  They  were  especially  connected  with 
the  early  wars  with  the  Dutch,  and  were  members  of  the  tribal  family 
of  Wappingers,  in  confederacy  with  the  Mahicans  of  the  Mahicani- 


CONFLICT    WITH    THE    INDIANS.      (FROM    DE    BRY.) 


l  "  Wicquaskeck,  five  [ten  English]  miles  above 
New  Amsterdam,  is  very  good  and  suitable  land 
for  agriculture,  very  extensive  maize  land,  on 
which  the  Indians  have  planted.  Proceeding 
from  the  shore  and  inland,  't  is  flat  and  mostly 
level,  well  watered  by  small  streams.  This  land 
lies  between  the  Sintinck  and  Armonck  streams, 
situate  between  the  East  and  North  Rivers."  — 
Tienhoven,  Doc.  Hist.,  4:  29.  "  Opposite  Tappaeu 


lies  a  place  called  Wickquaesgeck.  This  land  is 
also  fit  for  corn,  but  too  stony  and  sandy.  \Ve  got 
there  good  masts.  The  land  is  mountainous."  — 
De  Vries.  As  in  all  other  cases,  the  name  of  the 
chieftaincy  was  not  their  own,  but  that  of  the 
place  which  they  occupied  or  the  stream  upon 
which  they  were  located.  In  this  respect  they  are 
useful  for  geographical  analysis,  but  have  en 
value  as  denning  tribes  or  nations. 


THE    NATIVE    INHABITANTS    OF    MANHATTAN  49 

tuck,  whose  triumphs  and  whose  woes,  whose  primal  vigor  and  whose 
decay  would  fill  many  chapters  of  thrilling  and  romantic  interest,  and 
of  whom  it  cannot  with  truth  be  said  that  they  left 

"  No  trace 
To  save  their  own,  or  serve  another  race." 

"  Four  distinct  languages — namely,  Manhattan,  Minqua,  Savanos, 
and  Wappanoos" — are  noted  by  the  Dutch  historians  as  having  been 
spoken  by  the  Indians.  With  the  Manhattan  they  included,  as  already 
stated,  the  dialect  spoken  in  the  neighborhood  of  Fort  Amsterdam, 
"  along  the  North  Eiver,  on  Long  Island,  and  at  the  Neversinks."  It 
was,  no  doubt,  this  classification  by  dialect  that  led  the  Dutch  to  the 
adoption  of  the  generic  title  of  Manhattans  as  the  name  of  the  people 
among  whom  they  made  settlements.  The  study  which  a  discussion 
of  Indian  dialects  invites  would  be  by  far  too  extended  for  this  work. 
Primarily,  there  were  but  two  Indian  languages,  the  Algonquin  and 
the  Iroquois  —  all  others  were  dialects.  The  dialect  of  the  Manhat- 
tans, as  well  as  that  of  the  tribes  classed  with  them,  cannot  be  described 
in  any  other  way  than  as  being  peculiar  to  themselves,  and  even 
among  themselves  the  greatest  diversity  existed.  "They  vary  fre- 
quently," writes  Wassenaer,  in  1621,  "not  over  five  or  six  miles; 
forthwith  comes  another  language ;  they  meet  and  can  hardly  under- 
stand one  another."  Illustrative  of  this  diversity,  it  may  be  remarked 
that  man,  in  Long  Island,  is  run;  wonnun,  in  Wappinoo ;  nemanoo,  in 
Mahican;  lemo,  in  Algonquin.  Mother  is  cwca,  in  Long  Island; 
okaoohj  in  Wappinoo;  okegan,  in  Mahican;  gahowes,  in  Algonquin. 
Stone  is  sun,  in  Long  Island ;  hussun,  in  Wappinoo ;  thaunumpka,  in 
Mahican ;  akhsin,  in  Algonquin.  Earth  is  keagh  in  Long  Island ;  alike, 
in  Wappinoo ;  akek,  in  Mahican  ;  aki,  akhki,  in  Algonquin.  But,  aside 
from  this  diversity,  the  fundamental  characteristic  of  the  dialects  was 
the  universal  tendency  to  express  in  the  same  word,  not  only  all  that 
modified  or  related  to  the  same  object  or  action,  but  both  the  action 
and  the  object ;  thus  concentrating  in  a  single  expression  a  complex 
idea,  or  several  ideas  among  which  there  was  natural  connection. 
"  All  other  features  of  the  language,"  remarks  Grallatin,  "  seem  to  be 
subordinate  to  that  general  principle.  The  object  in  view  has  been 
attained  by  various  terms  of  the  same  tendency  and  often  blended 
together:  a  multitude  of  inflections,  so  called;  a  still  greater  number 
of  compound  words,  sometimes  formed  by  the  coalescence  of  primi- 
tive words  not  materially  altered,  more  generally  by  the  union  of 
many  such  words  in  a  remarkably  abbreviated  form,  and  numerous 
particles,  either  significative,  or  the  original  meaning  of  which  has 
been  lost,  prefixed,  added  as  terminations,  or  inserted  in  the  body  of 
the  word." 

VOL.  I.— 4. 


50  HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YOEK 

As  a  rule,  Indian  geographical  terms  are  of  two  classes  —  general  or 
generic,  and  specific  or  local.  In  specific  names  the  combination  may 
be  simple,  as  Coxackie — <%>,  object,  and  acke,  land;  in  others  intricate, 
as  Maghaghkemeck,  in  which  acke,  land,  is  buried  in  consonants  and 
qualifying  terms.  The  terminal  of  a  word  materially  aids  but  does 
not  govern  its  translation.  Uk  or  unk  indicates  "  place  of  "  in  a  spe- 
cific sense,  as  in  Mohunk, —  ong,  "  place  of,"  in  a  more  general  sense 
as  in  Manacknong,  modified  in  Aquehonga,  as  illustrated  in  the  name 
of  Staten  Island ;  ik,  ick,  eck,  or  uk  denotes  rocks  or  stones.  Quasuck, 
applied  to  a  small  stream  of  water,  would  simply  mean  "  stony  brook," 
while  Quaspeck,  as  applied  to  a  hill,  would  signify  "  stony  hill,"  as  in 
the  case  of  Verdrietig  Hoeck,  or  Tedious  Point,  as  the  Dutch  called 
the  well-known  Hudson  headland;  ack  or  acke,  land, —  ing  or  ink, 
something  in  which  numbers  are  presented,  as  in  Neversink,  a  "  place 
of  birds";  ais,  ees,  os,  aus,  denote  a  single  small  object  or  place, 
as  Minnisais,  a  small  island — a  number  of  islands,  Minnising  or  Min- 
nisink ;  isli,  eesh,  oosh,  or  sh  indicates  a  bad  or  faulty  quality ;  co  is 
object ;  at,  at  or  near ;  poyh  is  a  generic  term  for  pond,  swamp,  etc., 
and  hence  we  find  it  in  Ramepogh  and  Poghkeepke  (Poughkeepsie) l ; 
while  Apoquague  embodies  the  same  roots  buried  in  qualifications 
that  present  some  simple  idea.  Wa-wa-na-quas-sick  is  a  somewhat 
lengthy  combination, —  wa-wa  is  plural,  or  many ;  na  signifies  good ; 
quas  is  stone  or  stones,  and  ick,  place  of  stones.  It  all  means  a  pile 
of  memorial  stones  thrown  together  to  mark  a  place  or  event.  Wa-wa- 
yaun-da, —  wa-wa,  plural,  more  than  one  or  we ;  yaun,  home,  or  by  the 
prefixed  plural,  homes;  da,  town  or  village:  complete,  "our  homes 
or  places  of  dwelling."  These  illustrations  are  sufficient  to  show  that 
while  terms  were  in  the  main  composed  of  the  simplest  descriptive 
equivalents  —  a  black  hill  or  a  red  one,  a  large  hill  or  a  small  one, 
a  small  stream  of  water  or  a  larger  one,  or  one  which  was  muddy 
or  stony,  a  field  of  maize  or  of  leeks,  overhanging  rocks  or  dashing 
waterfalls  (patternack)  —  the  Algonquin  language  was  yet  capable 
of  poetic  combinations  which  were  not  only  beautiful,  but  which  must 
ever  remain  attractive  from  their  peculiarity  and  their  history. 

Manhattan  Island  is  without  other  recorded  Indian  name  than  that 
which  was  given  to  it  by  the  Dutch.  "  It  was  the  Dutch  and  not  the 
Indians  who  first  called  it  Manhattan  "  is  the  unquestioned  testimony 
of  history.  The  signification  of  the  term,  which  has  been  given 

l  The  name  of  this  city  as  seen  in  ancient  docu-  singh,  Pockeepsy,  Pockepseick,  Pockepsing,  Fo- 
ments and  maps  exhibits  a  surprising  number  of  kepsing,  Poghkeepke,  Poghkeepsie,  Poghkeep- 
methods  of  spelling,  being  found  in  no  less  than  sinck,  Poghkeepsing,  Poghkepse,  Poghkepsen, 
forty-four  varieties  as  follows:  Pacapsy,  Pakeep-  Poghkeepsink,  Poghkeepson,  Pogkkeepse,Pokeep- 
sie,  Pakepsy,  Paughkepsie,  Pecapesy,  Pecapsy,  sigh,  Pokeepsingh,  Pokeepsink,  Pokeepsy,  Pokep- 
Pacapshe,  Pochkeepsinck,  Poeghkeepsing,  Poegh-  sinck,  Pokkepsen,  Picipsi,  Pikipsi,  Pokepsie,  Po- 
keepsingk,  Poeghkeepsink,  Pochkeepsey,  Poch-  keepsie,  Pokipse,  Poukeepsie,  Poukepsy,  Pough- 
keepsen,  Pochkeepsy,  Pochkepsen,  Pochkyph-  keepsey,  and  Poughkeepsie.  EDITOR. 


THE    NATIVE    INHABITANTS    OF    MANHATTAN 


51 


already,  need  not  be  repeated,  nor  the  precise  locality  to  which  it  was 
applied  again  quoted.  Rescued  and  perpetuated,  it  stands  where  it 
does,  and  there  it  will  stand  forever.  The  Indians  never  gave  a  local 
term  to  themselves — others  did  that  for  them.  Several  places  on  the 
island,  however,  are  marked  by  Indian  names.  Kapsee  has  been 
given  as  that  of  the  extreme  point  of  land  between  the  Hudson  and 
East  Rivers,  and  is  still  known  as  Copsie  Point.  It  is  said  to  sig- 
nify "  safe  place  of  landing,"  as  it  may  have  been,  but  ee  should  have 
been  written  ick.  The  Dutch  called  it  Capsey  Hoeck ;  they  erected 
a  "  hand,"  or  guide-board,  to  indicate  that  all  vessels  under  fifty  tons 
were  to  anchor  between  that  point  and  the  "  hand,"  or  guide-board, 
which  stood  opposite  the  "  Stadtherberg,"  built  in  1642.  This  indi- 
cates that  the  point  had  the  peculiarity  which  is  held  to  be  expressed 
in  the  Indian  name.  Sappokanikan,  a  point  of  land  on  the  Hudson  be- 
low Greenwich  Street,  has  been  explained  as  indicating  "  the  carrying 
place,"  the  presumption  being  that  the  Indians,  at  that  place,  car- 
ried their  canoes  over 
and  across  the  Island 
to  East  River  to  save 
the  trouble  of  paddling 
down  to  Kapsee  Point 
and  from  thence  up  the 
East  River.  This  ex- 
planation is,  however, 
too  limited.  It  was  from 
this  point  that  the  In- 
dians crossed  the  river 
to  Hobokan-Hacking,  subsequently  known  as  Pavonia,1  now  Jersey 
City,  and  maintained  between  the  two  points  a  commercial  route  of 
which  that  existing  there  at  the  present  time  is  the  successor.-  Lapini- 
kan,  an  Indian  village  or  collection  of  huts  which  was  located  here, 
had  no  doubt  some  special  connection  with  the  convenience  of  the  In- 
dian travelers.  Corlear's  Hoeck  was  called  Naig-ia-nac,  literally  "  sand 
lands."3  It  may,  however,  have  been  the  name  of  the  Indian  village 
which  stood  there,  and  was  in  temporary  occupation.  It  was  to  this 
village  that  a  considerable  number  of  Indians  retreated  from  savage 
foes  in  February,  1643,  and  were  there  massacred  by  the  Dutch.4  Near 


FROM    CAPT.    JOHN    SMITH'S    "GENERAL    HISTORY. 


1  Prom  Michael  Pauw,  the  first  purchaser,  who 
Latinized  his  name.    The  Latin  of  pauw  (peacock) 
is  pavo  —  hence  the  name  Pavonia.    It  is  described 
by  De  Vries  as  "  the  place  where  the  Indians  cross 
the  river."— N.  Y.  Hist.  Soc.  Col.,  Second  Series,  1 : 
264,  and  note. 

2  "Where  the  Indians  cross  to  bring  their  pel- 
teries."  —  De  Vries.     "Through  this  valley  pass 
large  numbers  of  all  sorts  of  tribes  on  their  way 
east  or  north." — Tienhoven. 


3  "Naghtognk,"  Benson;  "Nahtonk,"  School- 
craft —  na,  excellent,  and  onk,  place  —  an  "  excel- 
lent landing  place."  It  was  an  indentation  or 
"hook"  with  a  sandy  beach. 

*  "  And  a  party  of  freemen  behind  Corlear's  plan- 
tation on  the  Manhatans,  who  slew  a  large  num- 
ber of  these  refugees,  and  afterwards  burned  all 
their  huts. ' ' — "  Documents  relating  to  Colonial  His- 
tory of  New- York,"  1 :  200.  "  A  short  mile  [Dutch] 
from  the  fort,"  or  about  one  and  half  miles. 


52  HISTOKY    OF    NEW-YOKE 

Chatham  Square  was  an  eminence  called  Warpoes — wa,  singular,  oes, 
small — literally  a  "  small  hill."    Another  hill,  at  the  corner  of  Charlton 
and  Varick  Streets,  was  called  Ishpatinau  —  literally  a  "  bad  hill "  or 
one  having  some  faulty  peculiarity,  ish  being  the  qualifying  term. 
Ishibic  probably  correctly  described  the  narrow  ridge  or  ancient  cliff 
north  of  Beekman  Street  to  which  it  was  applied.    Acitoc  is  given  as 
the  name  for  the  height  of  land  in  Broadway ;  Abie,  as  that  of  a  rock 
rising  up  in  the  Battery,  and  Penabic,  "the  comb  mountain,"  as  that  of 
Mount  Washington.    A  tract  of  meadow  land,  on  the  north  end  of  the 
island  near  Kingsbridge,  was  called  Muscoota,  which  is  said  to  signify 
"  grass  land,"  but  as  the  same  name  is  given  to  Harlem  Eiver,  other 
signification  is  implied,  unless,  in  the  latter  case,  the  word  should  be 
rendered  "  the  river  of  the  grass  lands."    A  similar  dual  application 
of  name  appears  in  Papirinimen,  which  is  given  as  that  of  a  tract  of 
land  "on  the  north  end  of  the  island,"  about  One  Hundred  and 
Twenty-eighth  Street,  between  the  Spuyten  Duyvel  and  the  Harlem, 
and  also  as  that  of  the  Spuyten  Duyvel.1     Shorackappock  is  said  to 
have  described  the  junction  of  the  Spuyten  Duyvel  and  the  Hudson, 
but  the  equivalents  of  the  term  —  sho  and  acka  —  indicate  that  the  in- 
terpretation should  be,  as  in  Shotag  (now  Schodac)  "  the  fire-place,"  or 
place  at  which  the  council  chamber  of  the  chieftaincy  was  held  —  an 
interpretation  which  clothes  the  locality  with  an  interest  of  more  sig- 
nificance than  the  occurrence  there  of  the  attack  upon  the  Half-Moon. 
The  Island  was  intersected  by  Indian  paths,  the  principal  one  of  which 
ran  north  from  the  Battery  or  Kapsee  Point  to  City  Hall  Park,  where  it 
was  crossed  by  one  which  ran  west  to  the  village  of  Lapinikan,  and  east 
to  Naig-ia-nac,  or  Corlear's  Hoeck.    The  name  assigned  to  the  village, 
Lapinikan,  may  have  been  that  of  this  crossing  path,  which  was  con- 
tinued from  Pavonia  south  to  the  Lenapewihitrik,  or  Delaware  Eiver. 
Many  of  the  ancient  roads  followed  the  primary  Indian  foot-paths. 

The  aboriginal  names  of  the  islands  in  the  harbor  have  been  pre- 
served more  or  less  perfectly.  Staten  Island  is  called  in  the  deed  to 
De  Vries,  in  1636,  Monacknong;  in  the  deed  to  Capellen,  in  1655, 
Ehquaous,  and  in  that  to  Governor  Lovelace,  in  1670,  Aquehonga- 
Manacknong,  titles  which  are  presumed  to  have  covered  the  portions 
owned  by  the  Earitans  and  the  Hackinsacks  respectively.  The  names 
in  the  deeds  to  De  Vries  and  Capellen,  however,  are  but  another  or- 
thography of  those  in  the  deed  to  Lovelace.  Manacknong,  signifying 
"  good  land "  in  a  general  sense,  may  be  accepted  as  the  aboriginal 
name.  Governor's  Island  was  called  by  the  Dutch  Nooten  Island,  "  be- 
cause excellent  nut-trees  grew  there,"  and  possibly  also  from  Pecanuc, 
the  Algonquin  term  for  nut-trees.2  Bedloe's  Island  was  called  Min- 

l  O'Callaghan's  "  History  of  New  Netherland,1'         SDenton's  "A  Brief  Description  of  New  York," 
1 :  chap.  3 ;  above,  p.  46.  p.  29 ;  "  Pagganck,''  Brodhead's  "  History  of  New 

York,"  1 :  267. 


THE    NATIVE    INHABITANTS    OF    MANHATTAN  53 

nisais,  a  pure  Algonquin  term  for  "  small  island."  It  does  not  appear 
to  have  possessed  a  qualifying  character  of  any  kind.  Ellis  Island 
was  Kioshk,  or  Gull  Island,  and  that  of  Blackwell's  was  Minnahon- 
noiick,  a  phrase  that  is  not  without  poetic  elements,  but  has  none  in 
this  connection,  minna  being  simply  "  good."  In  its  vicinity  is  Hell- 
gate,  to  which  Monatun  has  been  applied — "  a  word,"  says  an  eminent 
authority,  "  carrying  in  its  multiplied  forms  the  various  meanings  of 
violent,  dangerous,  etc,"  in  which  sense  it  may  be  accepted  without 
requiring  the  authority  by  which  it  was  conferred.  Objection  is 
proper,  however,  when  philological  argument  is  made  to  extend  the 
term  to  "the  people  of  the  island  among  whom  the  Dutch  first 
settled,"  in  which  connection  it  can  have  no  significance  whatever. 
The  name  of  Long  Island  is  sometimes  written  Sewan-hacky  from 
sewan,  its  shell  money,  and  acky,  land ;  but  its  aboriginal  title  appears 
to  have  been  Matouwacky — ma,  large,  excellent,  acky  or  acke,  land. 
A  vocabulary  of  the  many  geographical  terms  pertaining  to  the 
islands,  or  one  embracing  those  011  the  west  side  of  the  Hudson, 
would  not  reveal  any  striking  feature  or  furnish  additional  sub- 
stantial illustration  of  the  peculiarities  of  the  language  of  the  native 
inhabitants.  The  few  names  that  have  been  adopted  and  woven  into 
the  language  of  their  successors  appropriately  preserve  the  memory 
of  the  Manna-hata. 


SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTE   BY   THE   EDITOR. 

MR.  ALEXANDER  C.  CHENOWETH,  one  of  the  engineers  on  the  New  Aqueduct, 
while  engaged  upon  excavations  for  that  work,  in  July,  1891,  observed  near  his  house 
at  Inwood,  on  the  Kingsbridge  Road,  what  seemed  to  him  a  peculiar  arrangement 
of  the  stones  of  the  field.  Boulders  of  several  hundred  pounds'  weight  appeared  imbed- 
ded in  the  earth  with  a  regularity  such  as  no  geological  action  could  have  given. 


STONE    WITH    INSCRIPTION.  THE    FUNERAL    URN. 

Led  on  by  these  to  make  still  closer  investigations,  he  unearthed  several  skeletons, 
shells,  and  pieces  of  pottery.  More  recently  his  diligence  was  rewarded  by  finding  the 
two  interesting  specimens  illustrated  above. 

One  of  these  is  a  stone  with  an  inscription  upon  it.  It  is  about  three  feet  long  and 
two  feet  thick,  and  its  sides  are  pitted.  It  appears  as  if  it  had  been  dressed  by  beating 
with  hammer-stones.  The  inscription  can  be  readily  traced,  and  it  bears  the  marks  of 
having  been  chiseled  with  arrow-heads.  The  other  object  is  a  conical  urn  or  pot,  or 


54  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

rather  the  pieces  of  one.  Mr.  Chenoweth  thinks  it  was  made  by  the  Indians,  who  left 
that  locality  in  1640.  In  order  to  be  perfectly  assured  as  to  the  authenticity  of  his 
relics,  the  young  engineer  wrote  to  Professor  F.  W.  Putnam,  instructor  in  archaeology 
and  ethnology  in  Harvard  University,  who  corroborates  his  opinion  as  to  their  origin. 
The  author  of  this  chapter,  writing  on  this  same  matter,  observes :  "  I  cannot  posi- 
tively pass  judgment  upon  the  relics  without  seeing  them,  and  the  place  where  they 
were  found,  and  knowing  the  position  of  the  skeletons."  But  he  adds  :  "  Earthen  pots 
were  made  by  the  Indians  and  buried  with  them."  And  in  regard  to  the  inscriptions 
on  the  stone,  Mr.  Ruttenber  remarks:  "  The  Indians  had  a  written  language  but  it 
was  hieroglyphic.  It  is  possible,  however,  that  some  of  the  later  local  Indians  — 
Christian  Indians  —learned  to  make  characters  as  they  now  do." 


THE    HARBOR    AND    CITY    OF    AMSTERDAM 


CHAPTER  III 


THE    ANTECEDENTS    OF    NEW    NETHEBLAND    AND    THE    DUTCH 
WEST    INDIA    COMPANY 


IVE  days  after  the  Half-Moon  departed  from  the  port 
of  Amsterdam,  on  the  way,  as  it  proved,  to  the  site  of  its 
namesake  and  prototype  in  the  New  World,  a  truce  was 
signed  at  Antwerp  by  the  representatives  of  the  United 
Provinces  of  the  Dutch  Republic  and  those  of  the  powerful  kingdom 
of  Spain.  This  truce  meant  much  to  the  United  Provinces  beyond  the 
mere  suspension  of  hostilities ;  and  taking  place  in  the  very  year  of  the 
discovery  of  the  site  of  New- York,  what  it  meant  to  them  becomes 
of  especial  significance  to  us  in  a  study  of  the  history  of  our  city. 
Whatever  it  involved  of  political  importance,  of  national  develop- 
ment, of  the  success  of  republican  ideas,  gives  it  a  high  rank  among 
the  events  that  preceded  and  influenced  the  settlement  of  this  locality. 
So  that,  indeed,  a  somewhat  careful  though  brief  review  of  the  cir- 
cumstances that  led  up  to  and  attended  its  accomplishment  will  con- 
stitute at  the  same  time  a  review  of  the  antecedents  of  New  Netherland. 
The  truce  of  1609  gave  a  temporary  pause  to  the  famous  "  Eighty 
Years'  War,"  which  was  sustained  by  the  United  Provinces  of  the 
Netherlands  in  their  struggle  for  political  independence.  In  1568  that 
war  began,  so  far  as  regards  the  resort  to  arms ;  for  on  May  23d  of  that 
year  was  fought  the  Lexington  of  the  Dutch  Revolution  at  Heiliger- 
lee,  in  Groningen.  But  the  real  beginning  of  troubles  dates  many 


56  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

years  further  back.  In  fact,  the  origin  of  the  Eevolution  is  almost 
contemporaneous  with  that  of  the  Reformation.  In  1521  Luther  had 
appeared  before  the  Diet  of  Worms,  and  there,  in  the  hearing  of  the 
Emperor  and  princes  and  prelates  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire,  had 
taken  his  irrevocable  stand.  He  and  his  doctrines  were  branded  with 
the  fatal  stamp  of  heresy,  and  he  and  his  adherents  devoted  to  the 
fiery  destruction  which,  in  that  age,  heresy  was  thought  to  deserve. 
In  1522  the  Emperor  of  Germany,  Charles  V.,  put  the  Inquisition  in 
operation  in  order  to  root  out  and  banish  the  Lutheran  teachings 
from  the  Netherland  Provinces.  These  provinces  were  all  his,  as  a 
matter  of  personal  property.  The  Counts  of  Holland  had  become 
Counts  of  Zeeland  also;  by  marriage  this  duplex  county  had  passed 
into  the  family  of  the  Counts  of  Hainault,  in  Belgium,  and  again  into 
that  of  Bavaria;  until  before  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century 
Jacqueline  of  Bavaria,  the  sole  heiress  of  these  fair  counties,  had 
been  compelled  to  despoil  herself  in  favor  of  her  uncle,  the  unscrupu- 
lous Philip,  Duke  of  Burgundy,  who  had  previously  managed  to 
aggrandize  himself  by  the  Duchy  of  Brabant  and  the  County  of 
Flanders.  Thus,  finally,  as  the  result  of  honest  purchase  in  some 
cases  or  of  shameless  chicanery  in  others,  and  of  judicious  marriage 
in  still  other  instances,  Philip  the  Fair,  the  father  of  Charles  V.,  had 
found  himself  possessed  of  the  seventeen  provinces  of  the  Nether- 
lands, comprising  all  that  territory  embraced  at  present  in  the  king- 
doms of  the  Netherlands  and  Belgium.  Then  Philip  married  the 
daughter  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  of  Spain,  who  was  sole  heiress  of 
their  united  crowns  of  Castile  and  Arragon.  Her  son,  Charles,  with 
all  the  rich  Netherlands  and  the  Duchy  of  Burgundy  or  the  half  of 
France  at  his  back,  became  King  of  Spain,  and  at  the  imperial 
election  of  1519  was  made  Emperor  of  Germany.1 

In  his  patrimonial  territories  Charles  was  able  to  pursue  more  arbi- 
trary courses  than  in  Germany.  Here  he  could  not  even  secure  the 
destruction  of  Luther.  But  over  the  Netherlands  he  appointed  an 
inquisitor-general,  whose  function  it  was,  quite  apart  from  the  slowly 
moving  ecclesiastical  machinery,  to  ferret  out  heretics  and  bring  down 
swift  punishment  upon  their  devoted  heads.  The  "  Placard,"  or  De- 
cree, announcing  this  appointment  was  followed  in  rapid  succession 
by  some  twelve  others,  each  more  cruel  and  sanguinary  and  more 
genuinely  inquisitorial  than  its  predecessors,  till  the  one  of  1550  ended 
the  list  and  capped  the  climax  of  iniquity  and  ferocity.  It  was  never 

i  Charles,  as  an  enlightened  statesman,  "  ayant  (''Histoire  des  Provinces  Unies,"  1:3,  Londres, 

uny  toutes  ces  belles  Provinces,"  says  de  Wicque-  i?49.)  This  impress  of  national  unity  or  homoge- 

fort,  "comme  en  une  corps,  voulut  qu'a  1'avenir  neity  must  have  had  an  immense  effect  upon  the 

elles  demeurassent  dans  une  mesme  masse,  sous  people  of  these  provinces,  and  have  contributed 

un  seul  Prince,  et  quelles  ne  fussent  point  demem-  greatly  to  their  union  in  the  struggle  for  indepen- 

Lre'es  ny  separ6es,  pour  quelque  cause  que  ce  fust. "  dence  against  the  son  of  Charles. 


l  This  portrait  is  taken  from  Emanuel  Van  Met- 
eren's  "Historien  der  Nederlanden "  (folio,  Am- 
sterdam, 1852),  and  is  an  exact  reproduction  from 


the  original  picture  painted  by  Antonis  Mor,  or 
Moro  (born  in  Utrecht,  1549),  the  favorite  Dutch 
portrait  painter  of  Philip  the  Second.  EDITOR. 


THE  ANTECEDENTS  OF  NEW  NETHERLAND         57 

improved  upon  ;  it  was  perfect  in  its  wicked  ingenuity  of  persecution. 
In  1555  Charles  V.  renounced  all  his  crowns  and  dignities ;  the  impe- 
rial crown  went  to  his  brother  Ferdinand  ;  in  favor  of  his  son,  Philip 
II.,  he  abdicated  the  throne  of  Spain,  which  belonged  to  him  by  right 
of  inheritance ;  and  Philip  necessarily  inherited  also  the  Dukedom  of 
Burgundy  with  its  appanage  of  the  several  Netherland  Provinces. 
The  new  King  of  Spain  and  Sovereign  Lord  of  the  Netherlands  at 
once  reiterated  with  great  emphasis  the  Placard  of  1550,  as  expressing 
most  fitly  and  fully  the  intended  policy  of  the  new  reign,  under  the 
plausible  cover  of  a  measure  of  the  previous  reign ;  for  which  thus  the 
on  the  whole  rather  popular  Charles  was  made  responsible,  instead  of 
his  untried  yet  already  quite  unpopular  son. 

But  fortunately,  or  unfortunately,  the  Placards,  in  their  zeal  to  save 
the  souls  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  Netherlands  at  the  expense  of  their 
bodies,  had  traversed  and  trampled  upon  their  civil  rights  and  privi- 
leges, stipulated  in  more  than  one  charter  for  almost  every  Province, 
and  solemnly  sworn  to  by  both  Charles  and  Philip.  Thus  all  classes 
of  citizens,  without  respect  to  creed,  made  common  cause  against  the 
common  oppressor,  culminating  finally  in  a  "Petition  of  Eights"  pre- 
sented formally  to  the  government  at  Brussels  in  April,  1566,  by  four 
hundred  nobles  in  person.  Philip  himself  had  long  ago  left  the  un- 
congenial Netherlands.  He  was  better  pleased  to  seat  himself  upon 
the  throne  of  Spain  at  Madrid,  than  to  remain  among  the  free-spoken 
and  turbulent  Dutch  and  Flemings.  He  had  therefore  committed  the 
government  of  the  Netherlands  to  his  sister,  a  natural  daughter  of  the 
Emperor  Charles — Margaret  of  Parma,  born  at  Ghent,  and  thus 
entitled  to  hold  office  in  the  Provinces.  She  sent  the  "Petition  of 
Rights "  in  great  alarm  to  the  King.  The  answer  of  Philip  was  an 
army  of  13,000  foreign  troops,  under  the  command  of  the  Duke  of 
Alva,  a  Spanish  grandee  of  great  military  fame.  He  was  also  noted 
for  his  inflexible  harshness,  and  perhaps  for  this  reason  was  selected 
by  Philip  not  only  to  command  this  army,  but  also  to  supersede 
Margaret  in  the  governorship  on  his  arrival  in  the  country  (August, 
1567).  But  both  the  Governor  and  the  soldiery,  being  foreign,  were 
upon  Netherland  soil  in  direct  and  deliberate  violation  of  the  liberties 
of  the  country,  a  more  flagrant  violation  if  possible  than  any  of  which 
the  "  Petition  of  Rights "  had  complained.  Remonstrance,  petition, 
every  diplomatic  device,  in  fact,  having  utterly  failed  to  secure  re- 
dress, under  the  leadership  of  William  of  Orange,  who  had  directed 
all  previous  and  pacific  negotiations,  arms  were  finally  taken  up  early 
in  the  year  1568.  Four  expeditions  at  once  were  directed  against 
the  territory  now  ruled  by  Alva.  But  success  attended  only  that 
which  attacked  the  strongholds  of  the  enemy  in  the  North.  The  city 
of  Groningen  was  almost  secured.  Then  at  Heiligerlee,  about  twenty 


58 


HISTORY    OF    NEW- YORK 


miles  east  of  this  capital,  the  patriots  under  Count  Louis  of  Nassau, 
William  the  Silent's  brother,  gained  a  signal  victory  over  the  Span- 
iards, on  May  23, 1568.  But  another  brother  of  the  illustrious  states- 
man, Count  Adolphus,  a  youth  of  but  little  over  twenty  summers, 
perished  on  the  field  of  glory,  where  stands  to-day  a  handsome  monu- 
ment, unveiled  May  23,  1868,  representing  the  young  soldier  expiring 
at  the  feet  of  the  victorious  Maid  of  Holland. 

The  hostilities  thus  begun  continued  uninterruptedly  with  varying 
success  for  forty  years.  Towards  the  end  of  that  period,  however, 
and  especially  at  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  and  the  beginning  of  the 

seventeenth  century,  success  declared 
itself  more  and  more  frequently  on 
the  side  of  the  Dutch  Republic.  That 
Republic  had  long  before  this  been 
narrowed  down  from  seventeen  to 
seven  of  the  provinces  of  the  Nether- 
lands. As  late  as  the  year  1576  Wil- 
liam of  Orange,  by  the  skill  of  his 
diplomacy  and  the  power  of  his  name 
and  reputation,  could  still,  though 
with  considerable  difficulty,  unite  all 
of  the  seventeen  into  a  compact  or 
union  called  the  "Pacification  of 
Ghent."  But  the  southern  provinces 
soon  began  to  fall  away.  The  mer- 
curial Celtic  element  was  largely  prev- 
alent there;  the  people  were  not 
made  of  the  stern  stun2  of  their  north- 
ern countrymen,  where  the  Anglo-Saxon  characteristics  were  domi- 
nant. Hence  the  struggle  proved  too  much  for  the  endurance  of  the 
Belgians :  indeed  their  defection  from  the  "  Pacification  "  had  become 
so  general  and  so  serious  in  less  than  two  years,  that  vigorous  meas- 
ures became  necessary  to  counteract  the  decline  of  patriotic  efforts.1 
Fortunately  the  seven  northern  provinces  were  not  dismayed  by  the 
defection  of  the  majority.  Seeing  the  "Pacification  of  Ghent" 
slipping  away  from  under  their  feet,  delegates  from  these  small 
bits  of  territory  met  in  the  city  of  Utrecht  towards  the  end  of 
the  year  1578,  and  on  January  29,  1579,  published  to  the  world 
the  "  Union  of  Utrecht."  It  combined  into  one  Federal  Union,  or 


l  In  view  of  this  indisputable  fact  it  is  almost 
amusing  to  read  what  is  claimed  for  the  "Bel- 
gians "  in  a  most  valuable  book.  G.  M.  Asher, 
in  his  "  Bibliographical  and  Historical  Essay  on 
New  Netherland  "  (especially  on  pp.  76  and  82), 
claims  that  they  led  the  troops  of  the  Dutch  Re- 


public to  battle  ;  instructed  the  Dutch  artisans ; 
directed  their  commerce  and  navigation !  We 
shall  have  occasion  to  notice  (and  to  answer)  these 
startling  assertions  more  particularly  further  on, 
in  text  or  notes. 


THE  ANTECEDENTS  OF  NEW  NETHERLAND         59 

Confederation,  the  seven  different  states  or  provinces  which  sub- 
scribed to  the  agreement  or  compact,  and  it  furnished  at  the  same 
time  a  constitution  for  the  government  of  the  Republic  of  the  United 
Netherlands  in  peace  and  war.  The  first  Article  read  thus :  "  The 
aforesaid  Provinces  unite,  confederate,  arid  bind  themselves  one  with 
another,  as  by  these  presents  they  do  unite,  confederate,  and  bind 
themselves,  in  perpetuity,  each  to  remain  with  the  others  in  all  form 
and  manner  as  if  they  were  but  one  province,  without  that  they  shall 
at  any  time  separate  themselves  from  one  another,  or  allow  themselves 
to  be  separated  or  parted,  by  testament,  codicil,  donation,  cession, 
exchange,  sale,  treaty  of  peace  or  of  marriage,  nor  for  any  other 
cause,  however  that  might  arise." 1  This  truly  was  only  an  amplifica- 
tion of  the  sentiment  so  familiar  to  us :  "  Divided  we  fall,  united  we 
stand."  Not  satisfied  with  this,  however,  a  further  and  in  that  age  a 
much  bolder  step  was  undertaken  two  years  later.  If  the  Federal 
Union  of  States  had  been  the  principle  advanced  and  practically 
demonstrated  to  the  world  by  means  of  the  "  Union  of  Utrecht,"  now 
it  was  the  sovereignty  of  the  people  which  was  courageously  asserted 
by  an  apparently  simple  but  really  a  portentous  proceeding  on  the 
part  of  these  Dutch  republicans.  For  eleven  years  they  had  carried 
on  a  revolt  against  their  sovereign  lord,  who  as  Count  of  Holland,  or 
Duke  of  Gelderland,  or  Lord  of  Drenthe,  claimed  their  allegiance 
while  he  ruled  as  King  in  Spain.  But  the  struggle  was  conducted 
under  the  legal  fiction  that  Philip  was  misguided  in  the  choice  of  vice- 
gerents. The  provinces  were  supposed  to  be  loyal  to  the  King  while 
at  war  against  his  governors,  who  as  foreigners  had  no  right  to  occupy 
such  office  in  the  Netherlands.  This  fiction,  however,  was  flimsy 
and  cumbersome,  and  by  repeated  acts  of  oppression  and  the  breach  of 
his  sworn  promises  Philip  had  forfeited  all  right  to  their  allegiance. 
It  seems  easy  for  us  in  these  days,  and  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic,  to 
take  this  obvious  view  of  the  case.  It  was  quite  a  different  matter  in 
the  sixteenth  century  and  in  feudal  Europe.  But  the  Dutch  prov- 
inces boldly  grappled  with  the  question,  and  declared  outright  that 
Philip  had  forfeited  his  sovereignty.  On  July  26, 1581,  at  the  Hague, 
the  States-General  passed  the  "Act  of  Abjuration,"  declaring  them- 
selves free  from  allegiance  to  Philip.  In  it  there  was  submitted  a  long 
arraignment,  setting  forth  his  crimes  against  the  liberties  of  the  people, 
culminating  in  the  closing  of  the  ports  of  Spain  and  Portugal,  and 
the  ban  against  the  life  of  the  people's  benefactor,  William  of  Orange 
(1580).  The  preamble  undertakes  to  instruct  Philip  as  to  the  duties 
of  princes :  "  Whereas  every  one  is  aware  that  a  Prince  of  the  land 
is  appointed  of  God  to  be  at  the  head  of  his  subjects  in  order  to 

iDe  Wicquefort,  Hist,  des  Prov.  Unies,  1:  26,  preuves.    The  "Union"  is  here  given  in  Dutch 

and  French  in  parallel  columns. 


60  HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YOEK 

preserve  and  protect  the  same,  like  a  shepherd  is  placed  over  his 
sheep ;  and  that  subjects  are  not  created  of  Glod  for  the  benefit  of  the 
Prince,  but  the  Prince  for  the  benefit  of  his  subjects,  without  whom 
he  would  be  no  Prince ;  therefore  whenever  he  does  not  consider  this, 
but  seeks  to  oppress  and  distress  them,  taking  away  their  ancient 
liberty  and  privileges,  and  commanding  and  using  them  as  if  they 
were  slaves,  he  must  be  held  to  be  not  a  Prince  but  a  tyrant ;  and  for 
this  reason  he  may  be  abandoned  by  his  subjects,  and  another  sought 
for  and  chosen  to  take  his  place  as  chief  for  their  protection,  especially 
if  this  be  done  by  the  estates  of  the  country." 1  Thereupon  followed 
the  solemn  declaration :  "  Be  it  known,  that  we,  having  duly  consid- 
ered what  is  hereinbefore  said,  and  pressed  by  extreme  necessity  as 
before — after  mutual  agreement,  deliberation,  and  consultation — 
have  declared,  and  by  these  presents  do  declare,  the  King  of  Spain 
ipso  jure  to  have  forfeited  his  sovereignty,  right,  and  inheritance 
over  the  aforesaid  provinces :  we  having  henceforth  no  intention  to 
recognize  the  same  in  any  affairs  touching  these  aforesaid  lands ;  nor  to 
use  his  name  nor  to  allow  any  one  to  use  it,  as  sovereign ;  further 
declaring  all  officers,  judges,  vassals,  and  other  inhabitants  of  what- 
soever condition  or  quality  to  be  henceforward  liberated  from  their 
oaths  sworn  to  the  King  of  Spain,  as  sovereign  of  these  provinces." 2 

Here  was  thus  the  sovereignty  of  the  people  set  over  against  the 
sovereignty  of  the  hereditary  or  feudal  lord  in  the  clearest  possible 
manner.  The  real  lese-majesty  had  been  committed  by  the  ruler 
against  his  subjects ;  the  penalty  for  the  crime  was  forfeiture  of  all 
his  rights  and  claims  and  possessions.  It  was  a  mighty  thing  to  do 
and  to  maintain  in  that  century.  But  the  ideas  that  were  the  founda- 
tion of  such  an  act,  the  warrant,  the  justification  for  it,  had  a  potency 
and  life  in  them  which  caused  the  patriots  to  dare  and  achieve 
everything.  They  sustained  the  inhabitants  of  these  small  territories 
in  their  battle  for  independence,  until  success  smiled  upon  them  in 
the  end,  after  they  had  passed  through  many  a  valley  of  the  shadow 
of  death.  For  the  moral  force  which  these  ideas  imparted  seemed 
somehow  to  furnish  also  the  material  strength  needed  to  carry  on  the 
struggle.  The  wealth  of  the  country  increased,  and  commerce  grew 
to  great  proportions,  in  the  very  face  of  war.  The  patriot  arms 
gained  ever-repeated  victories,  till  Spain,  with  the  half  of  Europe 
and  nearly  all  of  America  to  supply  its  resources,  actually  became 
exhausted  in  the  effort  to  reduce  her  rebellious  provinces  to  obedience. 
She  at  last  became  an  earnest  and  persistent  solicitor  for  peace,  or  the 
cessation  of  hostilities  in  any  form  and  on  any  terms.  These  negotia- 

l  De  Wicquef  ort,  Hist,  des  Prov.  Unies,  1 :  51,  52.  ment,  for  the  reason  that  it  would  require  too  much 

preuves.     We  have  given  a  free  translation  of  space  to  quote  the  entire  passage, 

the  Dutch  original,  in  reality  amounting  rather  to  2  De  Wicquef  ort,  Hist,  des  Prov.  Unies,  1 :  64. 

an  abstract  or  resume  of  that  portion  of  the  docu-  65,  preuves. 


THE  ANTECEDENTS  OF  NEW  NETHEKLAND         61 

tions  began  as  early  as  the  summer  of  1607.  An  imposing  embassage 
was  sent,  consisting  of  several  persons  of  distinction,  one  of  whom 
was  the  famous  Spanish  Commander-in-Chief,  the  Marquis  Spinola, 
a  worthy  opponent  of  Maurice  of  Orange.  He  was  received  with 
generous  and  spontaneous  enthusiasm  at  the  Hague,  and  it  was  a 
notable  event  to  behold  these  two  great  captains  taking  each  other  by 
the  hand  and  riding  into  the  capital  seated  side  by  side  in  the  same 
state-carriage.  The  representatives  of  Spain  and  of  the  Republic  met 
in  a  splendid  room  or  saloon,  which  to  this  day  bears  the  name  of  the 
"  Chamber  of  the  Truce."  Entering  the  present  government  buildings 
on  the  Binnenhof  at  the  Hague,  to  the  right  of  the  inner  east  gate, 
one  ascends  a  broad  flight  of  stairs  up  to  the  corridor  upon  which  the 
doors  of  this  apartment  open.  Seven  lofty  windows  afford  a  view 
of  the  "  Vyver,"  the  celebrated  ornamental  pond  in  the  center  of  the 
city.  Here  to-day  hang  portraits,  by  master-hands,  of  the  seven  Stad- 
holders  of  the  House  of  Orange.  In  the  days  of  the  Republic  the  confer- 
ences of  the  States-General,  or  congress  of  the  nation,  with  the  Council 
of  State,  or  the  cabinet,  were  held  in  this  great  room,  while  some- 
what later  in  this  same  seventeenth  century  the  States-General  were 
wont  to  assemble  here  in  regular  session  during  the  summer  months, 
reserving  their  more  limited  quarters  in  the  hall  across  the  corridor, 
facing  on  the  Binnenhof,  for  winter  use.  In  spite  of  its  suggestive 
name,  however,  the  truce  was  not  finally  signed  in  this  chamber. 
The  negotiations  for  peace  were  entirely  broken  off,  the  Republic 
rejecting  with  indignation  the  terms  offered,  and  Spain  not  being 
willing  to  grant  acceptable  ones  as  a  permanent  agreement.  Then 
negotiations  for  a  truce  for  a  limited  number  of  years  were  taken  up ; 
these  were  ultimately  resumed  at  Antwerp,  and  resulted  in  the  sign- 
ing there  of  the  "Twelve  Years'  Truce,"  in  1609.  The  terms  which 
formed  its  basis  were  now  such  as  the  Dutch  Republic  could  accept 
with  honor  and  even  with  pride,  for  they  amounted  to  nothing  less 
than  the  acknowledgment  of  the  independence  of  the  United  Nether- 
lands. And  this  was  not  virtual,  but  actual.  "  First  of  all,"  read  the 
opening  article,  "  the  said  Lords  Archdukes  declare,  both  in  their  own 
name  and  in  that  of  the  said  Lord  King,  that  they  are  willing  to  treat 
with  the  said  Lords  the  States-General  of  the  United  Provinces,  in 
the  quality  of,  and  as  holding  them  for,  free  Countries,  Provinces,  and 
States,  to  which  they  make  no  claim,  and  to  effect  with  them  a  truce 
in  the  name  and  quality  above  said,  as  they  do  by  these  presents." 1 

1  The  instrument  having  been    composed   in  et  comme  les  tenans  pour  Paiis,  Provinces,  et 

French,  the  very  words  are  given  in  De  Wicque-  Estats  libres,  sur  lequels  ils  ne  pretendent  rien, 

fort :  "  Premierement,  les  dits  Sieurs  Archiducs  et  de  faire  avec  eux,  4s  noms  et  qualite^s  susdits, 

de'clarent,  tant  en  leurs  noms  que  dudit  Sieur  Hoy,  comme  ils  font  par  ces  presentes,  une  treve." 

qu'  ils  sont  contents  de  traitter  avec  les  dits  Sieurs  Hist,  des  Prov.  Unies,  1 :  189,  preuves. 
Estats-Generaux  des  Provinces  Unies  en  qualit6 


62  HISTOKY  or  NEW-YOKE: 

Thus  the  battle  was  won.  Eepublican  ideas  had  proved  their  power. 
Republican  principles  put  into  practical  operation  at  that  early  day, 
and  however  imperfectly  as  compared  with  our  own  system  of  gov- 
ernment, had  nevertheless  conquered  a  national  existence,  the  liberty 
of  conscience  and  of  government  for  a  handful  of  people,  with  re- 
sources so  apparently  inadequate  as  to  make  their  revolt  seem  like 
madness.  This  is  what  the  truce  of  1609  meant  to  the  United  Neth- 
erlands. It  was  a  lesson  never  forgotten  by  mankind ;  a  lesson  finally 
placed  before  the  world  in  more  magnificent  illustration  upon  the 
shores  of  that  New  World  which  the  national  vigor  and  enterprise 
of  these  same  Eepublicans  of  the  seventeenth  century  aided  in  part 
to  populate  and  develop. 

Besides  the  acknowledgment  of  the  independence  of  the  United 
Netherlands,  one  and  only  one  other  article  of  the  truce  of  1609  was 
prominent  and  pivotal.  This  had  reference  to  Dutch  trade  with 
the  East  Indies,  and  was  occasioned  by  the  immense  strides  which 
the  Republic's  commerce  had  made  while  the  war  was  in  progress. 
The  gains  of  the  Dutch  had  been  at  the  expense  of  their  enemies. 
Spain  saw  with  alarm  that  the  resources  upon  which  it  chiefly 
depended  for  subduing  the  rebels  were  being  crippled  by  these 
very  rebels  and  turned  into  sources  of  revenue  to  provide  the 
sinews  of  war  for  themselves.  Hence  Spain  was  eager  for  peace 
or  truce,  although  equally  eager  to  keep  the  Dutch  out  of  the 
Indies.  Naturally,  then,  the  article  referring  to  this  subject  would 
be  a  difficult  one  to  handle.  As  this  matter,  too,  bears  directly 
upon  that  event  in  the  history  of  Dutch  commercial  enterprise  of 
supreme  interest  to  us,  it  behooves  us  to  pause  for  a  brief  but  suc- 
cinct review  of  the  rise  and  progress  of  Dutch  commerce,  and  its 
status  at  the  time  of  the  Twelve  Years'  Truce  and  the  discovery  of 
the  Hudson  River. 

From  the  earliest  times  the  nations  inhabiting  the  Low  Countries 
had  been  bold  mariners.  The  water  was  a  familiar  element  to  them. 
Their  existence  even  on  land  was  an  amphibious  one.  The  sea  had 
its  terrors  for  them,  indeed,  when  inundations  swept  away  hamlets 
and  towns,  changing  repeatedly  the  very  face  of  the  land.  But  they 
readily  trusted  themselves  to  its  caprices  in  barks  of  rude  construc- 
tion. At  the  time  hostilities  against  Spain  began  and  the  "  Eighty 
Years'  War  "  was  inaugurated,  three  centuries  of  the  herring  fisheries 
had  developed  not  only  daring,  but  skill,  in  navigation.  And  navi- 
gation had,  even  up  to  this  period,  greatly  served  the  ends  of  Dutch 
commerce,  in  building  up  a  lucrative  trade  with  the  ports  of  Spain 
and  Portugal.  The  Low  Countries,  particularly  the  provinces  of  the 
North,  had  nothing  of  consequence  to  export  in  the  way  of  natural 
products.  But  they  sent  their  vessels  to  Spain  and  Portugal  freighted 


THE  ANTECEDENTS  OF  NEW  NETHERLAND         63 

with  their  abundant  manufactures,1  loaded  them  there  in  return  with 
the  treasures  of  the  East  and  West  Indies,  and  carried  these  precious 
cargoes  to  the  havens  at  home,  or  to  those  of  the  kingdoms  around 
the  Baltic  Sea.  From  the  latter,  again,  these  busy  and  alert  carriers 
brought  lumber  and  grain  to  their  own  land,  which  did  not  produce 
timber  enough  to  build  its  many  ships,  nor  sufficient  breadstuffs  to 
feed  its  teeming  population.  Vitally  important  to  Spain  and  Por- 
tugal was  this  carrying-trade  of  the  Dutch,  for  thus  alone  were  these 
countries  supplied  with  those  products  of  industry  and  manual  skill 
which  in  so  many  cases  rise  to  the  dignity  of  necessaries  of  life.  The 
more  abundantly  the  mines  of  America  yielded  their  silver  and  gold, 
or  the  fields  of  the  East  Indian  islands  brought  forth  their  fragrant 
spices,  the  less  inclined  became  the  Spaniards  and  Portuguese  to  exert 
themselves  in  the  way  of  manual  labor  or  industrial  pursuits.  Hence 
the  supply  of  these  things  was  awaited  from  the  Dutch  and  Belgian 
provinces.  So  indispensable,  indeed,  had  this  supply  become  that  for 
many  years,  while  he  was  conducting  a  war  of  extermination  against 
the  Dutch  cities,  Philip  II.  did  not  interfere  in  the  least  with  their 
lucrative  trade  with  his  Spanish  dominions.  From  Portugal  he  could 
not  exclude  them  till  that  country  came  under  his  sway  in  1580.  But 
he  perceived  too  clearly  that  on  the  sea  and  by  means  of  the  commerce 
they  were  enjoying,  they  furnished  themselves  with  the  very  sinews 
of  the  war  of  revolt  against  him.  So  at  last,  in  1584,2  the  decree 
went  forth  prohibiting  the  Dutch  from  trading  in  the  ports  of  Spain 
and  Portugal.  It  was  a  heavy  blow  to  Dutch  commerce ;  but  it  was 
a  blow  which,  in  the  sequel,  proved  to  have  been  directed  with  more 
fatal  effect  against  Philip's  own  dominions. 

The  vigorous  young  Republic  experienced  a  momentary  check, 
but  it  was  only  momentary.  The  patriots  were  not  to  be  repressed  in 
their  struggle  for  existence,  and  their  bold  spirit  of  enterprise  soon 
sought  other  channels  for  remunerative  commerce.  Naturally  enough, 
not  being  permitted  to  load  their  ships  with  the  products  of  the  East 
and  West  Indies  in  the  ports  of  Spain  and  Portugal,  the  thought  sug- 
gested itself  that  they  themselves  might  go  to  the  fountain-heads  of 
these  supplies  directly,  yet  not  till  ten  years  after  Philip's  decree  was 
this  idea  put  into  actual  execution.  The  interval  was  filled  up  with  a 
more  extensive  commerce  than  ever  with  the  Muscovy  States,  or 
Russia,  and  the  Scandinavian  Kingdoms  of  Denmark,  Norway,  and 
Sweden.3  The  Dutch  all  but  discovered  the  site  of  the  Russian  city  of 

l  The  author  of  "  La  Richesse  de  la  Hollande  "  2  Wagenaar,  "  Vaderlandsche  Historic,"  9 : 136 ; 

remarks/>f  these :  "  Elle  avoit  deja un  grand  fonds  VanKampen,  "NederlandersbuitenEuropa,"! :  25. 

d'  Industrie  independemment  de  1'  art  de  con-  3  "  In  April  1587,  zeilden  uit  het  Vlie  by  de  600 

struction  et  de  tous  les   arts  qui  doivent  accom-  en  uit  de  Maas  en  Zeeland  wel  200  schepen,  meest 

pagner  la  construction  et  la  navigation ;  elle  avoit  alle  groote,  alien  naar  de  Oostzee."  (Van  Kampen, 

des  manufactures  de  draps  et  d'  autres  e'toffes,  des  Nederl.  b.  Eur.,  1  :  24.)      This   statement  seems 

moulins  a  scier,  a  papier,  a  huile,  etc."  (1 :  72).  almost  incredible. 


64  HISTOEY    OF    NEW- YORK 

Archangel,  on  the  White  Sea.1  At  least  they  so  clearly  pointed  out 
its  advantageous  position,  that  the  Russians  were  convinced  that 
they  ought  to  develop  it  as  a  commercial  center ;  and  it  became  and 
continued  to  be,  indeed,  the  queen  of  their  commerce  until  Peter  the 
Great  forced  it  away  from  that  vicinity  in  favor  of  his  own  creation 
of  St.  Petersburg.  But  the  ten  years  after  1584  were  occupied  dili- 
gently and  profitably  by  the  Dutch  in  other  directions  also.  In  the 
first  place,  in  spite  of  Philip's  embargo,  the  trade  with  the  forbidden 
ports  was  actually  continued  in  a  clandestine  but  quite  effective  way 
until  1593.  By  that  time,  too,  many  Dutch  navigators  had  visited  the 
East  Indies  in  Portuguese  bottoms,  for  the  Portuguese  did  not  like 
the  Spanish  sway  more  than  did  the  Dutch,  and  a  common  antipathy 
drew  the  two  peoples  together.  In  the  year  1593  two  brothers,  Cor- 
nelius and  Frederick  Houtman,  found  themselves  in  prison  at  Lisbon, 
Portugal,  possibly  on  account  of  their  trespass  of  the  King's  prohibi- 
tory decree.  In  writing  to  Holland,  to  certain  merchants  of  Amster- 
dam, they  took  occasion  to  inform  their  countrymen  that  they  were 
in  possession  of  all  the  necessary  information  —  in  the  way  of  charts 
and  maps,  besides  the  actual  experience  of  more  than  one  journey  — 
to  enable  them  to  conduct  an  expedition  to  the  islands  of  the  East 
Indies.  Their  release  was  promptly  effected  ;  yet  not  until  1595  were 
the  brothers  sent  upon  their  mission  to  the  lands  of  spices  and  gems. 
Another  maritime  enterprise  was  under  way,  the  issue  of  which  was 
watched  with  great  interest ;  and  which,  indeed,  if  it  should  meet  the 
expectations  founded  on  it,  would  make  the  undertaking  of  the  Hout- 
mans  unnecessary,  and  their  route  superfluous.  This  was  the  voyage 
to  the  arctic  regions  in  1594,  in  search  of  a  short  passage  to  China 
and  the  East  Indies,  across  the  North  Pole,  or  past  the  ice-bound  coast 
of  Siberia,  whose  great  extent  was  vastly  underestimated ;  followed 
subsequently  by  the  similar  attempts  of  1595  and  1596-97  ;  the  "  over- 
wintering" of  the  ship's  company  on  Nova  Zembla  during  that  season, 
and  last  of  all  by  the  voyage  of  Henry  Hudson  in  the  Half-Moon 
which  resulted  so  differently.  Other  Dutch  mariners,  in  the  mean  time, 
had  learned  the  way  to  the  far  South.  Those  who  had  not  ventured 
upon  the  perilous  running  of  the  blockaded  ports  of  Portugal  or  Spain 
had  made  a  practice  of  sailing  to  the  Cape  Verde  islands,  off  the  western- 
most point  of  Africa,  and  within  twenty  degrees  north  latitude  of  the 
Equator.  It  needed  but  very  little  additional  resolution  to  continue 
the  voyage  below  the  Equator,  and  along  the  southeastern  trend  of 
the  Dark  Continent,  to  double  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  and  enter  upon 
that  great  ocean  which  washed  the  shores  of  the  future  Colonial  Em- 
pire of  the  Dutch. 

1  "  Les  Hollandois  ne  de'couvrirent  le  port  d'Archange  que  sur  la  fin  du  seizieme  siecle  [about  1584  or 
1585].    Us  en  firent  bientot  le  siege  d'  un  grand  commerce."  (La  Rich.  d.  1.  Holl.,  1 : 116.) 


THE  ANTECEDENTS  OF  NEW  NETHEKLAND         65 

In  the  year  1595  one  expedition  to  the  arctic  regions  had  been 
made,  and  a  second  one  was  in  contemplation.  But  the  prospect  of 
successfully  opening  that  route  to  the  wealth  of  China  and  the  Indies 
seemed  even  then  so  doubtful,  that  a  company  of  Amsterdam  mer- 
chants felt  justified  in  sending  out  four  vessels  under  the  command 
of  the  Houtman  brothers.  After  an  absence  of  two  years  they  re- 
turned. They  had  landed  on  Java,  but  there  and  everywhere  had 
encountered  the  jealous  hostility  of  the  Portuguese,  who,  however 
friendly  to  the  Dutch  on  other  grounds,  felt  that  their  intrusion  into 
the  Indies  meant  a  rivalry  fatal  to  themselves  during  their  present 
subjection  to  Spain.  The  Houtmans  had  lost  one  vessel,  and  the  re- 
maining three  failed  to  show  any  very  profitable  cargoes.  On  the 
whole,  therefore,  this  first  voyage  to  the  far  East  had  not  proved  to  be 
a  success  financially.  But  the  isles  of  the  Indian  Ocean  had  been 
reached ;  the  way  thither  was  now  open  ground  to  the  Dutch ;  and 
the  indomitable  Republicans  were  only  aroused  to  greater  exertions. 
The  original  company  of  Amsterdam  merchants  added  several  others 
to  their  number,  and  the  enlarged  association  was  incorporated  under 
the  name  of  the  " Company  of  Distant  Lands"  (Compagnie  van  Verre). 

The  beginning  of  the  next  year  (1598)  saw  a  fleet  of  eight  vessels, 
equipped  and  armed  for  commerce  and  war,  on  its  way  to  the  In- 
dian Ocean,  under  the  command  of  Admiral  Van  Nek.  After  fif- 
teen months  half  of  the  fleet  returned,  richly  laden  with  pepper  and 
cloves,  and  what  was  of  more  significance  perhaps,  in  its  bearings 
upon  the  future,  conveying  a  friendly  message  from  the  King  of 
Bantam,  in  Java,  to  Prince  Maurice  of  Orange.  The  remainder  of 
the  fleet  returned  early  in  the  year  1600,  and  before  the  end  of  the 
year  Admiral  Van  Nek  was  despatched  again  to  the  East  Indies  with 
a  fleet  of  six  vessels.  This  time  he  penetrated  to  the  Spice  Islands, 
defeated  the  Portuguese  there  in  a  naval  battle  in  the  sight  of  the 
natives,  concluded  an  amicable  and  advantageous  treaty  with  the 
Queen  of  Patani  on  the  Malay  Peninsula,  and  brought  home  a  valu- 
able cargo.  Voyage  after  voyage  now  followed  in  rapid  succession. 
Two  expeditions  ventured  upon  the  westward  route,  through  the 
Straits  of  Magellan  and  across  the  Pacific,  one  of  which  ended  in 
complete  failure  and  shipwreck  on  the  Moluccas,1  while  the  other, 
under  Oliver  Van  Noord,  accomplished  the  circumnavigation  of  the 
globe  (1598-1601).  But  most  of  the  expeditions  sought  the  more 
common  route  around  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  these  multiplied 

l  Yet  six  of  these  shipwrecked  mariners  found  somewhere  in  the  East  Indies,  and  to  invite  the 

their  way  to  Japan  in  1600.     After  a  residence  of  Admiral  to  visit  Japan.     This  was  accomplished 

six  years  the  Emperor,  who  had  gained  a  very  three  years  later  (1609),  and  was  the  beginning  of 

favorable  impression  of  their  nation  from  their  the  friendly  relations  so  long  subsisting  between 

conduct  an'd  skill,  sent  two  of  them  to  find  the  fleet  Holland  and  Japan,  when  all  other  European  na- 

of  the  Hollanders  which  rumor  reported  to  be  tionalities  were  excluded  from  the  latter  country. 
VOL.  I.— 5. 


66  HISTOEY    OF    NEW- YORK 

so  fast  and  made  such  marked  inroads  upon  the  revenue  of  Spain, 
that  the  Spanish  admiral  commanding  in  the  Indian  seas  was 
charged  to  make  a  supreme  effort  to  extirpate  these  pernicious  com- 
petitors. The  order  was  more  easily  given  than  executed :  repeated 
defeats  in  minor  encounters  were  now  followed  by  the  entire  discom- 
fiture of  a  great  Spanish  armada,  resulting  in  increased  respect  of  the 
islanders  for  the  Dutch.  As  early  as  1602  the  trade  with  the  East 
Indies,  favored  by  these  naval  victories,  had  reached  remarkable  pro- 
portions. Within  seven  years  sixty-four  ships  had  been  despatched 
to  Java  and  the  Spice  Islands,  and  some  of  them  had  made  the  long 
voyage  more  than  once.1  Cargoes  of  pepper  were  brought  from  Ban- 
tam in  Java,  and  from  the  southern  extremity  of  Sumatra  opposite, 
which  was  under  the  sway  of  Bantam's  king,  and  was  known  as  "the* 
pepper  land  proper."  But  the  same  article  was  regularly  shipped  at 
Acheen,  in  northern  Sumatra,  also ;  at  Patani,  on  the  Malay  Penin- 
sula; at  Johor,  in  Siam,  or  Farther  India.  Cloves  were  obtained 
from  Amboyna  and  the  other  Moluccas ;  nutmegs  from  Banda 
Island ;  cotton  from  the  east  coast  of  Hindoostan,  called  then  "Koro- 
mandel."  But  as,  in  the  eager  pursuit  of  this  trade,  various  compa- 
nies of  merchants  were  organized  in  different  parts  of  the  United 
Provinces,  it  soon  appeared  that  they  seriously  interfered  with  one  an- 
other. The  competition  between  them,  both  abroad  and  at  home, 
was  simply  ruinous.  Abroad,  where  the  representatives  of  the  several 
companies  sought  to  make  the  largest  purchases  of  precious  stuffs 
from  the  natives,  the  prices  were  pushed  up  to  figures  far  in  advance 
of  those  that  prevailed  at  first ;  at  home,  where  they  all  sought  a 
market  for  their  goods  at  the  same  time,  the  prices  fell  correspon- 
dingly lower.  Thus  not  enough  profit  was  secured  to  meet  the  great 
cost  of  the  distant  and  perilous  expeditions ;  or  the  returns  were  so 
meager  as  to  discourage  enterprise.  There  was  then  no  fair  field  for 
the  successful  operation  of  free  trade :  for  the  deadly  enemies  of  the 
Republic  had  to  be  everywhere  encountered,  and  the  fitting  out  of 
ships  for  defense  alone  consumed  a  very  great  portion  of  the  profits ; 
while  concerted  action  and  large  fleets  were  indispensable  in  over- 
coming the  foe.  Hence  monopoly  was  resorted  to,  and  seemed  to  be 
the  only  practicable  method  under  those  circumstances,  whatever 
abuses  it  may  have  led  to  afterwards.  All  the  mercantile  associations 
which  were  engaged  in  the  East  India  trade  were  consolidated  into  a 
single  national  organization,  which  was  chartered  under  the  name 
of  the  "  General  East  India  Company,"  in  1602. 

By  this  means,  in  the  first  place,  there  was  secured  a  working  capi- 
tal much  larger  than  that  which  had  been  at  the  command  of  any  one 
of  these  companies  separately.  It  is  put  by  some  authorities  at 

1  Van  Kampen,  Nederl.  b.  Eur.,  1 :  127. 


THE  ANTECEDENTS  OF  NEW  NETHEELAND         67 

6,500,000  florins  ($2,600,000).  This  capital  was  to  be  furnished  by 
shareholders,  who  as  residents  of  various  sections  of  the  land  were  to 
contribute  certain  fixed  proportions,  according  to  the  relative  wealth 
of  these  different  parts.  These  shareholders  were  then  to  elect  a  cer- 
tain number  of  directors,  also  determined  by  the  relative  amounts  to 
be  managed,  who  should  constitute  four  chambers — that  of  Amsterdam, 
of  the  Province  of  Zeeland,  of  the  cities  on  the  Meuse,  and  of  the 
cities  of  the  Northern  Quarter.  A  General  Board,  or  Executive  Com- 
mittee, of  seventeen  members  were  to  administer  the  affairs  of  the 
whole  body.  The  charter  gave  the  Company  the  privilege  of  making 
treaties  with  the  barbarous  powers  of  the  East  Indies.  It  could  carry 
on  war,  make  conquests  of  territory  and  erect  fortifications  for  the 
purpose  of  holding  and  defending  them.1  Upon  an  exactly  similar 
basis,  with  internal  arrangements  only  slightly  differing  in  minor 
details,  as  we  shall  see  later,  the  West  India  Company  was  afterwards 
organized.  It  was  to  the  enterprise  and  the  funds  of  the  Amsterdam 
Chamber  of  the  East  India  Company  that  we  owe  the  discovery  of  the 
site  of  our  city. 

On  March  20,  1602,  the  charter  of  the  East  India  Company  was 
signed  and  sealed  by  order  of  the  States-General  of  the  Republic. 
That  same  year  a  fleet  of  fourteen  vessels  was  sent  out,  and  almost 
every  year  thereafter  saw  one  or  more  despatched  upon  the  same 
errand.  In  the  year  1606,  or  four  years  after  its  organization,  the 
Company  declared  a  dividend  of  75%.2  In  1609,  while  the  negotiations 
for  truce  were  going  on,  the  Company  laid  before  the  Commissioners 
of  the  States-General  a  showing  of  the  magnitude  to  which  their  trade 
had  even  then  grown.  From  this  it  appears  that  40  vessels,  employ- 
ing 5000  men,  were  sent  annually  into  the  Eastern  Seas,  and  that  the 
gross  receipts  were  expected  to  reach  the  sum  of  30,000,000  florins 
($12,000,000)  per  year.3 

It  was  altogether  out  of  the  question  that  the  Dutch  Republic 
should  abandon  this  immensely  profitable  commerce,  and  consent  to 

lWagenaar,Vad.  Hist.,9:148-150;VanKampen,  paid  out  in  dividends  4 ¥4  times  its  original  capi- 

Nederl.  b.  Eur.,  1:  128-130.  tal;  this  being  6,500,000  florins  ($2,600,000),  the 

2  Van  Kara  pen,  Nederl.  b.  Eur.,  1:  324.    On  p.  amount  this  had  realized  to  shareholders  by  the 

277  this  author  gives  a  list  of  dividends  declared  year  1620  was  no  less  than  27,625,000  florins,  or 

from  year  to  year  from  1605  to  1620 :  $11,050,000. 

In  1605                                                  15    o/  On  P-  276  Van  Kampen  gives  some  idea  of  the 

IgOg                                                  -j-    0°  profits  realized  on  various  articles :    Pepper  was 

Ig07                                                  4Q    p?  bought  of  the  natives  for  5%  stivers  (11V4  cents) 

]g0g                                                  20    o/  Per  pound,  and  sold  in  Europe  for  16  stivers  per 

1609  "                                              25    »/  pound  (32  cents)  — a  profit  of  nearly  300%.   Cloves 

IglO                                                  50    p?  were  bought  for  6V4  stivers  (12Mz  cents),  and  sold 

Igj2                                                  57^a°  f°r  3  n°rms  per  pound  ($1.20)  —  a  profit  of  nearly 

jg!5                                                  40]j,o°  1000%.     Mace  was  bought  for  8  stivers  (16  cents), 

jgjg                                             "  roi^o0  and  sold  for  6  florins  ($2.40)  per  pound — a  profit 

1620  ! !  '  '37^0°  of  1500°o- 

3  Van  Meteren,  "  Historie  van  de  Oorlogen  der 

If  we  add  these  percentages  together  we  find      Nederlanderen,"  9:  368,  Bk.  29  (8vo,  1763).    Van 
that  they  amount  to  425%  —  i.  e.,  the  Company  had      Kampen,  Nederl.  b.  Eur.,  1 :  166,  167. 


68  HISTOEY    OF    NEW- YORK 

return  to  the  simple  trade  with  the  ports  of  Spain  and  Portugal 
in  consideration  of  the  acknowledgment  of  their  independence  by 
Spain,  which  at  this  juncture  would  have  been  a  mere  matter  of  form, 

since  practically  they  were  entirely  inde- 
pendent already,  and  by  virtue  of  that 
independence  had  entered  upon  this  very 
career  of  financial  prosperity.  But  as 
Spain  would  not  grant  a  formal  permis- 
sion for  Dutch  trade  in  the  Indian  Seas, 
though  she  did  yield  in  the  matter  of 
formally  agreeing  to  treat  with  the  United 
Netherlands  as  free  and  sovereign  states, 
the  astute  diplomats  engaged  in  drawing 
up  the  truce  managed  by  a  skilful  use 
of  phraseology  to  leave  out  the  actual 
name  of  the  Indies,  without  affecting  the 
hard  fact  of  the  trade  thereto.  The  article 
upon  this  subject  read:  "The  subjects  and 

inhabitants  of  the  respective  countries  shall  exercise  reciprocal  friend- 
ship and  commerce,  the  which  nevertheless  the  King  of  Spain  con- 
siders to  be  limited  to  his  kingdoms  and  lands  in  Europe,  and  not  to 
be  carried  on  outside  of  these  specified  limits,  except  in  case  of  the 
countries  of  such  powers  as  shall  agree  to  permit  them  [the  Dutch]  to 
do  so." '  As  the  Dutch  had  been  diligently  making  excellent  treaties 
with  almost  all  the  East  Indian  potentates  that  were  worth  obtaining 
the  privileges  of  trade  from,  the  exception  left  the  Provinces  a  large 
latitude  for  just  the  commerce  they  most  desired,  and  the  omission  of 
the  mere  word  Indies,  however  satisfactory  that  may  have  been  to 
King  Philip  III.,  was  of  very  little  consequence  to  them.  As  Mot- 
ley remarks :  "  India  was  as  plainly  expressed  by  the  omission  of  the 
word  as  if  it  had  been  engrossed  in  large  capitals." 2 

It  is  coincidental — yet,  in  view  of  the  subsequent  development  of 
New- York  City  as  one  of  the  money-centers  of  the  world,  it  is  almost 
more  than  a  coincidence,  partaking  in  fact  somewhat  of  the  nature  of 
a  prophecy — that  in  the  very  year,  already  seen  to  have  been  so  mem- 
orable, when  the  site  of  our  city  was  discovered  was  established  the 
Bank  of  Amsterdam.  It  was  created  in  January,  1609,  by  a  decree  of 
the  city  fathers,  as  Henry  Hudson  sailed  forth  in  April.  Perhaps 
this  connection,  which,  though  remote,  is  still  very  interesting,  will 
justify  a  brief  account  of  the  origin  of  the  institution.  It  may  con- 
tribute additional  light  upon  the  state  of  affairs  in  Holland  out  of 
which  her  citizens  came  to  colonize  New  Netherland,  and  which  helped 
to  give  point  and  character  to  that  colonial  enterprise. 

1  Wagenaar,  Vad.  Hist.,  9 :  437.  2  "  United  Netherlands,1'  4 :  523. 


THE  ANTECEDENTS  OF  NEW  NETHEELAND         69 

The  first  ideas  regarding  the  possibilities  of  money  per  se  as  an 
article  of  commerce,  as  a  means  of  earning  money,  came  from  Italy. 
The  merchants  from  Lombardy  who  settled  in  France,  England,  and 
other  parts  of  Europe,  under  that  innocent  title,  were  really  capitalists 
who  had  learned  the  art  of  finance.  They  arrived  in  the  Netherland 
Provinces  as  early  as  the. thirteenth  century.  When  the  real  nature 
of  their  business  was  apprehended,  it  at  once  encountered  the  opposi- 
tion of  the  Church ;  for  interest,  for  which  there  was  then  no  term  but 
usury,  was  supposed  to  be  in  direct  violation  of  the  precepts  of  the 
Gospel.  Accordingly  we  find  that  these  "Lombards"  were  banished 
from  Brabant  in  1260.  They  were,  however,  tolerated  by  the  shrewd 
and  utilitarian  Hollanders,  who  instinctively  penetrated  to  the  far- 
reaching  usefulness  of  some  such  transactions  as  loans  of  money 
for  present  employment  in  trade  or  manufacture,  to  be  afterwards 
returned  with  a  payment  of  interest  out  of  the  prospective  profits 
of  this  employment.  The  Dutch,  therefore,  paid  very  little  attention 
to  the  remonstrances  of  the  priests.  We  find  that  the  Lombards 
occupied  a  brick  house  (a  great  rarity  then)  in  the  town  of  Schiedam 
as  early  as  1327.  In  Delft  a  trace  of  them  is  first  found  in  1342 ;  but 
no  mention  occurs  in  the  town  records  of  Amsterdam  until  the  year 
1477.1  At  first  the  dealers  themselves  were  called  "Lombards," 
whether  they  had  come  from  Italy  or  not;  later,  the  places  where 
they  carried  on  their  business  were  thus  designated.2 

The  first  suggestion  in  Holland  of  an  institution  that  bore  some  re- 
semblance to  a  bank,  such  as  we  now  understand  it,  was  made  in  1593, 
and  thus  at  the  very  beginning  of  that  mighty  commercial  movement 
which  resulted  finally  in  the  vastly  remunerative  East  India  trade.  It 
was  then  a  time  of  financial  stress ;  the  interdict  of  Philip  was  still 
working  its  woes  among  the  merchants  who  had  been  dealing  with 
southern  ports,  and  the  usually  ample  compensation  in  the  way  of 
an  increased  trade  in  northern  seas  and  with  the  Muscovy  States  had 
been  sadly  checked  by  a  storm  which  had  proved  specially  destructive 
to  shipping  engaged  in  this  trade.3 

In  the  aforesaid  year,  then,  one  Henry  Antoniszoon  Wissel,  a  name 

1  Wagenaar,    "  Amsterdamsche  Geschiedenis,"  cited  above.)     In  a  directory  of  New- York  City 
7 :  Hi.  of  1826-27,  we  find  this  advertisement :    "  United 

2  To  this  day  pawnshops  in  Holland  go  by  the  States    Lombard    Association,     office,     28   Wall 
name  of  Lombards,  Lomberds,  or  Lommerts.    If  Street.1'    No  further  explanation  of  its  business 
the  business  of  these  men  was  not  at  first  of  occurs,  which  may  thus  be  left  to1  our  conjectures 
this  low  character,  it  nevertheless  degenerated  or  suspicions.      But  it  shows  the  persistence  of 
later ;  but  when  some  of  them,  in  Amsterdam,  that  designation  of  the  early  Italian  financiers 
went    to   the   extreme    of   charging   the    outra-  into  the  present  century  and  across  the  Atlantic, 
geous  interest  of  33M»    %,   the  city  interfered,  SDavies     ("Holland  and  the    Dutch,"  2:561) 
and    curiously    enough    established    what    was  says  that  a  storm  had  destroyed  forty  vessels  en- 
called    a  "Bank    of    Loans"   (in  contradistinc-  gaged  in  the  northern  trade,  causing  many  bank- 
tion    from    the     "Exchange    Bank,"     as     they  ruptcies,  yet  Bor,  to  whom  he  makes  reference, 
called    the   institution    which    forms    our    sub-  mentions  no  such  storm,  nor  gives  that  and  its 
ject  at  present),   which  was  really  a  pawnshop  consequences  as  the  occasion  for  the  petition  for 
under  the  control  of  the  city.     (See  Wagenaar,  as  a  bank. 


70 


HISTORY    OF    NEW- YORK 


evidently  derived  from  the  occupation  he  meant  to  establish,1  ad- 
dressed a  petition  to  the  States-General  of  the  United  Provinces 
assembled  at  the  Hague,  in  his  own  name,  but  representing  an  asso- 
ciation or  syndicate  of  capitalists,  which  Bor  supposes  to  have  been 
largely  composed  of  Italian  nobles,  or  even  princes.  The  scheme 
suggested  by  the  petitioners  embraced  five  main  particulars :  (1)  the 
erection  of  offices,  counting-houses,  or  comptoirs,  in  various  cities  of 
the  Republic,  upon  which  bills  of  exchange,  or  drafts,  or  checks  could 
be  drawn ;  (2)  these  to  serve  also  for  the  deposit  of  money,  as  in 

Spain,  Italy,  and  other 
lands ;  (3)  to  be,  again, 
a  sort  of  pawnshops  for 
the  accommodation  of 
the  poor,  loaning  sums 
not  larger  than  15  gul- 
den ($6)  on  clothing, 
furniture,  etc.;  (4)  to 
furnish  loans,  on  good 
security,  of  large  sums 
at  10  per  cent,  per  an., 
for  the  encouragement 
of  business ;  and  (5) 
these  comptoirs  to  serve 
also  as  public  auction 
rooms.2  This  interest- 
ing address  was  earnest- 
ly discussed  in  the 
States-General,  and  re- 
ferred by  them  to  the 
various  Provincial  Leg- 
islatures in  November, 
1593.  In  the  undoubt- 
ing  anticipation  that  his 
petition  would  be  grant- 
ed, Wissel  purchased,  or 
rented,  and  established  himself  and  family  in  the  handsomest  house 
in  the  Hague,  which  indeed  at  the  present  day  is  nothing  less  than 
the  modest  royal  palace,  occupied  by  the  King  when  he  is  in  resi- 
dence at  the  capital.3  Here  were  to  be  the  headquarters  of  the 


MONUMENT    AT   HEILIGERLEE. 


1  "Wissel"  is  the  Dutch  both  for  "Exchange" 
and  "  Check." 

2  Bor,  "Oorspronck,   Begin,   en  Vervolgh  der 
Nederlandsche  Oorlogen,"  Deel  4,  Stuk  2,  Bk.  30, 
p.  771  (fol.  1679 j. 

3  This    curious  fact    is    beyond  dispute.     Bor 
says  that  this  fine  house,  which  he  describes  with 


evident  relish,  was  situated  on  the  street  called 
Noordeinde,  and  that  it  was  erected  in  1533  by 
William  Gout,  Receiver-general  of  Holland  at 
that  time.  (Bor,  Bk  30,  p.  771.)  And  in  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  Hague  published  in  1857  ("La  Haye 
par  un  Habitant,"  2  vols.,  1:  271),  under  Noor- 
deinde, we  read :  "  En  avancant  dans  la  rue, 


THE  ANTECEDENTS  OF  NEW  NETHERLAND         71 

various  banking  institutions  scattered  throughout  the  land,  the  cen- 
tral office  or  chief  bank  of  the  United  Provinces.  But  the  scheme 
came  to  nothing,  and  the  house  is  now  merely  a  palace. 

It  was  not  till  thirteen  years  later  that  a  project  for  a  bank,  on  the 
model  of  the  one  at  Venice,  was  first  considered  by  the  Municipality 
of  Amsterdam.  The  necessity  for  such  an  institution  had  now  become 
very  pressing.  The  commerce  with  the  East  Indies  was  rapidly  at- 
taining vast  proportions,  making  the  cities  of  Holland  the  mart  of 
Europe  for  procuring  the  spices  of  the  fruitful  and  fragrant  Orient. 
The  East  India  Company  had  just  (1606)  declared  a  dividend  of  75 
per  cent.  Amsterdam  was  the  head  and  center  of  all  its  traffic,  besides 
having  by  far  the  most  of  the  trade  with  the  Muscovy  States  and  the 
kingdoms  of  the  Baltic.  Merchants  from  every  country  of  Europe 
congregated  within  her  walls,  and  crowded  her  "  Bourse,"  an  ample 
court  open  to  the  sky,  and  surrounded  by  a  covered  colonnade  on  all 
sides,  situated  not  then  upon  the  great  square  of  the  Dam,  but  in  the 
narrow  Warmoestraat,  not  far  from  the  present  "  Bible  Hotel,"  well 
known  to  American  tourists.  Here  was  daily  heard  a  very  Babel  of 
confused  tongues.  But  what  was  even  more  confusing,  here  were 
brought  in  payment  for  mercantile  transactions  all  varieties  of  coins, 
in  gold  or  silver,  and  of  every  nationality.  And  these  coins,  besides 
possessing  the  inconvenience  of  being  foreign,  were  in  various  states 
of  depreciation,  worn,  clipped,  or  even  deliberately  adulterated,  and 
diminished  from  their  face  value  by  the  iniquity  of  insolvent  princes. 
Whenever  a  bill  was  to  be  paid  at  home  or  abroad,  these  various  cir- 
cumstances had  to  be  considered,  and  the  exact  value  of  the  money 
employed  in  such  transaction  was  ascertained  in  each  instance  with 
great  laboriousness.  Accordingly  the  magistrates  of  Amsterdam,  "  to 
facilitate  commerce,"  decreed  that  a  bank  be  established.  Here  every 
merchant  might  place  the  coins  in  his  possession,  have  them  once  for 
all  weighed,  assayed,  and  properly  valued,  and  the  true  value  of  the 
whole  deposit  placed  to  his  credit.  The  city  made  itself  responsible 
for  the  safe-keeping  of  the  funds,  and  guaranteed  the  return  of  what- 
ever moneys  any  person  placed  there.  One  of  the  Burgomasters  of 
the  city  was  annually  appointed  to  inspect  the  amount  of  funds  on 
deposit,  and  make  a  declaration  to  that  effect  under  oath.  The  decree 
erecting  the  bank  was  published  on  January  29,  1609,  thirty  years  to 
a  day  after  the  signing  of  the  "  Union  of  Utrecht." l 

The  management  of  the  bank  was  intrusted  at  first  to  three  Com- 
missioners, who  were  placed  under  oath  in  assuming  the  office.  In 

on  voit  &  droite   [coming  from  the  west,  or  the  bank  incident,  and  evidently  obtained  his  infor- 

'*  Old  Scheveningen  Road  "  ]  le  palais  de  la  vieille  mation  from  an  independent  source, 

cour.     II    f ut   originairement  bati  en   1553,   par  l  Wagenaar,  Amsterd.    Geschied. ,  4  :   155 ;   La 

Willem    Goudt,    receveur-ge'ne'ral   de  Hollande."  Rich.  d.  1.  Holl.,  1  :   254 ;   Davies,  Holland   and 

The  author  makes  no  reference  to  Bor,  or  the  the  Dutch,  2 :  561. 


72  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

1686  the  number  was  increased  to  four ;  later  still  to  six,  and  even 
eight.  But  after  1716  the  number  remained  fixed  at  six.  These 
functionaries  were  usually  chosen  from  among  the  ex-scheperis  and  ex- 
councilmen  of  the  city ;  but  sometimes  a  merchant  of  prominence  was 
selected  who  had  held  no  official  position.  The  clerical  force  for 
carrying  on  the  business  of  the  bank  consisted  of  four  "  Chief-book- 
keepers," with  two  "adjunct"  or  assistant  bookkeepers.  A  " Contra- 
bookkeeper"  kept  the  "  Contra- ledger  " — these  terms  being  doubtless 
equivalent  to  those  of  general-bookkeeper  and  general-ledger  of 
our  banks  to-day.  This  "  Contra-bookkeeper  "  was  provided  with  no 
less  than  six  assistants,  and  his  ledger  was  required  to  balance  every 
day  with  those  of  the  four  "  Chief -bookkeepers."  There  were,  also, 
two  "  Receivers,"  analogous  doubtless  to  our  receiving  and  paying 
tellers ;  for  one  of  these  "  Receivers  "  paid  out  moneys,  while  the  other 
properly  received.  These  men  had  assistants,  but  it  is  not  stated  how 
many.  There  was,  moreover,  the  important  position  of  "Assayer," 
very  necessary  in  such  a  bank,  where  coins  had  to  be  so  cautiously 
taken  and  so  thoroughly  tested  as  to  their  value.  Lastly,  there  were 
two  messengers  and  an  errand  boy.1 

It  must  be  observed  that  while  this  bank  was  a  great  step  in  advance 
in  the  world  of  finance,  and  of  immense  advantage  to  Dutch  com- 
merce, it  was  quite  different  in  its  operation  from  that  of  the  banking 
system  in  this  country  to-day.  It  was  strictly  a  bank  for  deposits  and 
exchange.  It  did  no  business  in  the  way  of  discounts  ;  it  did  not  use 
its  funds  for  investments  ;  nor  even  did  it  make  loans  to  the  Govern- 
ment, which  constituted  the  very  life  of  the  Bank  of  England,  estab- 
lished near  the  close  of  this  same  century.  It  derived  an  income, 
however,  from  various  sources :  (1)  "  It  was  enacted  that  all  bills  of 
exchange  above  a  certain  amount 2  should  be  paid  in  the  credits  [i.  e., 
certificates  of  deposit]  which  any  one  placing  coins  there  received, 
and  which  were  called  bank-money ;  for  the  convenience  and  trust- 
worthiness of  this  proceeding  the  bills  on  the  bank  were  always  at  a 
premium."3  This  premium  varied  from  5%  to  9%.  So  much  more 
desirable  was  it  considered  to  possess  and  handle  these  bills  than  the 
troublesome  and  treacherous  coins,  that  thus  much  less  in  even  good 
gold  needed  to  be  paid  out  by  the  bank  to  meet  their  face.  (2)  Those 
who  kept  an  account  in  the  bank  paid  a. small  fee  to  maintain  the 
establishment.  (3)  The  convenience  of  being  paid  on  demand  in  good 
coin  of  any  country  was  worth  to  any  one  the  required  "smallest 
possible  "  (so  the  decree  read)  rebate  on  the  same.  (4)  The  bank,  on 
receiving  coin  or  bullion  for  temporary  safe-keeping,  gave  bank-money 

1  Wagenaar  Amsterd.  Geschied.,  12  :  463-485.  3  H.  D.  McLeod,  "  Theory  and  Practice  of  Bank- 

2  La  Rich.  d.  1.  Holl.  (1 :  257)  says  600  florins,  or      ing,"  1 :  268  (London,  1875). 

$240. 


THE  ANTECEDENTS  OF  NEW  NETHEBLAND 


73 


or  credit  equal  to  its  exact  value  to  the  depositor,  together  with  a 
receipt  for  the  same.  If  this  were  called  for  within  six  months  the 
equivalent  bank-money  was  to  be  returned,  whereupon  the  owner 
would  receive  what  he  had  deposited  after  there  was  deducted  a  com- 
mission of  i%  for  coin  or  silver  bullion,  and  one  of  $%  for  gold 
bullion.  If  this  particular  deposit  was  not  called  for  in  less  than  six 
months,  it  passed  among  the  general 
funds  of  the  bank,  the  depositor  pos- 
sessing of  course  its  equivalent  in 
bank-money. 

It  is  readily  seen  that  on  the  vast 
funds  under  its  care  even  these  small 
percentages,  commissions,  and  fees 
would  yield  a  considerable  income. 
At  one  time  the  bank's  vaults  con- 
tained no  less  than  one  hundred  and 
eighty  millions  of  dollars  ($180,000,- 
000),  a  sum  which  was  hardly  con- 
ceivable in  those  days.  It  therefore 
is  worth  noticing  that  when  Henry 
Hudson  revealed  to  the  world  the 
existence  of  the  site  of  our  great  city, 
those  who  sent  him  here,  and  those  who  followed  up  his  discovery, 
were  already  perfectly  and  practically  familiar  with  operations  in 
finance  that  could  control  sums  of  such  enormous  proportions.  The 
Genius  which  presided  over  our  city's  birth,  and  which  was  destined 
to  cany  it  on  to  its  splendid  position  in  the  realm  of  finance  to-day, 
had  already  sprung  into  being  among  the  very  nation  that  was  com- 
ing to  colonize  the  Island  of  Manhattan. 

Such  then  was  the  year  1609  ;  but  a  proper  appreciation  of  the 
antecedents  of  New  Netherland  will  require  us  to  pause  and  reach 
forth  into  the  immediate  future  which  grew  out  of  such  a  combination 
of  events.  The  seventeenth  century  was  the  Golden  Age  of  Holland  : 
while  it  shone  New  Netherland  was  colonized;  ere  it  had  departed 
the  colony  had  already  become  New-  York.  Its  existence  therefore  in 
the  home  country  must  have  had  a  direct  influence  upon  men  and 
matters  in  this  portion  of  the  western  hemisphere. 

Forty  years  of  successful  warfare  had  preceded  the  signing  of  the 
Twelve  Years'  Truce  iri  1609.  Then,  the  pressure  of  foreign  hostilities 
being  removed,  there  burst  forth  at  once  hot  controversies  in  politics 
and  theology,  which  had  been  smoldering  for  many  years  before.  In 
politics  the  controversy  raged  about  the  question  of  States'  Rights 
vs.  Federal  Government,  to  which  we  in  this  century  and  on  this  side 
of  the  Atlantic  are  110  strangers,  and  which  we  have  only  recently 


74  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YOEK 

settled  in  favor  of  the  latter.  Bar ne veld,  Advocate  of  Holland  (attor- 
ney-general, or  prime-minister,  would  convey  his  position  better  to 
our  minds  to-day),  the  leader  of  the  Peace  or  Truce  party,  standing  on 
the  constitution  strictly  interpreted,  i.  e.,  the  "Union  of  Utrecht," 
maintained  the  States'  Eights  theory.1  Maurice  of  Orange,  who  had 
striven  for  a  continuance  of  the  war,  with  a  rather  high  hand  pro- 
ceeded to  exercise  powers  that  could  belong  only  to  a  centralized 
government,  although  it  is  quite  wide  of  the  mark  to  assert  that  he 
aspired  to  a  throne.2  Barneveld  overcame  the  Prince  in  securing  the 
truce ;  Maurice  employed  the  enforced  leisure  from  his  duties  in  the 
field  in  taking  measures  to  crush  the  Advocate.  Calvinists  being  at 
the  same  time  arrayed  against  Arminians  upon  the  abstrusest  theo- 
logical points,  these  fierce  discussions  were  taken  from  the  university 
halls  and  cast  abroad  upon  the  very  streets,  setting  members  of  the  same 
household  in  bitter  enmity  against  each  other  —  for  the  reason  that 
the  Arminians  artfully  enlisted  the  magistrates  on  their  side,  by  con- 
tending that  to  them  was  to  be  committed  the  decision  of  the  call  of 
ministers  to  churches.3  The  magistrates  of  the  cities  were  of  the  Bar- 
neveld party;  hence  the  Prince  and  his  adherents  became  violent 
Calvinists.  Internal  peace  returned  only  after  the  Synod  of  Dort  had 
condemned  the  Arminians,  on  May  6th,  and  after  John  of  Barneveld 
had  been  judicially  murdered  on  May  13,  1619.  Then  (1621)  the  war 
with  Spain  was  resumed  ;  Maurice  again  led  the  armies  of  the  Repub- 
lic, although  not  with  such  brilliant  success  as  before,  until  in  1625  he 
died  and  bequeathed  his  leadership  of  the  patriot  forces  to  his  brother 
Frederick  Henry,  the  son  of  William  the  Silent  and  Louisa  de  Coligny, 
born  but  a  few  months  before  the  assassination,  in  1584. 

Thus  the  first  quarter  of  the  seventeenth  century  had  been  com- 
pleted. With  the  second  began  (in  some  directions  had  already 
begun)  the  Golden  Age  of  the  Republic.  As  such  ages  usually  do  in 
all  countries,  it  followed  here  immediately  upon  great  and  stirring 
events,  after  fierce  conflicts  of  opinion, —  that  is,  after  heroic  action 
and  hard  thinking,  It  was  for  Holland,  in  the  first  place,  the  Golden 
Age  of  her  political  importance.  She  stood  before  the  world  a  strong, 
compact  Confederation  of  States,  sovereign  each,  and  each  stoutly 

i  Led  away  by  his  zeal  against  the  Calvinists,  as  placed  him  at  variance  with  Barneveld,  whose 

well  as  by  his  horror  at  the  murder  of  Barneveld,  character  he  justly  admired, 

which  all  must  share,  Motley  has  not  clearly  if  at  2  Even  Motley  gives  such  an  impression  ;  but 

all  brought  out  the  error  of  Barneveld  (however  the  "  sovereignty  "he  aspired  to  was  no  more  than 

constitutionally  right)  and  the  essential  correct-  that  of  Count  of  Holland,  which  had  been  declared 

ness  of  Maurice's  standpoint  (however  judicially  forfeited  by  the  King  of  Spain,  and  had  been  of- 

or  personally  guilty),  if  we  judge  the  question  in  fered  to  William  the  Silent  in   the  year   of  his 

the  light  of  republican  principles  as  we  understand  death.    Motley's  reference  on  this  point  to  Wag- 

them.  Motley  had  a  grand  opportunity  to  enforce  enaar,  if  examined,  will  be  found  to  bear  out  our 

the  lessons  of  political  wisdom  taught  us  so  pain-  statement.    (United  Netherlands,  4  :  544 ;  cf.  with 

fully,  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago,  by  the  story  of  Vaderl.  Hist.,  9  :  454.) 

the  Republic  whose  rise  he  had  so  eloquently  set  3  it  is  hardly  possible  that  Motley  could  have  sin- 
forth.  Certainly  his  own  political  convictions  cerely  approved  of  this  position. 


THE   "CHAMBEE  OF  THE  TRUCE  "- 

C,  PORTRAIT  OF  PRINCE  MAURICE.      D,  PORTRAIT  OF  PRINCE  FREDERICK  HENRY.      I,    ALLEGORICAL  PAINTING,  THE  8E 

K,  THE  FOUR  QUARTERS  OF  THE  GLOBE 


IE  PEACE  CONGRESS  IN  SESSION. 


PROVINCES,  AS  SEVEN  CLASSIC  HEROES,  CONSECRATING  THEIR  UNION   UPON  THE  ALTAR  OF  RELIGION  AND  LIBERTY. 
DOORS  OPENING  UPON  THE  CORRIDOR. 


THE  ANTECEDENTS  OF  NEW  NETHERLAND         75 

maintaining  its  sovereignty,  but  united  into  one  body.  The  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  Netherlands  was  divided  into  four  great  depart- 
ments :  (1)  The  Legislative,  or  the  States-General,  the  parliament  or 
congress  of  the  Republic,  composed  of  representatives  from  the  Pro- 
vincial "  States,"  or  Legislature,  of  each  province ;  (2)  the  Executive, 
in  the  form  of  a  Cabinet,  or  Council,  called  the  "  Council  of  State," 
but  which,  sitting  as  a  high  court  at  times,  also  embraced  judi- 
ciary business  among  its  functions :  it  was  appointed  by  the  States- 
General,  being  its  "  executive  committee,"  so  to  speak ;  (3)  the  Treas- 
ury Department  was  called  the  "  Chamber  of  Accounts  " ;  and  (4)  the 
War  Department  was  designated  "  The  Admiralty,"  which  would  seem 
to  include  only  the  navy;  while  the  army  came  more  immediately 
under  the  direction  of  the  Council  of  State.  The  Stadholder  was  the 
Commander-in-chief  of  the  army  and  navy ;  he  was  the  principal  ser- 
vant of  the  State,  but  he  had  no  part  in  legislation,  not  having  a  vote 
in  the  States-General,  although  his  presence  at  its  deliberations  was 
permitted,  and  a  seat  of  honor  at  the  side  of  the  President  reserved 
for  him.  The  departments  were  all  united  under  one  roof  in  a  build- 
ing situated  on  the  "  Binnenhof "  at  the  Hague,  and  facing  the  beau- 
tiful "  Vy  ver  "  in  the  rear.  The  hall  where  the  High  and  Mighty  Lords 
the  States-General  met  in  regular  session  was  limited  in  size  and  rather 
somber  of  outlook.  Its  three  windows  opened  upon  that  corner  of  the 
Binnenhof  where  stands  the  interior  of  the  two  east  gates.  The  Pres- 
ident's chair  was  placed  on  a  raised  dais,  with  its  back  to  the  central 
window,  while  on  his  left  stood  the  chair  reserved  for  the  Stadholder. 
Two  fine  paintings  by  Parmentier,  representing  Prudence  and  Con- 
stancy, hung  over  the  chimneys  on  either  side  of  the  room,  allegorical 
paintings  of  Liberty,  Peace,  and  Abundance,  by  other  masters,  like- 
wise adorning  the  walls.  The  large  saloon  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
corridor,  as  already  mentioned,  was  the  "  Chamber  of  the  Truce."  To 
the  west  of  this,  with  windows  opening  upon  the  Vy  ver,  were  the  apart- 
ments of  the  Admiralty ;  to  the  east,  the  room  devoted  to  the  sessions 
of  the  Council  of  State ;  and  with  either  of  those  departments  of  state 
the  States-General  held  formal  conferences  in  the  great  Truce-cham- 
ber. The  "  Chamber  of  Accounts  "  was  assigned  apartments  west  of 
the  room  of  the  States-General. 

The  independence  actually  acquired  and  provisionally  acknowledged 
by  the  truce  in  1609  was  finally  wrung  from  the  impotent  but  still 
unwilling  hands  of  Spain  at  the  Peace  of  Minister  in  Westphalia,  in 
1648.  Frederick  Henry  had  died  the  year  before,  when  the  battles  of 
the  Eepublic,  however,  had  all  been  won.  He  had  shown  himself  the 
worthy  successor  of  Maurice  in  the  field,  but  of  a  far  more  enlightened 
and  liberal  spirit  in  politics.  Glorious  as  was  the  fame  of  his  family 
adorned  by  such  a  name  as  that  of  its  founder,  William  the  Silent, 


76 


HISTOEY     OF    NEW- YORK 


Frederick  Henry  achieved  a  signal  family  triumph  by  an  alliance 
with  the  royal  house  of  Stuart,  in  the  marriage  of  his  son,  William 
II.,  with  the  daughter  of  Charles  I.  and  sister  of  Charles  II.  and  James 
II.  William  the  Silent  had  been  content  to  dwell  in  the  rather  dingy 
quarters  of  the  Prinsenhof,  at  Delft,  made  immortal  by  his  assassina- 
tion there.  Maurice  occupied  the  buildings  on  the  Binnenhof  at  The 
Hague,  which  had  been  the  residence  of  the  counts  of  Holland.  They 
adjoined  the  hall  of  the  States  of  Holland,  and  faced  the  Buitenhof 
on  the  west,  and  the  Vyver  on  the  north,  a  most  delightful  situation. 
This  became  the  residence  of  all  his  successors  in  the  Stadholderate 
down  to  the  time  of  the  French  Revolution.  But  Frederick  Henry, 
living  in  the  midst  of  the  rapidly  growing  wealth  and  luxury  incident 
upon  the  immense  extension  and  gains  of  Dutch  commerce,  affected 
a  more  splendid  style  than  his  predecessors.  The  accession  to  his 
household  of  a  royal  princess,  too,  threw  a  halo  of  majesty  about  the 
Stadholder's  residence,  so  that  these  spacious  rooms,  with  their  wide 
outlook  to  the  north  and  west,  became  invested  to  a  certain  degree 
with  the  characteristics  and  ceremonial  of  a  court  and  palace. 

Pursuing  the  course  of  events  beyond  the  death  of  Frederick  Henry, 
until  the  year  1674,  when  Holland  finally  yielded  New  Netherland, 
the  rulers  of  the  Dutch  Eepublic  directly,  and  of  her  American  Prov- 
ince indirectly,  included  William  II., 
the  Pensionary  John  De  Witt,  and 
William  III.,  later  King  of  England, 
under  the  same  designation.  William 
II.,  a  vain  and  not  very  able  young 
man,  indulged  a  vaulting  ambition  to 
be  something  more  than  a  Republican 
Stadholder,  made  one  or  two  very  se- 
rious blunders,  and  died  opportunely 
only  three  years  after  his  father  in 
1650,  leaving  William  III.  an  infant 
of  a  few  months.  Then  Holland  be- 
came a  Republic  without  the  faintest 
shadow  of  a  reigning  house.  Such  the 
House  of  Orange  never  properly  was, 
although  the  Stadholderate  had  been 
made  hereditary  in  1631.  Now,  in  the  interval  before  William  III.  be- 
came of  age,  and  as  a  reaction  against  his  father's  escapades,  a  "  Per- 
petual Edict "  was  passed  excluding  the  House  of  Orange  forever  from 
that  position,  but  this  was  going  too  far  to  the  other  extreme,  as  was 
sadly  learned  a  score  of  years  later.  At  the  head  of  affairs  was  John 
De  Witt,  a  plain  citizen  raised  by  merit  and  talent  to  that  exalted 
place.  His  office  was  one  similar  to  that  of  Barneveld,  he  being  the 


JOHN    DE    WITT. 


THE  ANTECEDENTS  OF  NEW  NETHEBLAND         77 

"  Grand-Pensionary,"  or  the  Attorney-General,  or  Prime  Minister  of 
the  Eepublic.  From  1650  to  1672  he  guided  the  destinies  of  the 
Commonwealth,  the  contemporary  of  Cromwell,  and  —  but  for  the 
alliance  of  the  Orange  element  with  the  Stuart  interests,  and  the  com- 
plications arising  therefrom — the  natural  ally  of  the  great  Protector 
and  the  temporary  Republic  across  the  North  Sea.  By  a  popular 
reactionary  convulsion  in  favor  of  the  House  of  Orange,  De  Witt  was 
torn  to  pieces  by  a  mob  in  1672,  and  William  III.  of  Orange  assumed 
the  office  of  Stadholder.  Thus,  both  during  the  few  months  when 
New  Netherland  was  held  by  the  Dutch,  after  the  recapture  of  New- 
York  by  Evertsen  in  1673,  and  later  as  King  of  England  from  1689  to 
1702,  William  III.  proved  to  be  the  last  Dutch  ruler  of  this  American 
province.  And  it  was  especially  under  him  —  indeed,  to  some  extent 
also  under  John  De  Witt  —  that  Holland  attained  her  greatest  prom- 
inence in  the  political  affairs  of  Europe.  She. was  often  the  leading 
member  of  alliances,  triple  and  quadruple,  to  which  the  other  parties 
were  kingdoms  or  an  empire. 

But  this  was  not  only  the  Golden  Age  of  her  political  greatness. 
The  Eepublic  was  great  in  a  score  of  splendid  or  useful  departments 
of  human  achievement.  Before  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
Rembrandt,  Potter,  Douw,  Van  der  Heist,  Frans  Hals,  Steen,  Ruys- 
dael,  the  Van  de  Veldes,  and  others  whose  brushes  have  made  the 
Dutch  school  of  painting  the  admiration  of  the  world,  had  accom- 
plished their  triumphs  and  passed  away.  In  this  same  century  Leeu- 
wenhoek,  at  Delft,  invented  and  experimented  with  the  microscope. 
Two  mechanics  of  Middelburg,  in  1610,  invented  an  instrument  which 
Galileo  developed  into  the  telescope,  but  which  Huyghens,  another 
Dutchman,  before  the  century  closed,  again  improved  in  an  essential 
particular.  He  managed  to  obviate  the  confused  colors  produced  by 
the  lenses,  and  was  thus  enabled  to  reveal  the  rings  of  Saturn  to  the 
world  of  science  for  the  first  time.  This,  too,  was  the  Golden  Age  of 
Dutch  literature,  when  Vondel  wrote ;  of  her  learning,  for  Grotius 
then  produced  his  undying  works  on  classical  criticism  and  biblical 
commentary,  on  history,  political  economy,  and  international  juris- 
prudence. Then  did  Holland  do  her  finest  printing,  for  the  Elzevirs 
were  publishing  their  exquisite  editions.  In  Holland  were  then  made 
the  best  mathematical,  the  best  astronomical,  the  best  nautical  in- 
struments. Diamond-cutting  was  already  a  secret  known  to  Dutch 
mechanics  only.  The  Dutch  farmers  instructed  all  Europe  in  agri- 
culture, vegetable  gardening,  the  cultivation  of  winter-roots  and  of 
grasses,  while  horticulture  was  a  veritable  passion,  as  is  proved  by 
the  famous  speculation  in  tulip-bulbs  of  1637.  "  The  English  writers 
on  husbandry,"  says  Prof.  Thorold  Rogers,  "  are  constantly  calling 
the  attention  of  English  farmers  to  the  marvelous  progress  the  Dutch 


78  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

were  making.  The  population  of  England  was  more  than  doubled  in 
the  seventeenth  century  by  adopting  the  agricultural  inventions  of 
the  Dutch."1 

In  short,  the  Dutch  Eepublic  was  then  the  "United  States"  of 
Europe  in  more  senses  than  one.  She  was  this,  not  only  politically, 
but  by  reason  of  the  inventiveness  and  energy  of  her  citizens.  The 
Dutchmen  of  the  seventeenth  century  were  actually  the  "  Yankees  "  of 
their  day.2  We  can  only  regret  the  utterance  of  that  immortal 
joke  which  has  peopled  Manhattan  Island  in  the  seventeenth  century 
with  a  race  of  dull-minded  gluttons  and  stupid  beer-drinkers.  We 
may  advance  over  and  over  again  all  that  has  just  been  stated, 
accompanied  by  quotations  from  the  highest  authorities  of  various 
nationalities  to  show  what  the  Hollanders  of  the  sixteenth  and 
seventeenth  centuries  really  were.  But  nevertheless,  the  ludicrous 
delineations  of  Washington  Irving  have  more  power  than  a  hundred 
books  written  with  all  soberness  in  the  interest  of  the  actual 
facts.  What  shall  be  clone  about  it  ?  It  is  a  useless  task  to  argue 
against  a  laugh.  Even  Motley's  elaborate  eulogy  on  the  Dutch  in 
Holland,  carried  through  nine  octavo  volumes,  does  not  prevent  the 
generality  of  people  from  looking  at  the  Dutch  on  Manhattan  Island 
through  the  laughter-moving  spectacles  of  sly  old  Diedrich  Knicker- 
bocker ;  yet  they  were  men  of  exactly  the  same  stuff.  In  1610  when 
the  Dutch  Ambassador  in  London  proposed  a  scheme  for  the  joint 
colonization  of  Virginia  by  the  Dutch  and  English,  the  English 
promptly  declined,  being  afraid,  as  Bancroft  informs  us,  "of  the 
superior  art  and  industry  of  the  Dutch."  Their  political  ideas  and  in- 
stitutions ;  their  indomitable  energy  and  commercial  enterprise ;  their 
all-embracing  inventiveness  and  mechanical  skill  made  them,  as  we 
have  said,  the  Yankees  of  their  age ;  and  the  English  knew  this,  and 
declined  to  enter  upon  any  undertaking  with  them,  lest  they  should 

1  "  Story  of  Holland,"  pp.  215,  220.  of  all  sorts  of  mediums,  ingenious  and  suitable  for 

2  As  we  have  already  intimated  in  a  former  note,  facilitating,  shortening,  and  despatching    every- 
Mr.  Asher,  in  his  "  Bibliographical  Essay,"  mis-  thing  they  do.  even  in  the  matter  of  cooking." 
led  by  his  enthusiastic  admiration  for  Usselinx,  Taine,  a  Frenchman,   says :    "  At   this  moment, 
himself  a  Belgian,  claims  that  all  these  triumphs  1609,  Holland  on  the  sea  and  in  the  world  is  what 
of  the  Dutch  were  due  to  the  influx  of  some  England  was  in  the  time  of  Napoleon."    Among 
100,000  Belgian  families.     Asher  reasons  that  it  is  British  authorities  Hallam  asserts  that  Holland 
unlikely  that  a  dull,  slow,  unoriginal  nation  like  "  at  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century  and  for  many 
the  Dutch  should  have  suddenly  awakened  to  such  years  afterwards  was  pre-eminently  the  literary 
achievements  in  art,  commerce,  literature,  every-  country  of  Europe  ;  "  and  Macaulay,  writing  of  a 
thing.     However  unlikely  it  may  seem,  the  fact  later  period,  says  that  the  aspect  of  Holland  "pro- 
remains,  and  we  can  discover  no  particular  influ-  duced  on  English  travellers  of  that  age  an  effect 
ence  of  the  Belgians  in  producing  the  marvel,  ex-  similar  to  the  effect  which  the  first  sight  of  Eng- 
cept  so  far  as  a  Belgian  himself  asserts  it.    [Mot-  laud  now  produces  on  a  Norwegian  or  a  Canadian." 
ley,  the  New  Englander,  calls  the  Dutch,  "the  "  For  a  long  time,"  writes  Thorold  Rogers,  "that 
most  energetic  and  quick-witted  people  of  the  little  storm-vexed  nook  of  Northwestern  Europe 
world,"  and  Guicciardina,   an  Italian  who  lived  was  the  university  of  the   civilized  world,   the 
among    the    Dutch  for    two-score  years   in  the  center  of  European  trade,   the  admiration,  the 
sixteenth    century,     remarks:     "They    have    a  envy,  the  example  of  the  nations."    EDITOR.] 
special  and  happy  talent  for  the  ready  invention 


THE  ANTECEDENTS  OF  NEW  NETHEKLAND         79 

be  hopelessly  distanced.  These  were  the  men  who  came  to  Manhattan 
Island.  It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  they  divested  themselves  of 
these  useful  qualities  and  aptitudes  in  crossing  the  ocean  to  these 
shores.  The  Golden  Age  of  Holland  must  have  placed  its  impress 
upon  them  also ;  the  men  of  New  Netherland  came  out  of  those  very 
influences  which  were  making  Holland  great.  Such  antecedents  must 
have  had  somewhat  similar  consequences,  therefore,  even  upon  Amer- 
ican soil  and  under  American  conditions.  That  seems  only  an  ordi- 
nary application  of  the  law  of  cause  and  effect,  a  veritable  law  of 
nature.  Over  against  the  well-nigh  ineradicable  impression  produced 
by  Irving,  we  simply  advance  this  infallible  law  of  nature;  and  we 
are  content  to  leave  every  reflecting  mind  to  its  own  conclusions.1 

Still  keeping  in  view  the  voyage  of  the  Half-Moon,  which  was 
placed  in  the  foreground  at  the  opening  of  this  chapter,  and  around 
which  have  been  grouped  the  events  and  circumstances  considered  thus 
far,  we  must  now  pause  to  note  the  rise  and  progress  of  the  Dutch 
West  India  Company.  It  may  be  true  that  Hudson's  expedition  had 
little  to  do  with  originating  the  idea  of  that  organization.  It  may 
also  be  conceded  that  its  final  establishment  years  after  may  have 
been  but  slightly  influenced  by  this  event,  in  spite  of  the  agitation 
and  discussion  in  regard  to  its  erection  which  will  be  noticed  as  taking 
place  in  1614,  a  result  of  the  many  trading  voyages  to  New  Netherland 
undertaken  by  individuals  or  private  firms  in  pursuance  of  Hudson's 
accounts  of  this  vicinity.  But  having  been  established,  the  develop- 
ment of  affairs  and  events  on  our  island  owed  everything  to  the  man- 
agement and  care  of  this  Company.  Hence  its  origin,  its  history 
during  its  control  of  New  Netherland,  and  even  its  subsequent  fortunes 
are  matters  of  moment  to  us,  and  are  well  entitled  to  a  somewhat 
exhaustive  treatment. 

In  the  year  1604,  William  Usselinx,  a  native  of  Antwerp  but  for  many 
years  resident  in  Holland,  was  directed  to  draw  up  a  subscription 

1  James   Grahame,    "the  author  of  a  valuable  sary  to  bring  to  light  the  true  character  of  its  early 

History  of  the  United  States,  although  a  stranger  colonists,  whose  fatherland  ranked  at  that  period 

to  our  countiy,  has  spoken  in  proper  terms  on  thu  among  the  foremost  nations  of  Europe  in  point  of 

subject.    He  remarks  as  follows :    '  Pounders  of  commercial  wealth  and  enterprise,  and  before  all 

ancient  colonies  have  sometimes  been  deilied  by  others  in  the  freedom  of  its  government  —  a  free- 

their  successors.     New-York  is  perhaps  the  only  dom  purchased  by  forty  years'  struggle   against 

commonwealth  whose  founders  have  been  covered  the  bloodthirsty  myrmidons   of  Spanish  despot- 

with    ridicule  from    the    same   quarter.      It    is  ism.     The  traits  ascribed  by  the  mock  historian 

impossible  to  read  the  ingenious  and  diverting  to  the  first  settlers  of  New- York  can  scarcely  be 

romance  entitled    '  Knickerbocker's    History    of  supposed  to  have  characterized  such  a  people ;  on 

New-York '  without  wishing  that  the  author  had  the  other  hand,  the  manly  virtues  they  displayed 

put  a  little  more  or  a  little  less  truth  in  it;  and  amidst  the  toils  and  hardships  of  colonial  life,  re- 

that  his  talent  for  humor  and  sarcasm  had  found  moved  at  so  great  a  distance  from  the  scenes  of 

another  subject  than  the  dangers,  hardships,  and  their  early  associations,  deserve  a  very  different 

virtues  of  the  ancestors  of  his  national  family.  commemoration  at  the  hands  of  their  descendants 

It  must  be  unfavorable  to  patriotism  to  connect  his-  and    successors." — "Documents   relating  to   Co- 

torical  recollections  with  ludicrous  associations.'  lonial  History  of  the  State  of  New- York,  "General 

To  remove   the  reproach  thus  thoughtlessly  at-  Introduction,  1 :  p.  xxxvii. 
tached  to  the  annals  of  our  State,  it  is  only  neces- 


80  HISTOEY     OF    NEW-YORK 

paper  to  be  circulated  among  the  merchants  of  Holland  and  Zeeland. 
The  preparation  of  this  document  was  the  beginning  of  the  history 
of  the  West  India  Company,  and  the  reason  Usselinx  was  selected  to 

write  it  was  that  ever  since  his  arrival 
within  the  United  Netherlands  he  had 
been  advocating  this  great  project.  He 
was  possessed  of  great  capacity,  not  only  in  mercantile  affairs,  but,  as  Van 
Meteren,  a  contemporary  and  a  native  of  the  same  city,  observes,  he  was 
"a  man  acquainted  with  many  things,  experienced  above  many  others, 
associating  with  some  of  the  most  learned  and  keen-sighted  lovers  of  the 
fatherland."  While  still  a  very  young  man  he  had  gone  abroad  in  the 
interest  of  an  extensive  business,  spent  many  years  in  travel,  frequent- 
ing various  ports  of  Spain  and  Portugal,  and  there  is  some  reason  to 
believe  that  he  also  visited  Brazil  and  the  West  Indies.  But  for  some 
years  before  1590,  he  had  resided  as  agent  for  European  houses,  and 
as  a  merchant  on  his  own  account,  at  Fayal,  in  the  Azores  Islands. 
About  1591,  when  he  was  but  twenty-three  or  -four  years  of  age,  and 
with  a  large  fortune  even  then  amassed,  he  left  the  Azores,  and  made 
his  home  in  one  of  the  cities  of  the  United  Provinces,  Antwerp  having 
been  taken  by  the  Spaniards  in  the  year  1585.  In  the  course  of  this 
varied  business  experience,  young  as  he  was,  it  was  eminently  true, 
as  Van  Meteren  elsewhere  says,  that  Usselinx  had  become  "  well 
instructed  in  the  commerce  and  the  situation  of  the  West  Indies."1 
And  the  question  was  looming  up  in  ever  larger  proportions,  whether 
it  might  not  be  advisable  to  attempt  to  advance  the  fortunes  of  the 
Republic  and  to  cripple  the  resources  of  Spain  in  that  quarter  of  the 
globe.  In  America,  Spain  had  hitherto  been  left  in  comparative  re- 
pose, while  she  constantly  replenished  her  exhausted  treasury  by 
means  of  the  rich  products  of  her  silver  and  gold  mines  there.  The 
earliest  suggestion  to  disturb  this  repose,  and  to  attack  her  in  Ameri- 
can waters,  had  been  made  to  the  Provincial  States  of  Holland  in  1581, 
by  Captain  Bates,  an  Englishman.  Having  made  four  voyages  to  the 
West  Indies,  he  offered  to  conduct  thither  an  expedition  at  the  cost  of 
the  province,  for  purposes  of  trade,  conquest,  or  exploration.  But 
nothing  came  of  this.  There  were  serious  difficulties  in  the  way  of 
such  an  enterprise  at  that  time.  In  the  very  month  the  proposal  was 
made  and  considered  (July,  1581),  the  States-General  of  the  United 
Netherlands  issued  their  "  abjuration "  of  Philip  of  Spain.  The 
patriots  needed  therefore  to  husband  their  resources,  limited  as  these 
then  still  were,  in  the  apprehension  that  the  deeply  offended  despot 
would  redouble  his  efforts  to  regain  his  supremacy  over  the  rebellious 
provinces.  Yet  the  provincial  legislature  took  occasion  to  express  its 
cordial  approval  and  commendation  of  any  enterprise  in  that  direction 

l  Van  Meteren,  Oorl.  d.  Nederl.,  9  : 185,  402. 


THE  ANTECEDENTS  OF  NEW  NETHEKLAND 


81 


that  should  be  undertaken  on  the  part  of  individuals.1  Not  till  several 
years  later,  however,  is  there  any  evidence  of  such  private  enterprise. 
Then,  in  1597,  two  Dutch  merchants,  Gerard  Bikker,  of  Amsterdam, 
and  John  Leyen,  of  Enkhuysen,  were  each  separately  granted  the 
privilege  of  forming  a  company  for  purposes  of  traffic  with  the  West 
Indies.  Subsequently  these  two  men  combined  their  companies  into 


one.  A  plot  of  ground  was  granted  them  by  the  city  of  Amsterdam, 
upon  which  they  built  a  substantial  warehouse,  which  at  the  forma- 
tion of  the  West  India  Company  became  the  first  house  in  its  posses- 
sion.2 Under  the  auspices  of  this  private  association  some  voyages 


1  Wagenaar,  Vaderl.  Hist.,  9 : 152.    The  English- 
man's name  is  here  spelled  "  Butz  "  ;  other  Dutch 
writers  spell  it  "Beets,"  which  is  the  exact  equiva- 
lent phonetically  of  the  English  Bates.     Hence 
this  was  doubtless  his  name. 

2  It  was  located  on  the  Ryzenhoofd,  the  eastern 
extremity  of  the  Rapenburg  Quay,  facing  the  har- 
bor, and,  together  with  the  company's  house  built 
later  at  the  western  end  of  this  quay,  appears  in 

VOL.  I.— 6. 


the  illustration  on  p.  55,  but  the  two  buildings  are 
too  minutely  represented  for  recognition.  This 
first  house  was  also  last  in  its  possession,  being  ex- 
changed in  1736  for  the  Voetboogs  Doelen,  or  Ar- 
mory, in  another  part  of  the  city.  It  then  passed 
into  the  hands  of  the  Municipality,  who  converted 
it  into  a  Workhouse,  and  under  the  designation 
of  the  "  New  Workhouse  "  it  appears  on  old  prints 
of  Amsterdam. 


82  HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YOKK 

to  the  West  Indies  and  the  South  American  Continent  were  under- 
taken during  the  years  1597  and  1598,1  but  apparently  with  very 
meager  results.  Why  might  not  larger  results,  however,  be  expected, 
if  these  expeditions  were  seriously  undertaken,  with  as  elaborate  prepa- 
rations and  powerful  armaments  as  those  despatched  to  the  East  In- 
dies ?  The  War  of  Independence  was  still  at  its  height,  and  the  patriots 
were  flushed  with  the  recent  brilliant  achievements  of  their  Stad- 
holder,  Maurice  of  Nassau,  among  the  greatest  captains  of  his  age. 
The  West  Indies  then  were  the  very  field  for  warlike  as  well  as  com- 
mercial exploits;  for  all  these  regions  were  the  enemy's  territory, 
claimed  by  Spain  by  right  divine,  under  title-deed  given  by  the  Pope 
himself  as  Vicegerent  of  the  Deity. 

Some  such  arguments  and  others  of  a  more  practical  or  business-like 
character  had  been  advanced,  we  are  told,  in  pamphlets  written  and 
published  by  Usselinx;  but  how  early  he  commenced  such  publications, 
it  would  seem,  can  only  be  ascertained  from  the  writer's  own  state- 
ments. And  whatever  credit  may  be  due  to  him  individually  for 
having  been  the  first  to  urge  the  founding  of  the  West  India  Company, 
there  is  no  question  that  the  argument  received  its  most  potent  stim- 
ulus from  the  actual  erection  and  incipient  prosperity  of  the  East 
India  Company.  Such  careful  annalists  and  historians  as  Van  Me- 
teren,  Aitzema,  Wagenaar,  if  they  do  more  than  merely  record  the  fact 
of  the  establishment  of  the  former,  and  permit  themselves  any  re- 
marks as  to  what  led  to  it,  assert  invariably  that  the  success  of  the 
East  India  Company  was  the  chief  reason.  It  was  two  years  after  the 
granting  of  the  East  India  charter,  that  Usselinx  was  requested  to 
draft  the  circular  of  which  we  made  mention,  "  in  order  to  ascertain 
whether  sufficient  voluntary  subscriptions  could  be  obtained  from 
merchants  to  start  a  company  with  a  good  capital,"2  for  trade  with 
the  West  Indies,  or  America. 

A  complete  knowledge  of  the  contents  of  this  highly  interesting 
document  is  obtained  from  the  full  summary  given  by  the  Dutch 
historian  from  whom  alone,  besides  the  author  of  it,  is  derived  the  fact 
that  it  was  prepared  at  all.  But  as  it  was  composed  with  the  writer's 
eyes  upon  the  West  Indies  and  Brazil  mainly,  and  the  conditions 
prevalent  there,  a  detailed  account  of  it  here  would  needlessly  burden 
these  pages.  It  closed  with  an  invitation  to  those  who  desired  to 
unite  in  forming  a  great  national  company  designed  to  draw  profits 

1  Wagenaar,  Vaderl.  Hist.,  9 :  152,  153,  cited  by  Usselinx  "  in  "  Papers  of  the  American  Historical 
Bancroft;  also  his  Amsterd.  Gesch,  4 :  98,  99.  Association,"  2  :   151-382,  furnish  evidence  that 

2  Van  Meteren,  Oorl.  d.  Nederl.,  9:  186.   Asher,  the  erection  of  a  West  India  Company  attained 
Bibl.  and  Hist.  Essay,  seems  to  have  overlooked  an  initiatory  stage  in  1591,  i.  e.,  thirty  years  be- 
this  statement  of  Van  Meteren  in  regard  to  the  fore  its  charter  was  finally  granted,  except  so  far 
circular  of  1604,  giving  1606  as  the  year  when  as  Usselinx  himself  then  first  arrived  in  the  coun- 
Usselinx's  eiforts  first  begin  to  be  of  any  public  try,  and  may  have  begun  to  speak  of  the  subject 
nature  at  all.     Neither  Asher's  book,  nor  Prof.  to  his  friends  or  associates  in  business. 
Jameson's   exhaustive    monograph  on   "  Willem 


THE  ANTECEDENTS  OF  NEW  NETHEELAND         83 

from  American  trade  or  from  depredations  on  the  Spanish  colonies,  to 
subscribe  what  they  were  willing  to  risk.  From  among  their  number 
directors  would  then  be  chosen,  no  one  to  have  a  vote  in  such  choice, 
however,  unless  a  subscriber  to  the  amount  of  at  least  two  hundred 
pounds  Flemish  ($480).  After  a  board  of  directors  had  been  elected, 
it  would  be  necessary  to  apply  to  the  States-General  for  a  charter.1 

This  paper  met  with  the  entire  approval  of  those  who  had  asked 
Usselinx  to  prepare  it.  It  was  thereupon  immediately  submitted  to 
the  Burgomasters  of  Amsterdam,  who  were  thus  the  first  public  body 
before  whom  the  project  of  the  West  India  Company  was  laid.2  As  an 
initiatory  step  towards  its  erection,  it  was  a  very  important  and  a 
very  necessary  one.  There  seem  to  have  been  in  all  matters  of  this 
character  three  distinct  gradations  in  the  public  bodies  who  were  to 
be  consulted,  and  whose  consent  needed  to  be  obtained.  First  in 
order  came  the  municipal  government  of  the  commercial  metropolis, 
Amsterdam.  If  her  Burgomasters  and  Council  of  Forty  referred  the 
measure  proposed,  with  their  approval,  to  their  delegates  in  the  pro- 
vincial legislature,  or  the  States  of  Holland,  it  was  almost  certain  to 
win  the  approbation  of  the  representatives  of  the  other  cities  there, 
and  was  thus  secure  of  adoption.  If  then,  thirdly,  the  States  of  Hol- 
land directed  their  deputies  in  the  Congress,  or  States-General  of  the 
Eepublic,  to  vote  for  it  (and  the  deputies  from  the  several  provinces 
only  voted  as  directed),  it  received  an  indorsement  which  was  irre- 
sistible. It  will  be  seen  that  these  various  steps,  to  be  noted  in  their 
proper  sequence,  were  successively  taken  in  the  establishment  of  the 
West  India  Company. 

The  promoters  of  this  scheme  doubtless  awaited  with  some  anxiety 
the  first  public  decision.  The  Burgomasters  and  the  Council  of 
Amsterdam  were  accustomed  to  deal  with  affairs  of  a  wide  range. 
They  had  in  times  past  made  direct  treaties  of  commerce  with  foreign 
potentates,  by  which  special  privileges  of  trade  were  conceded  to  her 
citizens,  and  which  were  still  in  force.  And  what  is  of  particular 
interest  to  us,  later  in  the  course  of  this  same  century  (1656),  they 
became  direct  possessors  or  rulers  of  a  portion  of  New  Netherland, 
situated  on  the  South  or  Delaware  Biver.  In  the  present  instance 
they  determined  to  proceed  with  caution.  They  advised  delay  until 

iVan  Meteren,  Oorl.  d.  Nederl.,  9:  186,  187;  Gids"  of  November,  1848,  p.  531,  remarks  that 
almost  a  translation  of  Van  Meteren's  summary  Usselinx  prepared  such  a  paper  in  1600,  and  sub- 
is  to  be  seen  in  O'Callahan's  "History  of  New  mitted  copies  of  it  to  members  of  the  States-Gen  - 
Netherland,"  1 :  30,  31.  eral.  But  this  writer  is  careful  to  indicate  in  a 

2  This  statement  is  made  advisedly,  although  note  that  the  sole  authority  for  this  statement  is, 

Bancroft,  in  his  "  History  of  the  United  States,"  again,  Usselinx  himself,  in  two  pamphlets  of  his 

1 :  479  (Ed.  1883),  observes  that  a  plan  for  a  West  published  in  1627.  Without  wishing  to  question 

India  Company  was  communicated  to  the  States-  Usselinx's  veracity,  it  seems  more  in  accord  with 

General  in  1600.  Berg  van  Dussen-Muilkerk,  whose  a  careful  historical  criticism  to  accept  as  facts 

articles  on  "  Onze  Kolonisatie in  Noord  Amerika"  only  such  as  have  more  than  one  witness;  hence 

Asher  highly  commends,  in  that  published  in  ' '  De  we  deem  it  safe  to  adhere  to  our  assertion  in  the  text. 


84 


HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 


an  expedition  under  Admiral  Van  Caerden,  who  had  distinguished 
himself  in  the  East  India  service,  but  who  had  recently  been  sent  to 
the  east  coasts  of  South  America,  should  have  been  heard  from.1 

Another  cir- 
cumstance, too, 
made  public  men 
in  Holland  hesi- 
tate to  entertain 
schemes  of  con- 
quest in  Ameri- 


can 
the 

Admiral 
Van    der 


waters.     In 
year     1599 
Peter 
Does, 


son  of  the  illus- 
trious defender 
of  Leyden  and 
first  curator  of 
her  University, 
was  despatched 
with  a  powerful 
fleet  of  over 
seventy  ships  of 
war  to  make  a 
descent  upon  the 
Spanish  posses- 
sions in  South 
America  and  the 
West  Indies.  The 
Admiral  resolved 
to  pause  on  his 
way  and  harass 
or  conquer  what- 
ever other  of 
Spain's  islands  or 
colonies  he  might 
meet  with.  Thus 

the  Canaries  were  attacked  and  various  towns  taken  or  burned.  On 
reaching  the  island  of  St.  Thomas,  off  the  coast  of  Guinea,  and  exactly 
on  the  equator,  he  made  an  attack  on  it,  which  was  entirely  success- 
ful. But  in  an  evil  hour  he  decided  that  it  would  be  to  the  advantage 


AMSTERDAM    CITY    HALL    BEFORE    1615. 


1  Professor  Otto  van  Bees,  in  "  Geschiedenis 
der  Staathuishoudkunde  in  Nederland"  (2  vols., 
Utrecht,  1865-68),  2  :  77,  mentions  that  great 
quantities  of  brick  and  lime  were  shipped  with 


this  expedition  for  the  purpose  of  building  a  fort 
in  Brazil!  Towards  the  end  of  1605  it  returned 
without  accomplishing  this,  or  anything  else. 


THE  ANTECEDENTS  OF  NEW  NETHEBLAND         85 

of  his  enterprise  to  tarry  here  for  a  while,  in  order  to  refit,  thus  to  be 
in  a  better  condition  to  undertake  a  descent  on  Brazil.  The  excessive 
heat  brought  on  the  yellow  fever,  to  which  the  Admiral  himself  suc- 
cumbed. A  hasty  departure  did  not  meet  with  the  expected  result, 
for  the  pestilence  continued  to  rage  on  board  the  ships,  and  more 
than  a  thousand  men  perished  while  they  were  in  mid-ocean.  Under 
these  circumstances  the  design  against  Brazil  was  abandoned,  and  but 
a  feeble  demonstration  was  made  against  one  or  two  islands  in  the 
Caribbean  Sea.  In  February,  1600,  the  disheartened  remnant  of  the 
fleet  returned  to  the  fatherland,  and  the  incident  is  only  of  importance 
to  us  because  for  many  years  it  served  the  opponents  of  the  West 
India  Company  as  a  potent  argument,  and  contributed  largely  to 
delay  its  erection.1 

Notwithstanding  this  powerful  weapon  wielded  against  him,  and  the 
fact  that  the  Van  Caerden  expedition  proved  equally  unsuccessful, 
Usselinx  went  on  urging  his  project,  now  fairly  launched,  upon  the 
magistrates  and  merchants  of  the  Dutch  metropolis.  He  was  enthusi- 
astically seconded  in  these  endeavors  by  those  "  learned  and  keen- 
sighted  patriots"  of  whom  Van  Meteren  wrote,  and  whom  he  now 
mentions  by  name.  Among  these  was  none  other  than  the  Rev. 
Petrus  Plancius,  who  was  largely  instrumental  in  furthering  the  voy- 
ages to  the  North  Pole,  and  who  later  became  the  counselor  of  Henry 
Hudson.  Another  efficient  co-laborer  was  Francois  Francken,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  High  Council  of  State.  Through  the  influence  at  the 
command  of  these  personages,  such  a  pressure  was  brought  to  bear 
upon  the  Amsterdam  Municipality  as  to  secure  their  favorable  atten- 
tion to  the  scheme  of  Usselinx.  Their  deputies  were  accordingly 
directed  to  introduce  the  matter  before  the  States  of  Holland,  and  in 
the  summer  of  1606  it  was  first  discussed  there. 

But  Usselinx  had  not  confined  his  efforts  to  Amsterdam  alone; 
Zeeland,  the  "  Sea-Beggar  "  Province,  was  a  fair  and  promising  field 
for  his  purposes,  and  while  he  left  Plancius  and  Francken  to  carry 
on  the  work  in  the  commercial  capital  of  Holland,  he  himself  suc- 
ceeded in  interesting  influential  men  in  Middelburg.  As  a  conse- 
quence, the  States  of  Zeeland  appointed  a  committee  of  three,  of  whom 
Usselinx  himself  was  one,  to  meet  a  number  of  gentlemen  from 
various  cities  of  Holland,  who  had  evidently  been  appointed  a  com- 
mittee on  the  subject  by  the  States  of  Holland,  after  their  discussion 
of  it.  There  were  eight  representatives  from  Amsterdam ;  Dordrecht, 
Delft,  and  Rotterdam  were  each  represented  by  three ;  Haarlem  and 
Leyden,  each  by  two ;  and  seven  other  cities,  each  by  one  ;  these  with 
the  three  from  Zeeland  constituted,  therefore,  the  rather  large  com- 
mittee of  thirty-one  members.  They  were  charged  with  the  duty  of 

1  Van  Kampen,  Nederl.  b.  Eur.,  1 :  170,  171. 


86  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

drafting  a  patent,  or  "license," — vergunning,  Van  Meteren  calls  it, 
which  is  the  Dutch  for  license, — or  charter,  for  a  West  India  Com- 
pany, and  they  assembled  and  addressed  themselves  to  this  task  in 
October,  1606.  The  committee  proved  to  be  prompt,  for,  as  we  are 
told  by  Usselinx  himself,  he  furnished  as  a  basis  for  its  labors  a  draft 
previously  prepared,  which  only  needed  to  be  modified,  and  on  No- 
vember 1st  its  report  was  recorded  on  the  minutes  of  the  States  of 
Holland.1  The  members  of  the  legislature  were  thereupon  directed  to 
communicate  for  instructions  with  the  magistrates  of  their  respective 
cities.  This  having  been  done,  from  the  5th  to  the  21st  of  December 
the  subject  was  again  under  debate  in  the  assembly ;  the  discussion 
was  resumed  in  March,  1607,  and  was  then  continued  into  July. 

A  comparison  of  this  original  draft  with  the  charter  as  actually 
granted  in  1621  reveals  the  interesting  circumstance  that  the  latter 
document  was  almost  identical  with  it.  The  two  varied  only  in  these 
particulars :  the  draft  proposed  that  the  privileges  of  exclusive  trade  to 
America  and  Africa  be  extended  for  a  period  of  thirty-six  years;  the 
charter  made  the  term  twenty-four  years ; — the  draft  arranged  for  four 
chambers  of  direction,  with  a  division  in  the  amount  of  capital  to  be 
managed  by  each,  proportioned  to  such  number ;  the  charter  provided 
for  five  chambers,  one  being  given  to  the  Province  of  Friesland,  the 
people  of  that  section  of  the  Republic  having  bitterly  resented  not 
having  a  share  in  the  government  of  the  East  India  Company ;  —  the 
draft  proposed  a  central  or  executive  board  of  seventeen  members ; 
the  charter,  as  is  well  known,  called  for  a  board  of  nineteen,  who 
became  historic  under  the  title  of  the  "  Assembly  of  the  XIX."  These 
variations,  it  will  be  seen,  are  really  trivial  in  view  of  the  fact  that  ah1 
the  more  important  and  essential  provisions  in  the  two  documents 2 
are  practically  identical. 

The  members  of  the  provincial  legislature  of  Holland  had  thus 
before  them  in  1606  and  1607  substantially  the  same  points  for  discus- 
sion— that  is,  the  same  questions  regarding  the  privileges  to  be  con- 
ceded to  the  proposed  West  India  Company — that  were  finally  laid 
before  the  States-General.  It  was  highly  important  that  the  measure 
should  pass  this  lower  body ;  for,  as  has  been  intimated  above,  such  a 
project  would  not  to  much  purpose  come  before  the  general  legisla- 
ture unless  it  had  the  indorsement  of  the  States  of  Holland.  The 
wealth  and  population  of  this  province  were  so  preponderating  as 
compared  with  the  other  six  of  the  United  Netherlands,  that  she 

1  Asher's  Bib.  and  Hist.  Essay,  etc.,  p.  46,  "1606  claims  that  his  own  propositions  were  materially 
— Nov.  1.  The  draft-patent  (concept  octroy)  is  pre-  different,  not  only  from  those  contained  in  the 
sented  to  the  assembly  of  the  States."  Charter  of  1621,  but  even  from  those  of  the  draft 

2  Even  this  draft  must  have  been  the  result  of  of  1606.  (Prof.  Jameson,  Amer.  Hist.  Ass.  Papers, 
a  serious  modification  of  the  one  which  Usselinx  2:209;  also  Van  Bees,  Staathuishoudkunde,  2:79.) 
laid  before  the  committee  in  October,  1606,  for  he 


THE  ANTECEDENTS  OF  NEW  NETHERLAND 


87 


practically  determined  the  course  of  legislation  in  affairs  of  great 
import,  and  especially  where  they  affected  the  commerce  of  the  coun- 
try. Before  her  "  States,"  all  the  proposed  charters  for  mercantile 
associations  naturally  came,  or  certainly  as  a  matter  of  fact  did  come 
first,  because  very  nearly  all  the  capital  for  these  proceeded  from  the 
merchants  living  within  her  bounds.  And  now,  assembled  in  their 
spacious  hall,  they  had  before  them  a  measure  that  rivaled  in  impor- 
tance the  formation  of  the  great  East  India  Company.  The  place 
where  a  discussion  occurred  that  was  to  affect  so  vitally  our  portion 
of  the  globe  cannot  be  without  interest  to  us.  The  Hall  of  the  "  States 


THE  "VYVER"  AT  THE  HAGUE. 

of  Holland  and  West  Friesland"1  was  situated  upon  the  famous 
Binnenhof  at  the  Hague,  constituting  a  part  of  the  continuous  line  of 
buildings  on  its  northern  side.  Those  which  contained  the  Depart- 
ments of  the  General  Government,  already  described,  were  east  of 
it;  the  Stadholder's  residence  adjoined  it  immediately  to  the  west. 
While  the  States-General  ordinarily  met  in  a  small  room,  with  only 
three  windows  obtaining  an  imperfect  light  in  a  somewhat  narrow 


i  This  was  the  full  title,  but  it  designated  only 
the  then  province  of  Holland,  now  divided  into 
two,  South  Holland  and  North  Holland.  The  lat- 
ter before  the  fourteenth  century  formed  part  of 
the  country  of  the  Frisians ;  but  when  the  inun- 
dation of  1347  created  the  great  gulf  of  the  Zuyder 


Zee,  the  western  part  of  Friesland  became  the 
northern  of  Holland.  While  the  whole  of  Hol- 
land was  one  homogeneous  province  at  the  time  of 
the  Republic,  the  political  title  retained  a  reference 
to  the  original  condition  of  the  northern  portion. 


88  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

angle  of  the  historic  square,  the  lofty,  vaulted  Hall  of  the  States  of 
Holland  opened  with  five  high  and  broad  windows  upon  the  "  Vy  ver," 1 
and  there  hung  around  its  four  walls  a  gorgeous  tapestry,  represent- 
ing persons  in  the  costumes  of  different  nations  apparently  listening 
to  the  debates  and  leaning  over  a  balustrade. 

The  project  of  the  West  India  Company  halted  at  its  second  stage 
as  it  had  at  its  first  before  the  municipality  of  Amsterdam.  The 
approval  or  indorsement  of  the  States  of  Holland  could  not  be  secured 
for  it.  In  the  first  place  the  monopoly  of  the  salt-trade,  which  it  was 
proposed  to  reserve  to  the  chartered  Company,  proved  a  subject  for 
sharp  contention.  The  cities  of  Hoorn  and  Enkhuysen,  the  principal 
headquarters  of  the  great  Dutch  herring-fishery,  objected  to  interfer- 
ence with  the  freedom  of  this  trade,  as  immense  quantities  of  salt 
were  used  here  for  preserving  the  herring.  Then,  again,  the  commer- 
cial rivalry  between  the  various  cities  of  the  province,  "  who  each 
wished  to  secure  for  itself  the  fitting  out  of  the  fleets,  was  so  great," 
Wagenaar  plainly  but  quaintly  asserts,  "  that  all  too  readily  a  spoke 
was  put  in  the  wheel." 2  Thus  the  progress  of  the  work  was  interfered 
with ;  in  fact,  for  the  present  the  scheme  was  practically  defeated  and 
the  charter  left  in  abeyance.  It  had  passed,  however,  by  a  majority 
of  the  legislature;  but  in  the  legislative  assemblies  of  the  United 
Netherlands,  where  no  action  could  be  taken  except  with  unanimous 
consent,  minorities  were  more  powerful,  if  they  were  obstinate,  than 
majorities.  The  next  year  renewed  endeavors  were  made  to  bring 
the  recalcitrant  cities  into  harmony  with  the  majority.  But  now  a 
greater  affair  than  even  the  charter  for  a  colossal  trading  association 
was  in  the  birth.  The  peace  negotiations,  resulting  in  the  Twelve 
Years'  Truce  of  1609,  were  fairly  under  way,  putting  an  entirely  dif- 
ferent aspect  upon  the  expediency  of  the  aims  and  purposes  which 
had  commended  the  erection  of  the  West  India  Company.  All  dis- 
cussion of  the  "  concept-octroy  "  in  the  legislature  of  Holland  Province 
ceased,  and  the  matter  failed  to  be  referred  to  the  States-General. 

There  now  intervenes  that  period  of  twelve  years  of  outward  peace, 
when  the  contentions  of  hostile  armies  had  come  to  a  pause,  but  when 
instead  an  internecine  political  conflict  arose,  equally  sharp  and  bitter, 
and  stained  finally  with  the  blood  of  the  Eepublic's  best  and  ablest 
statesman,  the  friend  of  William  the  Silent,  the  only  man  who  could 
rise  to  the  height  and  compass  the  breadth  of  that  patriot's  conceptions. 
This  disheartening  episode  has  been  treated  more  in  detail  above ;  it 
is  alluded  to  here  only  to  say  that  no  small  part  in  the  agitations  of 
this  period  was  borne  by  the  advocates  of  the  West  India  Company. 

i  See  illustration,  page  87.   To-day  this  Hall  is  oc-          2  Vaderl.  Hist,  9:230;  Asher,  Bibl.  and  Hist, 
cupied  by  the  "First  Chamber,"  or  Upper  House,      Essay,  p.  46. 
of  the  States-General  of  the  Kingdom. 


THE  ANTECEDENTS  OF  NEW  NETHERLAND         89 

They  had  steadily  opposed  the  truce,  and  it  was  but  too  evident  that 
the  establishment  of  such  a  company,  as  originally  contemplated,  was 
altogether  incompatible  with  it.  Yet,  in  one  of  the  many  pamphlets 
that  were  published  while  the  negotiations  were  pending,  Usselinx 
had  urged  that  only  in  the  case  of  a  peace  or  truce  could  a  scheme  of 
colonization  proposed  by  him  as  a  part  of  the  object  to  be  attained  by 
the  West  India  Company  be  put  into  execution.  The  ideas  on  this 
topic,  contained  in  the  publication  referred  to,  have  deservedly  drawn 
expressions  of  admiration  from  a  modern  Dutch  historian,  who  points 
out  that  they  were  over  two  hundred  years  in  advance  of  the  boasted 
colonial  policy  of  the  English  of  to-day.1  It  would  seem,  therefore,  as 
if  the  politic  Usselinx  had  prepared  himself  for  either  emergency. 
Had  the  charter  been  granted  in  1607  or  1608,  he  may  have  been  of 
the  mind  to  make  the  Company's  prominent  work  the  colonizing  of 
such  territories  on  the  Atlantic  borders,  east  or  west,  as  could  not  be 
claimed  by  Spain,  and  whose  exact  location  for  that  purpose  he 
carefully  defines.  Thus  he  would  have  been  in  a  condition  to  com- 
mend his  project  to  adherents  of  the  war-party  or  of  the  peace-party, 
as  equally  useful  or  desirable  whichever  side  should  gain  its  ends. 
Nevertheless  the  real  purport  of  the  measure,  as  it  was  proposed 
to  the  legislature  of  Holland,  was  unequivocally  and  preeminently 
warlike.  It  may  be  safely  concluded  that  the  contemplated  truce 
would  have  been  impossible  if  the  West  India  Company  had  been 
established  and  had  begun  its  operations ;  while  the  truce  effected  was 
the  death-blow  to  its  establishment.  Hence  the  greater  part  of  the 
publications  that  may  be  traced  to  its  advocates  scouted  all  idea  of 
peace  or  truce.  Later  pamphlets  written  by  Usseliux  take  decided 
ground  for  the  continuance  of  war,  with  arguments  both  legitimate 
and  otherwise.  He  had  doubtless  perceived  by  this  time  that  truce 
or  peace  was  inevitable,  and  on  further  reflection  concluded  that  it 
was  either  worse  for  the  country  or  worse  for  his  company,  to  have 
that  than  war.2 

In  1614  there  was  a  brief  revival  of  the  agitation  of  the  question  of 
the  establishment  of  the  Company.  It  was  the  result  of  the  awaken- 
ing of  Holland  to  the  importance  of  the  regions  discovered  for  the 
Eepublic  by  Hudson.  Several  exploring  and  trading  voyages  had 
been  made  in  the  interval,  and  it  was  feared  that  the  erection  of 
various  weak  and  rival  associations  would  be  as  detrimental  to  west- 
ern trade  as  it  had  been  in  the  case  of  the  East  Indies.  This  had 
necessitated  the  erection  of  the  "General  East  India  Company ,"  whose 

1  Van  Kampen,  Nederl.  b.  Eur.,  1 : 172, 173.  consideration  of  the  latter  says:  "  Een  ander,"  t.  e., 

2  So  entirely  different  are  the  argument  and  "Another"  person  or  "another"  writer.     A  more 
purpose  of  these  later  pamphlets  that  Van  Kam-  careful  reading  would  have  shown  him  that  Van 
pen,  whose  knowledge  of  them  is  evidently  derived  Meteren  correctly  attributes  all  to  Usselinx  (Ne> 
from  Van  Meteren's  summaries,  in  beginning  the  derl.  b.  Eur.,  1 :173). 


90  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

incredible  prosperity  had  proved  the  wisdom  of  the  measure.  A  num- 
ber of  merchants,  therefore,  appealed  to  the  Provincial  States  of  Hol- 
land, in  July,  1614,  to  charter  "  a  general  company,"  that  is,  a  national 
association  of  capitalists,  on  the  plan  of  the  East  India  Company ;  and 
this  for  the  purpose  of  trading  "on  some  coasts  of  Africa  and  America." 
The  appeal  was  successful  in  so  far  that  the  scheme  received  the  in- 
dorsement of  the  legislature,  in  the  form  of  a  reference  of  it  to  the 
States-General,  which  coming  from  such  a  source  amounted  to  a 
recommendation  in  the  estimation  of  the  national  parliament.  But 
even  before  this  reference  the  subject  had  already  been  introduced, 
and  there  must  have  been  a  general  and  intense  interest  awakened 
by  it  throughout  the  United  Netherlands.  In  every  direction  men 
were  presenting  measures  for  establishing  commercial  relations  with 
the  New  World.  On  June  21,  a  body  of  "divers  traders,"  from  more 
than  one  province  of  the  Union,  had  laid  before  the  States-General  a 
petition  "  for  the  formation  and  erection  in  this  country  of  a  general 
company  for  the  West  Indies."  The  memorial  from  the  States  of 
Holland,  the  dominant  Province,  where  men,  money,  and  merchants 
especially  abounded,  in  a  proportion  that  far  outstripped  that  of  the 
six  other  members  of  the  Confederacy,  could  not  fail  to  give  immense 
weight  to  the  discussion. 

Accordingly,  on  August  25, 1614,  the  States-General  passed  a  resolu- 
tion bearing  evidence  to  the  fact  that  the  subject  on  hand  was  deemed 
to  be  of  the  very  gravest  moment.  It  was,  namely,  "  Resolved,  That 
the  business  of  forming  a  General  West  India  Company  shall  be 
undertaken  to-morrow  morning ;  moreover,  that  to  this  meeting  may 
come  those  deputed  from  the  Provinces,  those  who  will  request  to 
promote  this  work,  those  who  act  on  orders,  as  well  as  those  who  ap- 
pear and  have  seats  in  the  Assembly  and  at  extraordinary  meetings  of 
other  chambers,  and  at  the  meeting  of  their  High  Mightinesses."  On 
the  committee  to  arrange  for  this  special  order  of  business  were  placed 
two  men,  one  by  the  name  of  Nicasius  Kieu ;  the  other,  William  Us- 
selinx.1  It  is  a  source  of  regret  that  some  eye-witness  of  this  gathering 
of  Tuesday,  August  26,  1614,  has  not  left  an  account  of  what  he  saw 
and  heard.  It  must  have  been  held  either. in  the  great  "  Truce  Cham- 
ber," or  in  the  solemn  Gothic  Hall  of  the  Knights,  hung  with  the 
trophies  of  Republican  victories.  All  that  is  known  of  the  proceed- 
ings is  that  they  led  to  no  action,  for  exactly  one  week  later,  on 
Tuesday,  September  2d,  a  resolution  was  passed  at  a  morning  session 
of  the  States-General  to  make  the  question  of  the  West  India  Com- 

l  Doc.  rel.  Col.  Hist.  N.  Y.,  1  :  7.     The  name  is  which  this  name  is  spelled  in  contemporary  docu- 

here  spelled  Eusselincx.     Prof.  J.  Franklin  Jame-  ments  or  later  histories.    We  may  add  one  more 

son,  in  his  monograph  on  "  Willem  Usselinx,"  in  to  the  list,  as  a  spelling  furnished  by  a  reputable 

Papers  of  the  Amer.  Hist.  Ass.  (2  :  149-382),  men-  writer.     This  is  "  Ysselius,"  found  in  Van  Kam- 

tions  on  p.  162,  note,  thirty-five  different  ways  in  pen's  Nederl.  b.  Eur.,  1 : 171. 


THE  ANTECEDENTS  OF  NEW  NETHEKLAND         91 

pauy  a  special  order  again  that  same  afternoon.  But  no  action  was 
arrived  at  then.  There  for  the  present  the  matter  was  allowed  to 
rest.  The  country  was  not  yet  ripe  for  the  enterprise  involved  in  the 
erection  of  an  association  by  the  side  of  the  East  India  Company 
and  to  invest  the  same  large  capital.  And  the  Truce  was  a  serious 
obstacle  in  the  way.  The  artful  "  exception  "  inserted  in  the  article 
on  Indian  Trade  could  not  be  made  to  apply  to  the  coasts  of  America 
and  Africa,  where  there  were  no  semi-civilized  states  with  whom  to 
make  independent  treaties,  and  where  Spain  was  already  in  posses- 
sion and  must  be  left  in  peace.  The  States  of  Holland,  on  September 
27th,  were  again  in  deliberation  in  the  endeavor  to  remove  the  diffi- 
culties, or  palliate  the  obstacles,  on  the  ground  of  the  Truce,  suggested 
by  the  States-General.  But  it  was  of  no  avail,  and  some  years  were 
suffered  to  elapse  ere  it  was  deemed  expedient  to  resume  the  subject.1 
While  the  discussions  bearing  on  the  West  India  Company  were  an 
element  in  the  strife  that  was  tearing  the  Republic  asunder  during 
the  Twelve  Years'  Truce,  they  were  not  the  main  issue.  Nor  must  it 
be  thought  for  a  moment  that  his  opposition  to  the  formation  of  that 
Company  alone  brought  Barneveld  to  the  block.  It  is  using  language 
altogether  too  strong  and  unadvised  to  say  in  respect  to  the  promoters 
of  the  enterprise  that,  "after  many  years  of  ardent  antagonism,  they 
had  to  pass  over  his  body  to  execute  their  plans." 2  Such  a  statement 
needlessly  exaggerates  the  situation.  Barneveld  had  stood  in  the  way 
of  the  West  India  Company  only  in  the  interest  of  peace  or  a  truce, 
which  he  deemed  essential,  and  that  in  1608,  before  the  truce  was 
effected.  This  great  patriot  might  have  been  as  anxious  to  establish 
it  as  Usselinx  himself  when  the  twelve  years  were  over,  and  war 
should  appear  as  expedient  then  as  truce  had  seemed  at  the  begin- 
ning. Still  some  countenance  is  given  to  this  extravagant  theory  by 
the  fact  that  immediately  after  the  arrest  of  Barneveld  on  August 
29,  1618,  the  States  of  Holland  resumed  the  discussion  of  the  West 
India  Charter  (September  18th),  and  in  November  we  find  it  before 
the  States-General.3  It  was  resolved  then  to  allow  it  to  be  referred 
to  the  various  provincial  legislatures.  As  has  been  intimated  before, 
but  which  it  is  now  necessary  to  understand  clearly,  the  members  of 

1  We  have  gathered  these  facts  from  a  simple  genaar,  Vaderl.  Hist,  10  :  306.     Prof.  Van  Rees, 
perusal  of  the  copies  of  the  acts  and  resolutions  on  on  p.  107  of  the  work  cited,  in  a  foot-note,  gives 
this  subject  in  the  Doc.  rel.  Col.  Hist.N.Y.,  1:6-9.  Usselinx's  account  of  an  interview  with  Prince 
The  circumstance  noted  in  the  text  — namely,  the  Maurice,  at  which  he  advised  the  latter  to  cut  the 
final  effort  of  the  States  of  Holland  on  Septem-  Gordian  knot  of  his  difficulties  with  the  Advocate 
ber  27, 1614,  to  save  the  scheme  of  a  West  India  and  his  party  by  violent  measures.     This  then 
Company  — is  somewhat  at  variance  with  Asher's  would  look  like  "passing  over  his  body"  to  the 
assertions  in  his  Bibl.  and  Hist.  Essay,  made  on  accomplishment  of  Usselinx's  designs.    But  in  the 
the  strength  of  Usselinx's  pamphlets,  that  of  all  first  place,  this  had  reference  more  particularly  to 
the  opponents  of  the  West  India  Company,  the  changing  the  complexion  of  the  municipalities ; 
States  of  Holland,  where  Barneveld  was  all  power-  and  further,  we  have  this  story  simply  on  Us- 
ful,  were  the  most  determined.  selinx's    own    authority.      Prof.   Van  Rees  pru- 

2  Asher,  Bibl.  and  Hist.  Essay,  Introd.,  p.  xv.  dently  introduces  it  by  saying,  "  If  we  may  believe 

3  Van  Rees,  Staathuishoudkunde,  2  : 108 ;  Wa-  Usselinx." 


92 


HISTORY    OF    NEW-YOEK 


the  States-General  of  the  United  Netherlands  were  not  really  legisla- 
tors. They  were  rather  plenipotentiaries  or  ambassadors  from  the 
several  provinces  met  in  conclave  to  act  out  the  definitely  ascertained 

wishes  of  their  superiors 
|1     on  every  distinct  ques- 
tion that  came  before 
them.    They  could  de- 
liberate upon  it  in  ad- 
vance, and  exercise  their 
judgment  as  to  whether 
it  was  worth  referring ; 
but  when  this  had  been 
decided  they  must  place 
themselves    in    special 
communication      upon 
the    particular    subject 
with     their    provincial 
States,    whose    unsur- 
rendered  individual  sov- 
ereignty was  in  this  way 
continually       asserted. 
The  charter  for  a  West 
India     Company     had 
now  reached  this  third 
and  last  stage  of  public 
action ;  it  was  thought 
of  sufficient  importance 
or  expediency  to  consult 
in  regard  to  it  with  the 
several  States.    But  ere 
these  seven  legislative 
bodies  could  be  ready 
to  instruct  their  deputies  in  the  States-General  they  must  in  their 
turn  each  severally  return  to  their  municipal  governments,  whose 
ambassadors  they  were.    And  in  every  direction  unanimity  was  imper- 
ative before  action  or  adoption.     Necessarily,  therefore,  the  matter 
moved  slowly,  and  it  is  not  surprising  to  find  that  not  till  two  years 
and  a  half  after  November,  1618,  did  the  charter  come  again  before 
the  States-General.    Barneveld  had  then  been  dead  more  than  two 
years,  the  truce  was  over,  and  everything  was  ready  for  the  most 
warlike  undertakings  that  were  contemplated  by  the  West  India 
Company.    Accordingly  its  great  charter  was  granted,  and  the  docu- 
ment duly  signed  and  sealed  on  June  3,  1621. 

By  the  provisions  of  this  paper  their  High  Mightinesses  the  States- 


HALL  OF  THE  KNIGHTS,  BINNENHOF. 


THE  ANTECEDENTS  OF  NEW  NETHEELAND         93 

General  of  the  United  Netherlands  authorized  the  formation  of  a 
national  society  of  merchants.  To  enable  them  to  carry  out  the  pur- 
poses of  their  association  it  was  stipulated  that  a  sum  of  not  less  than 
seven  millions  of  florins  ($2,800,000)  be  subscribed  as  capital.  Four- 
ninths  of  this  capital  were  to  be  held  in  shares  by  persons  residing 
in  or  about  Amsterdam,  who  should  have  the  privilege  of  electing 
twenty  managers  or  directors  to  constitute  the  Chamber  of  Amster- 
dam. But  this  chamber  and  its  shareholders  included  also  persons 
residing  in  some  of  the  other  cities  of  Holland,  and  even  in  those  of 
the  provinces  of  Utrecht,  Overyssel,  and  Gelderland,  not  having  sepa- 
rate chambers  of  their  own.  On  this  same  principle,  but  more  strictly 
defined  as  to  locality,  two-ninths  of  the  capital  with  twelve  directors 
constituted  the  Chamber  of  Zeeland ;  one-ninth  of  the  capital  and 
fourteen  directors,  the  Chamber  of  the  Meuse.  embracing  the  cities  of 
Dordrecht,  Rotterdam,  and  Delft ;  one-ninth  of  the  capital  and  four- 
teen directors,  the  Chamber  of  the  North  Quarter,  embracing  Hoorn, 
Enkhuysen,  and  other  cities  of  North  Holland ;  and  one-ninth  of  the 
capital  with  fourteen  directors,  finally,  the  Chamber  of  Frieslaiid 
Province.  The  latter  was  known  also  as  the  Chamber  of  "  Stad  en 
Landen,"  i.  e.,  of  Town  and  Country,  because  in  this  province  prevailed 
the  peculiarity  that  country  districts  as  well  as  towns  were  represented 
in  their  legislature,  and  not  municipalities  exclusively  as  in  the  other 
provinces,  and  this  same  privilege  was  to  be  extended  to  representa- 
tion in  the  chamber.  In  order  to  be  entitled  to  election  as  director  in 
the  chambers  of  the  Company,  a  certain  amount  of  shares  must  be 
held;  for  the  Amsterdam  Chamber  this  amount  was  fixed  at  six 
thousand  florins  ($2400);  in  the  other  chambers,  at  four  thousand 
florins  ($1600).  While  each  of  these  five  bodies  met  independently 
within  the  city  or  province  or  section  by  which  it  was  designated,  the 
management  of  the  whole  company  was  intrusted  to  a  general  execu- 
tive board  of  nineteen  members,  consisting  of  eight  from  the  Chamber 
of  Amsterdam,  four  from  that  of  Zeeland,  and  two  each  from  the 
three  remaining  chambers ;  while  the  nineteenth  was  to  be  appointed 
by  the  States-General  and  to  represent  this  body  at  its  sessions.  The 
official  title  of  this  executive  board  came  to  be  the  "  Assembly  of  the 
XIX  " ;  it  was  to  meet  for  the  first  six  years  consecutively  in  the  City 
of  Amsterdam ;  for  two  years  after  that  within  the  Province  of  Zee- 
land  ;  thus  alternating  its  sessions  between  these  two  localities,  and 
during  such  terms  respectively  thereafter,  as  long  as  its  charter 
should  be  in  force. 

The  Company  having  been  thus  organized  for  effective  operation, 
what  was  it  empowered  to  do?  For  the  space  of  twenty-four  years 
after  July  1,  1621,  it  was  to  have  the  privilege,  to  the  exclusion  of  all 
other  inhabitants  or  associations  of  merchants  within  the  bounds  of 


94 


HISTOEY    OF    NEW- YORK 


the  United  Provinces,  of  sending  ships  for  purposes  of  traffic  to  the 
countries  of  America  and  Africa  that  bordered  on  the  Atlantic  Ocean, 
and  those  on  the  west  coast  of  America  on  the  shores  of  the  Pacific. 
The  remainder  of  the  globe  was  assigned  to  the  Dutch  East  India 
Company,  whose  field  of  operations,  as  has  been  stated  more  than 
once  in  these  pages,  began  in  the  seas  east  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope 
and  west  of  the  Straits  of  Magellan.  In  the  regions  or  waters  desig- 
nated, the  West  India  Company  was  given  the  privilege  that  had  been 
conceded  to  the  East  India  Company  in  its  sphere,  of  making  treaties 
and  alliances  with  princes  and  potentates.  Here,  too,  for  the  purpose 

of  protecting  their  trade 
or  for  carrying  on  war,  the 
Company  was  allowed  to 
erect  forts,  and  having 
established  themselves  in 
friendly  or  conquered  ter- 
ritories, the  directors  could 
appoint  governors  and 
other  officers.  The  Com- 
pany was  permitted  to  levy 
troops  of  its  own,  and  to 
fit  out  fleets  with  every  ap- 
purtenance for  attack  or 

defense,  in  order  to  hold  its  possessions  against  the  enemy.  Amid 
all  this  warlike  language  there  is  but  little  said  directly  bearing  on 
the  injuries  the  Company  should  endeavor  to  inflict  on  the  fleets  or 
territories  of  Spain.  But  it  was  obvious  that  the  pel-mission  to 
raise  armies  and  fleets  applied  principally  in  the  direction  of  preda- 
tory warfare  on  sea  and  land.  Indeed,  a  special  article  conferring 
upon  the  Company  authority  to  pursue  methods  of  force  in  case  of 
fraud  practised  against  its  servants  abroad,  or  if  goods  were  stolen 
from  them  by  violent  hands,  gave  them  a  sufficient  margin  for  aggres- 
sive warfare.  Yet  a  precisely  similar  article  formed  part  of  the  charter 
of  the  East  India  Company.  The  troops  levied  by  the  Company  were 
to  take  the  usual  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  States-General  as  well  as 
to  their  more  immediate  principals.  Likewise  the  Governor-General 
who  might  eventually  be  appointed  was  to  be  approved  and  com- 
missioned by  the  States-General,  and  must  swear  fealty  to  them  as 


WEST  INDIA  COMPANY'S  HOUSE  ON  HAARLEM  STREET. 


l  In  1623  the  Company  rented  a  fine  building  be- 
longing to  the  city  on  the  "Haarlemmer  Straat," 
and  this,  the  second  (not,  as  some  have  called  it,  the 
first)  building  occupied  by  their  offices,  is  repre- 
sented in  the  illustration  in  the  text.  If  the  reader 
should  visit  Amsterdam  he  will  be  easily  able  to 
identify  this  house.  Through  the  kindness  of  Mr. 
K.  H.  Van  Pelt,  a  merchant  of  Amsterdam,  in- 


quiries were  made,  and  after  making  a  personal  visit 
to  the  locality  he  writes  [in  English] :  "  The  build- 
ing on  the  '  Haarlemmer  Straat,'  facing  theHeeren 
Market  [Square],  is  now  a '  Home  for  Old  Men  and 
Women ' ;  the  number  in  Haarlem  Street  is  75. 
It  is  an  old-fashioned  building  exactly  in  the  state 
as  it  was  built." 


THE  ANTECEDENTS  OF  NEW  NETHEBLAND         95 

well  as  to  the  Assembly  of  the  XIX.  In  case  actual  hostilities  should 
occur,  which  the  cessation  of  the  truce  of  course  made  certain,  the 
General  Government  were  to  provide  twenty  vessels  of  war  of  various 
burden,  provided  that  the  Company  "man,  victual,  and  support"  these, 
adding  themselves  an  equal  number  of  armed  vessels  of  like  burden ; 
while  the  troops  of  the  States  placed  on  board  of  these  fleets  should 
also  be  paid  by  the  Company.  Coming  now  to  the  matter  of  trade,  of 
which  we  had  almost  lost  sight  amid  so  many  military  articles,  the  Com- 
pany was  conceded  the  privilege  of  exporting  home  manufactures  and 
of  importing  the  products  of  the  countries  along  the  Atlantic,  free  of 
all  duties  for  the  space  of  eight  years.  Prizes  taken  on  the  seas,  and 
booty  of  war,  wherever  secured,  were  to  have  their  value  carefully 
estimated  by  the  Boards  of  Admiralty,  and  the  proceeds  were  to  be 
distributed  in  fixed  proportions  among  the  shareholders  and  servants 
of  the  Company,  with  a  fair  percentage  for  the  treasury  of  the  General 
Government  of  the  United  Netherlands. 

A  number  of  other  matters  referring  to  details  of  business,  such  as 
the  subscription  of  the  capital  and  the  management  of  it  when  sub- 
scribed, the  duties  and  emoluments  of  directors  and  the  subordinate 
officers  and  clerks  of  the  Company,  form  the  subject  of  several  articles 
and  need  not  be  more  fully  described  here.  But  among  the  whole  of 
the  forty-five  articles  of  the  charter,  we  find  only  one  brief  clause 
that  can  by  any  interpretation  of  language  or  spirit  be  regarded  as 
imposing  the  duty  of  colonizing,  and  with  that  department  of  the 
West  India  Company's  enterprises  we  are  of  course  at  present  most 
concerned.  It  occurs  in  the  second  article,  which  is  a  very  long  one, 
but  its  words  are  few  and  not  very  pressing :  "  further  [they]  may 
promote  the  populating  of  fertile  and  uninhabited  regions,  and  do  all 
that  the  advantage  of  these  provinces,  the  profit  and  increase  of  com- 
merce shall  require."  Now  we  can  hardly  read  in  these  lines  what  a 
recent  writer  saw  in  them,  who  says  that  "  in  the  newly  drafted  con- 
stitution of  the  West  India  Company  was  a  clause  by  which  the  cor- 
poration would  be  obligated  to  people  the  so-called  Dutch  territory  of 
North  America."  We  fail  to  read  an  obligation  in  the  actual  words 
of  mild  permission,  and  can  discover  no  allusion  whatever  to  New 
Netherland.1  Nevertheless  upon  this  slight  and  scarcely  visible  thread 
of  duty  or  contract,  if  such  even  it  may  be  called,  hung  the  whole  of 

1  "History  of  New-York,"  by  Martha  J.  Lamb,  this  country,  suchasDeLaet,  Aitzema,  GrootPlac- 

1:46.     This  author's  authority  is  evidently   Dr.  caet  Boek,  etc.     The  citation  following  is  taken 

O'Callahan  ;  but  the  latter  has  unfortunately  mis-  from  Tjassen's  "  Zee  Politie,"  p.  307,  but  we  have 

apprehended  the  Dutch  phraseology,  to  which  fact,  consulted  the  charter  as  given  by  the  others  also, 

we  were  glad  to  notice,  after  the  above  was  written,  and  the  words  are  identical  in  all  of  them :  "  Voorts 

that  Professor  Jameson  gives  extended  attention,  populatie  van  vruchtbare  ende  onbewoonde  Quar- 

in  Papers  Amer.  Histor.  Assoc.,  2  :  219.     The  im-  tieren  mogen  bevorderen,  ende  alles  doen  dat  den 

portance  of  this  point  for  the  purposes  of  this  dienst  der  Landen,  proffijt  ende  vermeerderinge 

work  warrants  the  insertion  of  the  original  clause,  van  den  handel  zal  vereyschen."    Professor  Jame- 

which  maybe  found  in  several  works  accessible  in  son  correctly  observes  that  "Landen"  here  does 


96  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YOKK 

that  connection  with  Manhattan  Island  which  made  the  Colony  there 
the  ward  of  the  West  India  Company,  and  links  its  history  inseparably 
with  that  of  our  great  city. 

With  its  powers  and  privileges  carefully  defined  and  its  internal 
organization  skilfully  appointed,  the  West  India  Company  was  never- 
theless helpless  without  a  capital.  It  was  fully  two  years  and  a  quar- 
ter before  the  prescribed  sum  was  secured,  and  for  that  length  of  time 
the  great  charter  remained  nugatory.  The  subscription  books  were 
thrown  open  not  only  to  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  United  Netherlands, 
but  also  to  those  of  other  countries,  who  were  to  be  ranged  under  the 
shareholders  of  one  or  the  other  chamber.  Advertisements  to  that 
effect  in  the  form  of  handbills,  some  of  which  are  still  preserved,  were 
printed  and  distributed  within  a  month  after  the  charter  was  signed. 
As  originally  decreed,  these  books  were  to  remain  open  no  longer  than 
five  months  after  July  1st,  or  until  November  30,  1621,  no  one  to 
be  admitted  to  the  privileges  of  participation  after  that  period  had 
elapsed.  The  States-General  promised  to  furnish  one  million  of  guil- 
ders ($400,000),  to  be  paid  in  yearly  subsidies  of  two  hundred  thousand 
guilders  ($80,000)  each  during  five  consecutive  years,  the  first  one 
within  the  five  months  appointed  as  the  limit  for  private  subscribers. 
The  latter  were  required  to  pay  down  in  cash  one-third  of  the  amount 
for  which  they  signed  before  November  30th,  and  the  remaining  two- 
thirds  within  three  years. 

But  in  the  sequel  these  first  limitations  of  time  were  proved  to  have 
no  meaning  whatever.  For  some  reason  there  was  a  lack  of  interest 
among  people  of  means  in  regard  to  the  aims  or  purposes  of  the  new 
Company.  The  success  of  the  East  India  Company  had  been  beyond 
all  precedent,  for,  as  has  been  shown,  up  to  the  year  1620  it  had  real- 
ized for  each  shareholder  four  hundred  and  twenty-five  per  cent,  upon 
his  first  investment  in  1602.  But  either  this  Company  had  in  its 
employ  all  the  available  capital  in  the  country,  or  else  there  was 
no  expectation  that  similarly  brilliant  returns  could  be  made  by  the 
proposed  organization ;  and  its  subscription  books  were  still  open  in 
1623.  An  advertisement  placed  in  booksellers'  shops,  and  posted  on 
the  announcement-boards  of  public  buildings,  informed  those  inter- 
ested that  for  citizens  of  the  Republic  these  books  would  be  finally 
closed  on  August  31st,  and  for  foreign  investors  on  October  31st  of 
that  year.1 

It  seems,  however,  that  enough  money  was  now  subscribed  to  war- 
rant the  organization  of  the  Company  by  the  election  of  directors  to 

not  refer  to  the  countries  to  be  "populated"  or  l  Asher,  Bibl.  and  Hist.  Essay,  p.  102;  also  De 

colonized,  but  to  the  home-country  or  the  United  Laet,  introduction  to  "  Jaerlyck  Verhael  van  de 

Provinces  themselves.     In  public  documents  they  Westindische  Compagnie,"  3d  p.  of  "Accoordt" 

are  invariably  thus  referred  to.  (no  numbering  of  pages). 


THE  ANTECEDENTS  OF  NEW  NETHEELAND 


constitute  the  several  chambers,  and  the  general  committee  or  As- 
sembly of  the  XIX.  In  the  spring  of  1623  these  bodies  met  and 
adopted  regulations  and  by-laws  for  their  own  guidance  in  the  govern- 
ment of  the  Company's  affairs,  which 
were  submitted  to  the  States-General 
and  duly  approved  by  them  on  June 
21st.  One  cause  of  delay  in  raising 
the  capital  had  been  the  fact  that  the 
charter  of  1621  did  not  include  the 
monopoly  of  the  salt-trade.  Although 
the  proposition  to  close  this  trade  had 
been  one  of  the  rocks  on  which  the 
project  suffered  shipwreck  in  1606  to 
1608,  and  although  the  influence  of 
the  cities  of  North  Holland  was  still 
strong  enough  in  1621  to  keep  it  open, 
it  would  seem  that  only  a  complete 
monopoly  in  every  particular  would 
attract  subscribers.  Accordingly  "am- 
plifications "of  the  original  charter  were 
granted  by  the  States-General  in  June, 
1622,  and  again  in  February,  1623,  for- 
bidding all  vessels  except  those  of  the 
West  India  Company  to  procure  cargoes  of  salt  in  the  West  Indies.1 
This  privilege  having  been  duly  secured,  announcement  was  made  of 
it  by  means  of  pamphlets  and  posters,  "  in  order  to  arouse  all  lovers 
of  the  fatherland  and  to  give  them  an  appetite  for  subscribing,  if  they 
have  not  already  subscribed,  and  if  they  have  subscribed  to  make 
them  do  better,  since  now  very  soon  it  [the  list]  will  undoubtedly  be 
closed."2  It  was  six  months  later,  however,  ere  this  was  done.  The 
capital  then  secured  was  precisely  7,108,161.10  florins  ($2,843,264.44), 
as  one  careful  historian  informs  us.3 

The  capital  having  been  finally  subscribed,  and  the  books  closed  on 
October  31, 1623,  with  an  exhibit  of  above  seven  millions  of  florins,  the 
directors  at  once  prepared  for  active  operations,  and  on  December 
21st  they  despatched  their  first  fleet.  It  consisted  of  twenty-six  ves- 
sels, large  and  small,  and  was  commanded  by  an  admiral  whose  name 
it  is  not  material  to  mention  by  the  side  of  that  of  his  vice-admiral, 
Piet  Heyn,  whose  fame  soon  became  worldwide.  The  object  of  the 


l  The  place  specially  indicated  as  the  source  for 
the  supply  of  the  finest  salt  was  Punto  del  Rey, 
or,  more  correctly,  Punta  de  Araya.  Berg  van 
Dussen-Muilkerk,  in  the  article  already  referred 
to,  "  De  Gids,"  June,  1849,  p.  704,  remarks  that 
this  concession  was  one  of  little  value  to  the  Com- 
pany, "  since  Spain  immediately  caused  to  be  built 
VOL.  I.- 7. 


there  Port  Sanct  lago.  which  cut  off  access  to  the 
salt  deposits ;  the  numerous  fleet  proceeding  thither 
from  Holland  achieved  consequently  a  fruitless 
journey." 

2  Asher,  Bibl.  and  Hist.  Essay,  p.  101 ;  we  have 
translated  the  quaint  Dutch  literally. 

3  Luzac,  "Hollands  Rykdom,"  1:318. 


98  HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YOEK 

expedition,  as  revealed  by  secret  instructions  that  were  to  be  opened 
at  sea,  was  an  attack  on  Sari  Salvador,  situated  on  the  Bahia,  the 
capital  of  the  former  Portuguese,  but  then  Spanish,  possessions  in 
Brazil.  Manhattan  Island  had  at  that  time  been  known  and  almost 
constantly  visited  by  Dutch  ships  for  nearly  fourteen  years ;  the  name 
of  "  New  Netherland  Company  "  had  been  assumed  by  an  association 
of  merchants  who  had  sought  to  develop  the  resources  of  the  region 
thus  popularly  known,  and  this  association,  together  with  all  the  others 
trading  with  the  countries  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  east  and  west,  had 
been  absorbed  by  the  great  West  India  Company.  But  New  Nether- 
land,  to  which  a  few  ships  with  emigrants  had  been  sent  in  the  course 
of  this  same  year  (1623),  was  not  in  the  thought  of  the  directors  when 
they  were  contemplating  a  supreme  effort.  Brazil  was  the  land  of 
their  desire,  whose  conquest  from  previous  possessors  was  to  bring 
untold  wealth  and  glory. 

There  follows  now  a  period  of  five  or  six  years  when  the  West  India 
Company  reached  the  height  of  its  financial  success,  and  the  most 
extravagant  expectations  for  the  future  seemed  to  be  justified.  San 
Salvador  was  taken  in  1624,  but  lost  the  next  year  through  some 
mismanagement.  Towards  the  close  of  1626,  Piet  Heyn,  advanced  to 
the  rank  of  Admiral,  was  a  second  time  sent  to  the  Bahia,  and,  although 
he  did  not  attempt  to  recover  the  city,  he  seized  vast  treasures  by 
capturing  the  greater  part  of  the  South  American  fleet,  which  had 
just  been  collecting  there  preparatory  to  conveying  to  Spain  the  pre- 
cious products  gathered  from  field,  and  forest,  and  mine,  through  a 
whole  year.  The  exploit  netted  his  masters  370,000  florins  ($148,000) 
in  sugar  alone.  But  the  climax  of  prosperity,  or  what  was  deemed 
prosperity,  for  the  Company,  and  the  acme  of  glory  for  the  Admiral 
himself  were  attained  in  the  famous  year  1628 ;  for  then  took  place 
that  signal  achievement  which  has  made  the  name  of  Piet  Heyn  im- 
mortal —  the  taking  of  the  Spanish  Silver  Fleet. 

Early  in  the  year  the  Admiral  was  placed  in  command  of  a  fleet  of 
thirty-one  vessels,  with  which  he  proceeded  directly  to  the  West  Indies. 
Sending  out  some  of  his  swiftest  yachts  to  reconnoiter,  word  was  soon 
brought  him,  while  cruising  among  the  Antilles,  that  the  great  Silver 
Fleet  of  the  Spaniards,  lightly  convoyed,  was  on  its  way  to  Cuba. 
Heyn  at  once  gave  orders  to  all  his  captains  to  be  on  the  alert  for  the 
first  signs  of  this  splendid  prize.  His  diligence  was  rewarded  ere  long 
by  the  coming  into  sight  of  no  less  than  ten  vessels  sailing  together. 
He  speedily  put  to  rout  the  few  armed  convoys  accompanying  the 
squadron,  and  made  an  easy  prey  of  the  others.  It  proved,  however, 
to  be,  not  the  Silver  Fleet,  but  that  from  Mexico,  laden  with  rich  dye- 
stuffs  and  other  merchandise.  A  few  days  later  another  fleet  of 
eleven  sail  came  into  view.  These  vessels  had  sought  to  enter  the 
harbor  of  Havana,  but  opposing  winds  and  stress  of  weather  had 


THE  ANTECEDENTS  OF  NEW  NETHERLAND         99 

driven  them  out  of  their  course,  and  they  were  now  endeavoring  to 
make  the  bay  or  harbor  of  Matanzas,  on  the  north  coast  of  Cuba, 
when  they  fell  in  with  the  Dutch.  They  attempted  to  escape  by 
hastening  within  the  shelter  of  the  bay,  but  it  was  too  late.  Besides, 
as  they  were  entering,  most  of  the  ships  ran  aground  upon  the  shoals, 
suffering  no  injury  thereby,  but  being  rendered  helpless  in  the  face  of 
an  attacking  force.  Admiral  Heyn  therefore  considerately  offered 
them  quarter  and  honorable  terms  of  surrender,  which  were  accepted. 
And  thus  without  a  blow  passed  into  his  hands  the  annual  fleet  from 
Guatemala,  freighted  with  silver  on  its  way  to  replenish  the  Spanish 
treasury.  Heyn,  having  transferred  their  cargoes,  burned  seven  of  the 
captured  vessels,  and  succeeded  in  reaching  the  ports  of  the  Repub- 
lic late  in  the  same  year  (1628),  without  the  loss  of  a  single  ship.  It 
was  found  that  the  booty  he  had  secured  was  worth  no  less  than 
eleven  and  a  half  millions  of  florins  ($4,600,000),  while  the  value  of  the 
prizes  brought  home  about  the  same  time  by  other  fleets  of  the  West 
India  Company  aggregated  over  four  millions  of  florins  ($1,600,000). 
The  Company  felt  justified  in  declaring  a  dividend  of  fifty  per  cent,  in 
1629,  and  again  in  1630  one  of  twenty-five  per  cent.  But  the  same 
degree  of  success  was  never  attained  again.  The  Admiral,  who,  in 
gaining  untold  wealth  for  the  West  India  Company,  had  won  only 
renown  for  himself, — for  he  refused  to  accept  a  single  dollar, — did  not 
long  survive  his  famous  exploit.  In  1629  he  was  killed  off  the  coast 
of  Belgium  in  an  engagement  with  the  Dunkirk  pirates.  He  was 
buried  at  the  public  expense  and  a  splendid  monument  raised  to  his 
memory  in  the  Old  Church  at  Delft,  the  first  instance  in  which  such 
an  honor  was  paid  to  a  Dutch  admiral. 

Enriched  yet  not  quite  satisfied  with  the  immense  but  precarious 
returns  of  mere  predatory  warfare,  the  Company  resolved  to  again 
address  itself  seriously  to  the  conquest  of  a  colonial  empire  in  Brazil 
and  Africa,  to  correspond  with  the  one  established  by  the  East  India 
Company  in  Eastern  Seas.  San  Salvador  had  been  won  and  lost ;  it 
was  determined  not  to  renew  attempts  in  this  direction,  but  to  seek  a 
lodgment  higher  up  the  coast ;  and  the  city  of  Olinda,  in  the  Captaincy 
of  Pernambuco,  on  the  site  of  the  present  city  of  that  name,  was 
selected  as  the  object  of  the  next  attack.  Heyn  being  no  more,  the 
expedition  was  intrusted  to  Admiral  Loncq.  It  set  out  early  in  1629, 
but  this  was  a  trying  year  for  the  Republic,  and  Loncq  was  left  un- 
supported until  the  crisis  was  past.  Frederick  Henry's  heroic  efforts 
having  been  crowned  with  brilliant  success,  later  in  the  year  the 
Admiral  was  placed  over  a  very  much  larger  command  than  that 
with  which  he  had  at  first  sailed.  He  was  now  at  the  head  of  a  fleet 
of  sixty-one  vessels,  carrying  a  force  of  3500  marines  besides  3780 
sailors — a  more  powerful  armament  than  had  been  ever  before  sent 
out  by  the  West  India  Company.  Nothing  in  Brazil  could  resist  this 


100  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

Dutch  Armada,  and  on  March  2,  1630,  Olinda  surrendered,  becoming 
subsequently  the  capital  of  Dutch  Brazil  under  the  name  of  Maurit- 
stadt,  in  honor  of  the  Governor. 

With  extensive  territories  in  its  possession  in  Brazil,  besides  Cura- 
coa  and  other  islands  in  the  Caribbean  Sea,  and  some  towns  on 
the  shores  of  the  Mexican  gulf,  it  seemed  to  the  West  India  Company 
that  the  time  had  now  come  for  assuming  a  state  and  dignity  in  the 
government  of  its  acquisitions  on  a  scale  to  vie  with  the  splendid 
empire  established  by  the  East  India  Company  on  the  island  of  Java. 
But  even  that  proud  and  wealthy  association  had  never  looked  beyond 
its  own  directors,  or  men  who  had  occupied  the  position  of  Burgo- 
master of  Amsterdam,  or  of  some  other  city,  to  fill  the  almost  regal 
office  of  Governor-General  at  Batavia.  The  West  India  Company 
looked  higher,  and  did  not  hesitate  to  apply  to  a  scion  of  the  illustrious 
house  of  Nassau.  They  invited  to  assume  the  post  of  "  Captain-Gov- 
ernor and  Admiral-General "  of  the  West  Indies  John  Maurice, 
Count  of  Nassau,  the  grandson  of  Count  John  of  Nassau,  the  next 
younger  brother  of  William  the  Silent.  This  nobleman,  apart  from 
this  exalted  family  connection,  was  possessed  of  eminent  personal 
merit.  In  1629,  during  that  brief  critical  condition  in  the  affairs  of 
the  Republic  already  mentioned,  he  had  won  distinction  under  his 
cousin  Prince  Frederick  Henry  of  Orange  at  the  siege  of  Bois-le-Duc  ; 
and  in  1632,  at  the  equally  successful  siege  of  Maastricht,  he  had 
bravely  sustained  an  attack  by  the  famous  Pappenheim,  who  was 
destined  that  same  year  to  receive  a  mortal  wound  on  the  field  of 
Liitzen,  where  Gustavus  Adolphus  met  his  death.  Count  John 
Maurice  was  now  in  the  prime  of  life,  having  been  born  in  the  year 
1604,  and  thus  when  this  invitation  came  to  him  (1636)  only  thirty- 
two  years  of  age.  The  Company's  terms  were  certainly  generous, 
taking  into  consideration  that  money  was  then  worth  at  least  four 
times  its  value  in  the  present  day.  He  was  to  receive  six  thousand 
florins  ($2400)  for  his  outfit ;  his  salary  was  to  be  fifteen  hundred 
florins  ($600)  per  month,  with  free  table  for  his  own  and  his  official 
family,  beginning  with  his  embarkation ;  in  addition,  two  per  cent,  of 
all  prizes  taken  from  the  enemy  by  the.  forces  under  his  command 
was  to  be  his.  He  was  also  privileged  to  retain  his  rank  of  Colonel  in 
one  regiment,  and  Captain  in  another,  with  the  pay  attached ;  nor 
would  he  lose  his  right  of  promotion  in  regular  order  by  his  absence 
from  the  country.  The  tenth  article  of  the  contract  read :  "  Further 
the  Company  shall  provide  his  Grace  with  a  Pious  Minister  of  God's 
Word,  a  Doctor  of  Medicine,  and  a  Secretary,  at  their  expense." ]  Yet 

l  Aitzema,  "Saeken  van  Staet  en  Oorlogh,"  2:  published  the  result  of  his  valuable  researches  in 

352.     Count  John  Maurice  availed  himself  of  this  Brazil,  of  which  Cuvier  (''Histoire  des  Sciences 

privilege  by  selecting  as  his  body-physician  the  Naturelles,"2:  141-146)  makes  mention  with  great 

celebrated  naturalist  Piso,  of  Leyden,  who  in  1G68  enthusiasm.     De  Laet  sent  at  his  own  expense,  to 


THE  ANTECEDENTS  OF  NEW  NETHEKLAND        101 

the  affairs  of  the  Company  at  this  time  were  by  no  means  in  a  flourish- 
ing condition.  De  Laet,  in  his  work  on  the  West  India  Company, 
shows  that  from  1623  to  1635  its  expenditures  had  amounted  to  forty- 
five  millions  of  florins,  which  were  counterbalanced  by  only  thirty 
millions  in  returns.  Thus  at  the  appointment  of  the  Governor-General 
the  Company  was  fifteen  millions  of  florins  ($6,000,000)  in  arrears.  It 
was  expected  that  his  advent  would  accomplish  either  of  two  things : 
the  instituting  of  a  policy  different  from  the  warlike  one  hitherto  pur- 
sued, and  by  which  the  Company  had  proved  itself  more  formidable  to 
its  enemies  than  profitable  to  its  shareholders ;  or  the  carrying  of  that 
policy  into  larger  and  still  more  destructive  execution  at  the  expense 
of  the  enemy. 

In  October,  1636,  Count  John  Maurice  sailed  from  Holland,  attended 
by  a  fleet  carrying  three  thousand  men,  and  arrived  at  the  city  of 
Paraiba  in  February,  1637.  His  arrival  was  soon  followed  by  the 
establishment  of  very  beneficial  institutions  within  the  bounds  of  his 
government,  for  which  Eobert  Southey,  the  English  historian  of 
Brazil,  awards  him  the  highest  meed  of  praise.  Under  the  direction  of 
a  man  so  liberal  and  enlightened  the  colony  flourished  greatly,  and  as 
an  indication  of  this  it  may  be  stated  that  from  a  duty  of  ten  per 
cent,  on  the  export  of  sugar  alone  an  annual  income  of  280,900  florins 
($112,360)  was  realized.1  He  was  diligent  also  in  promoting  measures 
for  the  extension  of  territory.  Before  his  arrival  the  Dutch  had  occu- 
pied four  of  the  fourteen  Captaincies  into  which  Portuguese  Brazil 
had  been  divided ;  these  were  Pernambuco,  Paraiba,  Rio  Grande,  and 
Tamarica.  Several  expeditions  were  undertaken  against  places  still 
held  by  the  enemy  within  these  provinces,  and  with  invariable  suc- 
cess. While,  as  the  result  of  his  well-planned  and  vigorously  executed 
manceuvers  against  the  enemy  outside  of  the  territories  already  con- 
quered, three  more  Captaincies  were  added  to  the  Dutch  possessions 
during  the  Governor's  administration  —  those  of  Maragnan  and  Seara 
in  the  northwest,  and  that  of  Seregipe  in  the  south.  Nor  was  it  for- 
gotten that  his  legitimate  jurisdiction  embraced  the  coasts  on  the 
other  side  of  the  Atlantic.  Slave-labor  in  that  day  was  deemed  indis- 
pensable for  the  development  of  Brazil's  natural  resources,  and  hence 
a  few  months  after  his  arrival  Count  Nassau  sent  a  fleet  to  seize  the 
Spanish-Portuguese  possessions  in  Africa.  St.  George  del  Mina,  a 
strong  fortress  situated  on  the  Gold  Coast,  the  key  to  the  country  where 
the  slave-trade  was  mainly  pursued,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Dutch. 
The  island  of  St.  Thomas,  off  the  shores  of  Upper  Guinea,  captured 
by  the  unfortunate  Van  der  Does  in  1599,  was  now  retaken,  and  occu- 

be  Piso's  collaborators,  two  noted  German  natural-  premiere  expedition  d'histoire  naturelle  qui  ait  e"te" 

ists,  Marcgraf  and  Cranitz.     Of  this  noble  and  faite  avec  un  grand  succes." 

liberal  encouragement  of  science  on  the  part  of  1  Netscher,  "  Les  Hollandais  au  Bre"sil,"  pp.  102, 

the  West  India  Company,  Cuvier  says :  "  C'est  la  104. 


102 


HISTORY     OF    NEW-YORK 


pied  by  a  sufficient  force  to  hold  it  securely.  In  1641  the  city  and 
fortress  of  St.  Paul  de  Loanda,  in  Lower  Guinea,  surrendered — a  place 
whence  were  annually  exported  twenty -five  thousand  slaves  at  a  gross 
income  of  a  million  florins  and  a  net  profit  of  660,000  florins  ($264,000). 
But  now  there  appeared  on  the  horizon  the  small  cloud  that  boded 
storm  and  disaster  after  hitherto  uninterrupted  success.  In  1639 
Colonel  Artichofsky,  who  had  distinguished  himself  in  the  conquest 

of  Brazil  before  the  advent  of 
Count  John  Maurice,  arrived  at 
Mauritstadt  bearing  credentials 
which  showed  that  the  Company 
had  conferred  upon  him  the  title 
and  command  of  "  Generallissi- 
mus" — that  is,  he  was  to  have 
special  authority,  independent  of 
the  Governor-General's  control, 
over  the  land  forces  in  Brazil, 
and  indeed  the  entire  regulation 
of  military  affairs  seemed  to  have 
been  intrusted  to  him.  A  greater 
mistake  could  not  have  been  com- 
mitted. The  efficient  incumbent 
of  the  chief  office  in  the  Com- 
pany's service  naturally  resented  this  action  on  their  part.  He  refused 
to  recognize  the  "  Generallissimus,"  and  forthwith  sent  him  back  to 
Holland.  The  Polish  nobleman,  on  his  part,  naturally  complained  of 
this  conduct,  and,  finding  sympathizers,  the  seeds  of  dissension  were 
sown,  and  evil  consequences  were  sure  to  follow. 

And  never  was  there  greater  need  of  harmony  in  the  counsels  of 
the  Company,  or  in  those  of  its  Brazilian  colony,  than  at  this  very 
time.  The  Spaniards  had  at  last  been  roused  to  the  importance  of 
making  an  effort  to  recover  the  colonial  empire  of  Brazil,  which  had 
fallen  to  their  share  when  they  reduced  the  kingdom  of  Portugal.  A 
fleet  of  eighty-six  vessels,  with  twelve  thousand  men  on  board,  was 
despatched  from  the  ports  of  Spain,  and  was  known  in  Holland  and 
at  Mauritstadt  to  be  crossing  the  Atlantic,  to  crush  the  power  of  the 
Dutch  intruders  with  one  fell  blow.  It  seemed  to  be  in  no  great  haste, 
however,  for  not  till  eight  months  after  it  left  Spain  did  the  fleet  ap- 
pear off  the  coasts  of  Dutch  Brazil.  On  January  12,  1640,  the  Eepub- 
lican  squadron  sailed  forth  to  encounter  the  Spaniards,  and  after  four 
days  of  hard  fighting  the  latter  withdrew  from  the  contest  under 
cover  of  the  night.  Thus  Brazil  was  still  held  for  the  Dutch  West 
India  Company,  and  no  molestation  was  likely  soon  to  come  from  the 
direction  of  Spain. 


THE  ANTECEDENTS  OF  NEW  NETHEELAND        103 

A  worse  thing,  however,  than  war  had  thus  far  proved  for  the  inter- 
ests of  the  Company  was  preparing  for  it  in  Portugal.  It  had  been 
an  exceedingly  opportune  circumstance  for  both  the  East  and  the 
West  India  Companies,  that  Spain  had  absorbed  the  kingdom  of 
Portugal  and  made  it  one  of  her  provinces ;  for  by  this  act  all  the 
possessions  of  the  Portuguese  in  the  East  and  West  Indies,  in  becom- 
ing the  property  of  a  nation  at  war  with  them,  became  also  the  legiti- 
mate object  of  attack  and  depredation  by  the  Dutch.  It  so  happened 
that  almost  all  their  colonial  acquisitions  in  the  Indian  Ocean,  as  well 
as  in  South  America,  had  belonged  to  the  Portuguese  rather  than  to 
the  Spaniards.  But  in  1640  a  change  occurred  in  the  affairs  of  Por- 
tugal ;  she  threw  off  the  Spanish  yoke  and  became  again  an  indepen- 
dent state.  In  so  doing,  however,  she  necessarily  assumed  an  attitude 
of  hostility  to  Spain,  and  this  made  her  inevitably  the  ally  of  the 
Dutch  Eepublic.  Indeed,  she  had  not  accomplished  her  emancipation 
without  material  aid  from  the  United  Provinces.  Therefore  what 
were  these  Provinces  now  to  do  with  the  colonial  possessions  wrested 
from  her  ally  ?  This  proved  a  very  serious  as  well  as  a  very  puzzling 
question.  The  Portuguese  revolution  had  such  a  depressing  effect 
upon  the  stock  of  both  Companies,  that  the  East  India  shares  fell 
immediately  from  five  hundred  to  four  hundred  and  forty  florins,  and 
those  of  the  other  from  one  hundred  and  twenty  to  one  hundred  and 
fourteen.  But  the  most  disastrous  consequence  was  the  loss  of  Brazil. 
Affairs  there  lingered  for  some  years  in  a  measurably  prosperous  con- 
dition; but  the  Portuguese  subjects  became  more  and  more  restive. 
Count  John  Maurice  met  with  reverse  or  disappointment  in  one  or 
two  enterprises,  and,  not  being  supported  by  the  Company  at  home, 
he  offered  his  resignation  in  1644.  As  a  measure  of  frugality,  as  well 
as  for  other  reasons,  it  was  accepted,  and  the  Governor  left  Brazil  in 
the  summer  of  that  year.  His  subsequent  career  deserves  brief  men- 
tion. He  arrived  in  Holland  in  the  latter  part  of  August,  and  was 
immediately  restored  to  the  command  of  his  regiment.  But  to  be 
a  Colonel  after  having  ranked  as  Admiral-General  seemed  an  incon- 
gruity to  the  Dutch  Government,  as  it  must  have  been  to  himself. 
Fortunately  an  opportunity  for  promotion  occurred  scarcely  a  month 
after  his  return,  whereupon  the  Count  became  Lieutenant-General  of 
the  Cavalry,  the  chief  command  in  that  branch  of  the  service.  In  this 
capacity  he  took  part  in  the  closing  campaigns  of  the  Eighty  Years' 
War,  and  after  the  peace  of  Westphalia,  in  1648,  was  permitted  to 
enter  the  service  of  the  Elector  of  Brandenburg.  He  was  made  a 
Prince  of  the  Empire,  and,  after  being  governor  of  several  important 
military  strongholds,  became  finally  Governor  of  Berlin.  Here  he 
died  in  the  year  1679.  In  those  trying  days  of  the  Republic,  in  1672, 
when  Louis  XIV.  had  penetrated  into  its  very  heart,  he  rendered 


104  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

important  aid  to  the  youthful  William  III.  of  Orange  in  repelling  the 
enemy,  and  distinguished  himself,  though  then  seventy  years  old,  at 
the  celebrated  battle  of  Senef  in  1674.1 

After  the  Count  of  Nassau's  departure  matters  in  Brazil  grew 
rapidly  worse.  As  if  the  pressure  of  adverse  circumstances  from 
without  were  not  enough  to  produce  ruin,  by  a  strange  fatuity  the 
West  India  Company  invited  misfortune  by  the  appointment  of 
officers  most  of  whom  were  incompetent,  while  others  proved  to  be 
traitors.  In  despair  the  Company,  in  1646,  appealed  for  aid  to  the 
States-General,  who  granted  a  subsidy  of  one  and  a  half  millions  of 
florins,  and  despatched  a  fleet  carrying  a  force  of  four  thousand  men. 
Nothing  of  importance  was  gained,  however.  Then  in  1647  Count 
John  Maurice  was  once  more  solicited  to  accept  the  Governor-Gen- 
eralship ;  but  he  saw  that  things  had  gone  too  far  for  remedy,  and  he 
wisely  declined  the  honor.2  Another  attempt  to  send  relief  to  the 
colony  in  1649  was  frustrated  by  internal  dissensions  and  jealousies, 
at  home  and  abroad.  Shortly  after,  Cromwell  declared  war  against 
Holland  for  affording  shelter  to  the  fugitive  Charles  II. ;  and,  while  all 
the  strength  of  the  Republic  was  necessarily  concentrated  upon  the 
endeavor  to  resist  so  formidable  an  adversary,  Portugal  made  use  of 
the  opportunity  to  finally  destroy  the  power  of  the  Dutch  in  distant 
Brazil,  and  in  1654  the  West  India  Company  saw  that  fair  and  vast 
acquisition  pass  completely  and  forever  out  of  its  hands.  At  a  peace 
or  convention  concluded  by  the  United  Netherlands  with  Portugal  in 
1661,  the  latter  agreed  to  pay  eight  millions  of  florins  ($3,200,000)  to  the 
Company  as  an  indemnification  for  its  loss,  together  with  the  conces- 
sion of  certain  privileges  to  Dutch  traders  or  settlers  similar  to  those 
granted  to  Portuguese  under  Dutch  rule,  and  this  was  the  last  of  the 
splendid  Colonial  Empire  of  the  West  which  was  to  have  rivaled 
that  in  the  Orient. 

At  home,  too,  as  was  to  be  expected,  the  affairs  of  the  Company 
were  now  in  ruinous  confusion.  When,  in  1644,  the  charter  of  the 
East  India  Company  was  about  to  expire  at  the  end  of  its  second 
period  of  twenty-one  years,  and  that  of  the  West  India  Company 
was  approaching  the  close  of  its  first  term  of  twenty-four  years, 
an  effort  was  made  to  combine  the  two  into  one  association.  The 
directors  of  the  West  India  Company  offered  to  transfer  to  those 
of  the  other  Company  all  their  property  in  the  shape  of  territories, 
forts,  vessels,  etc.,  together  with  a  sum  in  cash  of  more  than  three 
millions  and  a  half  of  florins.  But  the  East  India  Company  refused 

i  Netscher, Holland.  auBre"s.,pp.  138-140;  Cuvier,  pictures  are  found  in  the  "Mauritshuis."    It  is 

Hist.  d.  Sciences  Naturelles,  2 : 142.     The  American  named  after  John  Maurice,  of  Nassau,  who  caused 

who   has  seen  Rembrandt's   "Anatomy  Lesson,"  it  to  be  built  while  he  was  still  in  Brazil, 

and  Paul  Potter's  "Bull,"  in  the  Royal  Museum  2 Netscher,  Holland,  au  Br<5s.,  p.  139. 
at  the  Ha.e^ue,  will  remember  that  these  famous 


THE  ANTECEDENTS  OF  NEW  NETHERLAND 


105 


to  enter  into  the  combination,  on  the  ground  that  the  assets  of 
the  West  India  Company  were  five  millions  of  florins  less  than 
their  liabilities,  and  that  this  deficit  would  have  to  be  raised  on 
the  credit  of  the  former,  which  would  cause  an  immediate  fall  in  the 
value  of  their  stock.1  This  refusal,  remarks  Van  Kampen,  was  the 
"death  sentence"  of  the  West  India  Company.  But  another  fatal 
blow  was  the  long-threatened  and  final  loss  of  Brazil,  ten  years  later, 
in  1654.  After  that  destruction  was  inevitable.  "  Its  affairs  fell  into 
such  a  state,"  says  the  author  of  "  La  Richesse  de  la  Hollande,"  "  that 
it  no  longer  paid  any  dividends  or  interest,  much  less  the  principal  of 
the  sums  that  had  been  advanced.  As  early  as  1667  it  was  contem- 
plated to  sell  the  prop- 
erty of  the  Company, 
as  well  as  the  rights 
which  it  enjoyed  un- 
der its  charter;  but  the 
project  did  not  go  into 
effect.  Burdened  with 
a  debt  of  six  millions 
without  the  means  of 
liquidating  the  same, 
without  the  hope  even 
of  acquiring  the  power 
to  do  so,  it  was  deter- 
mined to  dissolve  the 
Company  in  1674." 2  This 
dissolution  took  place.  Thereupon  a  new  West  India  Company  was 
organized,,  to  which  a  charter  was  granted  for  twenty-five  years,  to 
begin  with  the  1st  of  January,  1675.  By  one  stroke  the  debt  of  the 
old  Company  was  reduced  thirty  per  cent.,  and  the  capital  contributed 
by  the  former  shareholders  placed  fifteen  per  cent,  below  the  amount 
actually  invested.  On  this  reconstructed  but  crippled  basis  the  West 
India  Company  continued  its  operations  in  a  feeble  manner  for  a 
century  and  a  quarter  longer.  In  1682,  Suriname,  or  Dutch  Guyana, 


WEST  INDIA  COMPANY'S  HOUSE  ON  THE  RAPENBURG. 


1  Aitzema  Staet  en  Oorlogh,  2:  976;  Van  Kam- 
pen, Nederl.  b.  Eur.,  1:460. 

2  Rich.  d.  1.  Holl.,  2:89.       When  its  financial 
reverses  came  upon  it  the  Company  (1654)  was 
no  longer  able  to  pay  the  rent  of  the  house  on 
Haarlem  Street.     It  then  transferred  its  offices  to 
the  warehouse  which  had  been  erected  in  1642  on 
the  Rapenburg  Quay,  its  side  facing  the  harbor, 
and  with  three   gables  fronting  on  the  "  Oude 
Schans,"  a  canal-street  running  past  the  Montal- 
bans  Tower.     In  the  central  gable  is  sculptured  in 
stone  the  Company's  monogram,  "G.  W.  C.,"  for 
"  Geoctroyeerde    Westindische    Compagnie,"    or 
Chartered  West  India  Company.     This  building  is 


represented  in  the  illustration,  and,  like  the  other, 
may  be  readily  identified.  The  letter  before  cited 
(p.  94)  speaks  of  it  as  follows :  ' '  The  building  with 
the  monogram  is  also  in  the  original  state,  the '  G. 
W.  C.'  still  appearing  on  the  central  gable.  It  is 
called  '  Het  Westindische  Slachthuis '  [West  India 
Meat  Market],  and  part  of  it  is  now  the  '  Koloniaal 
Etablissement,'  or  Storehouse  of  the  Government 
of  goods  for  the  colonial  army.  The  Rapenburg 
Quay  is  now  called  '  Prins  Hendriks  Kade,'  and 
the  house  can  readily  be  found,  as  it  stands  on  the 
corner  of  that  street  and  the  canal-street  on  which 
is  to  be  found  the  well-known  Montalbans  Tower." 


106  HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YORK 

which  had  been  ceded  to  the  Dutch  in  the  place  of  New  Netherland  in 
1667,  at  the  peace  of  Breda,  was  sold  to  the  Company  by  the  States  of 
Zeeland,  under  whose  auspices  it  had  been  conquered,  for  two  hun- 
dred and  sixty  thousand  florins  ($104,000).  But  the  Company  was 
unable  alone  to  conduct  the  colony's  affairs  profitably.  It  therefore 
sold  a  one-third  interest  to  the  city  of  Amsterdam,  and  another  third 
to  Cornelius  Van  Aerssen,  Lord  of  Sommelsdyk.1  This  combination 
of  interests  was  then  incorporated  as  a  separate  organization,  under 
the  name  of  the  "  Suriname  Company,"  in  1683.2  In  1700,  when  the 
first  twenty-five  years  had  expired,  the  charter  of  the  West  India 
Company  was  renewed  for  thirty  years,  and  in  1730  another  thirty 
years  were  granted  to  it;  but  its  affairs  were  ever  after  characterized 
by  feebleness  as  compared  with  those  of  a  century  before.  A  momen- 
tary gleam  of  importance  seems  once  more  to  be  reflected  upon  it 
when,  in  1747,  William  IV.,  Prince  of  Orange,  and  Stadholder  of  all 
the  United  Netherlands,  was  made  "  Chief -Director  and  Governor- 
General  of  both  the  •  Indies,"  and  thereby  placed  at  the  head  of  the 
East  and  the  West  India  Companies.3  At  length,  in  the  year  1800, 
when  the  waves  of  the  French  Revolution  had  rolled  over  Holland, 
banishing  the  house  of  Orange,  and  destroying  the  old  Republic  or 
Confederacy  of  the  United  Netherlands,  the  two  historic  Companies 
were  also  swept  out  of  existence.  Their  affairs  and  their  possessions 
were  placed  under  the  care  of  the  "  Councils  for  the  Asiatic  and  the 
American  Possessions,"  and  the  East  and  West  India  Companies  were 
heard  of  no  more.4  Fifteen  years  later  Holland  arose,  a  Kingdom  in- 
stead of  a  Republic,  out  of  the  chaos  into  which  the  French  Revolution 
and  Napoleon's  ambition  had  plunged  European  politics ;  and  the 
colonial  possessions  in  the  east  and  west,  or  so  much  of  them  as  could 
be  recovered  from  the  English,  became  the  property  of  the  State,  and 
are  relegated  at  this  day  to  the  Department  of  the  Colonies  under  the 
chief  direction  of  a  Cabinet  Minister. 

The  history  of  the  West  India  Company  has  thus  been  traced  from 

1  This  was  the  grandson  of  that  C.  Aerssen,  Lord  whose  issue  had  therefore  inherited  the  title  of 
of  Sommelsdyk,  who  was  Ambassador  to  Prance  Prince  of  Orange,  to  assume  the  Stadholderate 
and  Secretary  to  the  States-General  in  Barneveld's  for  the  entire  Republic.    The  position  was  at  once 
day,  and  whose  signature  in  the  above  form  ap-  made  hereditary  in  this  line.     From  William  IV. 
pears  on  the  original  charter  of  the  West  India  descended  the  three  kings  who  ruled  Holland  dur- 
Company,  in  1621.  ing  the  present  century.     The  death  of  King  Wil- 

2  Rich.  d.  1.  Holl.,  2 :  153,  168.  Ham  III.,  in  November,  1890,  left  a  little  daughter 

3  Van  Kampen,  Nederl.  b.  Eur.,  3 :  74.     Prom  to  inherit  the  kingdom  and  the  illustrious  heritage 
1702,  when  William  III.  of  England  died  without  of  the  name  of  Orange.  The  return  of  the  house  of 
children,  until  1747,  the  Republic  had  been  with-  Orange  to  the  head  of  affairs  after  an  interval  of 
out  a  Stadholder.     The  direct  line  of  William  the  forty -five  years  awakened  much  enthusiasm ;  hon- 
Silent  being  extinct,  when  the  national  feeling  in  ors  of  various  kinds  were  heaped  upon  William 
favor  of  the  name  of  Orange  demanded  again  a  IV.,  and  this  title,  which  amounted  to  little  more 
scion  of  that  family  at  the  head  of  the  govern-  than  a  title  then,  was  bestowed  as  an  additional 
ment,   the   States-General  invited   William,   the  compliment. 

Stadholder  of  Friesland,  of  the  line  of  Count  John         *  Van  Kampen,  Nederl.  b.  Eur.,  3  :  393,  396. 
of  Nassau,  the  brother  of  William  the  Silent,  and 


THE  ANTECEDENTS  OF  NEW  NETHERLAND        107 

its  inception  in  1604  to  its  extinction  in  1800.  The  principal  use  of 
this  review  for  our  purposes  is  to  be  found  in  the  opportunity  it 
affords  to  appreciate  the  position  of  the  West  India  Company  at  home 
and  abroad,  while  New  Netherland  was  still  a  part  of  the  territories 
over  which  it  bore  rule.  If  its  management  of  New  Netherland  affairs 
was  not  without  defect,  it  will  be  seen  that  it  was  equally  defective  in 
management  in  other  quarters.  If  it  is  a  matter  of  surprise  at  times 
that  there  was  such  great  lack  of  vigorous  support  when  it  might 
properly  have  been  expected  from  the  directors  at  home,  it  can  be 
seen  that  vigor  was  not  long  characteristic  of  the  Company,  or  indeed 
within  its  ability  to  manifest  anywhere  ;  while  its  financial  situation 
hampered  its  activities  when  scarcely  more  than  half  of  its  first  term 
of  twenty-four  years  had  expired.  It  will  be  seen,  too,  that  predatory 
warfare  was  its  favorite  pursuit ;  or,  at  least,  that  colonization  was 
never  its  principal  object.  In  1626,  when,  as  is  claimed  by  some,  the 
enemies  of  the  Company  pressed  that  almost  invisible  clause  of  the 
charter  which  only  seemed  to  enjoin  some  such  undertaking, — when, 
too,  encouraging  financial  returns  as  the  result  of  prizes-of-war  began 
to  come  in, — the  first  regular  Colonial  Government  was  provided  for 
New  Netherland,  and  Director-General  Minuit  was  sent  out.  Before 
he  was  recalled,  and  during  a  part  of  Van  Twiller's  administration,  the 
acme  of  the  Company's  prosperity  was  attained.  Yet  there  are  not 
apparent  any  notable  consequences  attending  these  happy  events  in 
the  province  upon  the  Hudson  River,  except  some  brief  activity  in  the 
erection  of  a  few  modest  buildings,  and  the  completion  of  Fort  Am- 
sterdam. In  1637,  when  the  Count  of  Nassau,  allied  to  the  illustrious 
house  of  Orange,  was  sent  to  govern  Brazil,  William  Kieft,  a  bank- 
rupt in  business,  and  with  a  clouded  reputation,  was  sent  to  govern 
New  Netherland.  During  his  administration  misfortunes  began  to 
accumulate  upon  the  Company  at  home  and  abroad ;  in  the  midst  of 
these  Stuyvesant  was  appointed,  and  they  became  worse  with  every 
year  of  his  incumbency.  So  in  1664  New  Netherland,  unsupported 
by  the  Company,  because  it  was  itself  helpless  and  on  the  brink  of 
ruin,  was  suffered  to  pass  into  other  hands  without  a  blow.  And  by 
a  curious  coincidence,  when  New  Netherland,  in  the. year  1674,  finally 
ceased  to  be  subject  to  Dutch  control,  occurred  also  the  dissolution  of 
the  original  West  India  Company. 


CHAPTER  IV 

HENKY   HUDSON'S   VOYAGE   AND    ITS   EESULTS   IN   TEADE 
AND   COLONIZATION 


0  the  resident  of  New- York  City  perhaps  the  most  inter- 
esting event  in  the  history  of  American  discovery,  next 
to  that  of  America  itself,  is  the  discovery  of  New- York 
Bay  and  the  exploration  of  the  Hudson  River.  Indeed, 
apart  from  this  local  interest,  the  account  of  Henry  Hudson's  voyage 
in  the  Half-Moon,  from  beginning  to  end,  is  so  full  of  romantic 
and  striking  incident  that  the  reader  never  wearies  of  its  repetition, 


HENRY    HUDSON    IN    THE    HIGHLANDS. 


but   turns   to    it   with   ever    renewed 
pleasure.     Yet  a  -natural  curiosity,  as 

well  as  historical  exactness,  compels  us  to  ask  the  question,  which 
has  already  been  suggested  by  the  opening  chapter :  Were  Hudson  and 
his  companions  the  first  of  European  navigators  to  look  upon  the 
charming  prospect  of  our  bay  and  river  ?  All  can  enter  with  hearty 
sympathy  into  Irving's  feelings  when,  expressing  his  indignation 
against  those  writers  who  industriously  seek  to  deprive  Columbus 
of  the  glory  of  his  discovery,  he  says  :  "  There  is  a  certain  meddlesome 
spirit  which  in  the  garb  of  learned  research  goes  prying  about  the 


108 


J 


HENRY  HUDSON 


HENRY    HUDSON'S    VOYAGE    AND    ITS    RESULTS 


111 


HUGH    A.    VAN    L1*NSCHOTEN. 


Company  had  returned  its  greatest  dividend  of  seventy-five  per  cent, 
in  1606,  and  other  large  percentages  in  the  two  succeeding  years. 
Men  possessed  of  the  personal  influence,  and  the  undoubted  cosmo- 
graphical  learning,  of  the  famous  clergyman  and  the  not  less  noted 
traveler  just  mentioned,  found  no 
difficulty  in  persuading  the  Am- 
sterdam Chamber  of  the  East  India 
Company  to  devote  a  compara- 
tively small  portion  of  their  enor- 
mous profits  to  sending  out  a  vessel 
in  search  of  the  long-sought  north- 
ern passage.  Perhaps  before  the 
year  1608  had  closed  Hudson  was 
in  Amsterdam,  for  personal  confer- 
ence with  the  Directors  upon  the 
subject  of  the  expedition.  The 
magnates  of  the  great  Company, 
however,  were  disposed  to  delay 
matters.  This  was  a  mere  specula- 
tive venture,  with  no  assured  com- 
mercial advantages  clearly  or  at 
least  immediately  within  sight.  They  desired  Hudson  to  postpone 
the  voyage  for  a  whole  year,  a  serious  objection  to  a  man  of  his  ardor 
and  energy.  But,  fortunately  for  the  enterprise,  an  astute  diplomat 
represented  one  of  France's  greatest  kings,  Henry  IV.,  as  ambassador 
in  Holland.  It  needed  but  a  hint  to  put  President  Jeannin  in  com- 
munication with  the  distinguished  English  navigator,  and  nothing  but 
the  promptness  of  the  Dutch  merchants  prevented  Captain  Hudson 
from  following  in  the  footsteps  of  Verrazano  in  the  interest  of  France. 
No  sooner  did  the  East  India  Directors  learn  of  the  French  negotia- 
tions than  at  once  they  came  to  terms  with  Hudson.  On  January  8, 
1609,  a  small  company  of  four  earnest  men  assembled  in  one  of  the 
rooms  of  the  East  India  Company's  buildings.  Two  of  them  were  a 
committee  with  power  to  enter  into  an  agreement  'with  Captain  Hud- 
son in  behalf  of  the  Company,  the  other  two  were  the  navigator  him- 
self and  his  friend  Jodocus  Hondius,  the  celebrated  cartographer, 
formerly  of  London,  but  now  of  Amsterdam,  who  was  present  at  this 
conference  in  the  capacity  of  interpreter  and  witness.  The  delegation 
of  this  important  work  to  a  committee  evinces  the  haste  which  it  now 
seemed  necessary  to  employ  in  order  to  anticipate  the  French  am- 
bassador, who  in  a  letter  dated  January  25th  was  compelled  to  inform 
his  sovereign  that  Hudson  was  no  longer  at  liberty  to  serve  him. 

In  the  Royal  Archives  at  The  Hague  is  preserved  a  manuscript 
history  of  the  East  India  Company,  written  by  the  counselor  P.  Van 


112 


HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 


Dam,  who  served  as  their  legal  adviser  from  1652  to  1706.  Attached 
to  this  document  is  a  copy  of  the  contract  between  Henry  Hudson  and 
the  Company,  which  the  committee  signed  on  their  behalf.1  From  it 
we  learn  that  the  Directors  bound  themselves  to  equip  a  vessel  of  sixty 
tons  burden  for  a  voyage  to  the  North,  around  the  northern  extremity 
of  Nova  Zembla,  to  continue  on  that  parallel  until  he  could  turn  to 
the  south  and  steer  for  India.  There  appears  to  be  no  provision  for 
the  exercise  of  his  judgment  in  case  he  failed  to  get  to  or  beyond 
Nova  Zembla,  so  that  it  would  seem  as  if  Van  Dam  rightly  charges 
Hudson  with  a  violation  of  his  instructions  when  he  directed  his 
course  to  the  northwest  before  reporting  his  previous  experiences  at 


EAST    INDIA    COMPANY    BUILDINGS,    AMSTERDAM. 

Amsterdam.2  For  this  voyage,  the  Directors  engaged  to  pay  Hudson 
"  as  well  for  his  outfit  as  for  the  support  of  his  wife  and  children  "  the 
sum  of  eight  hundred  florins  ($320),  and  "  in  case  he  do  not  come  back 
(which  Grod  prevent)  the  Directors  shall  further  pay  to  his  wife  two 
hundred  florins  ($80)  in  cash  "  ;  if  he  should  be  successful  in  his  quest, 
the  Directors  promised  to  reward  him  "  in  their  discretion." 3 

Nearly  three  months  intervened  between  the  signing  of  this  con- 
tract and  the  sailing  of  the  Half -Moon  from  Amsterdam.  Prepara- 
tions for  the  severe  experiences  to  be  expected  were  thus  made  under 
the  personal  direction  of  the  navigator  who  was  so  familiar  with 
them ;  but  the  appliances  of  those  times  could  at  best  but  ill  provide 

l  John  Meredith  Bead,  "  A  Historical  Inquiry  Concerning  Henry  Hudson,"  p.  150.     2  Henry  C.  Murphy, 
"Henry  Hudson  in  Holland,"  p.  35.     3  Murphy,  Ib.,  p.  39. 


HENRY    HUDSON'S    VOYAGE    AND    ITS    RESULTS  113 

against  the  inevitable  hardships,  as  compared  with  those  which  made 
possible  the  successful  accomplishment  of  this  same  passage  by  Nor- 
denskjold  in  our  own  day.  During  these  months  we  may  be  certain 
that  frequent  intercourse  took  place  between  the  English  captain,  the 
learned  Plancius,  and  the  veteran  navigator  Linschoten.  Hudson 
particularly  desired  to  be  furnished  with  maps  prepared  by  Plancius. 
And  thus  equipped,  and  stimulated  by  renewed  studies  and  profitable 
converse  with  kindred  minds,  Captain  Hudson  sailed  from  Amster- 
dam on  April  4th,  and  out  of  the  Zuyder  Zee,  through  the  channel 
between  Texel  and  North  Holland,  on  April  6,  1609.  Scarce  a  month 
later  the  northeast  journey  was  already  abandoned,  the  ice  prevent- 
ing him  from  reaching  Nova  Zembla.  Then,  Van  Meteren  tells  us, — 
who  died  in  1612,  and  whose  work  must  therefore  have  been  published 
less  than  three  years  after  Hudson's  voyage, —  then  Hudson  made  a 
proposition  to  his  crew  of  twenty  men  to  choose  between  two  alter- 
natives. The  one  was  to  proceed  westward,  and  seek  for  a  passage 
across  the  continent  of  America,  about  the  latitude  of  forty  degrees 
north,  "  induced  thereto  by  charts  which  a  certain  Captain  Smith  had 
sent  him  from  Virginia."  The  other  was  to  attempt  to  reach  India 
by  way  of  Davis'  strait  across  the  Pole  to  the  northwest.  The  crew 
selected  the  latter  course :  but  from  every  subsequent  detail  of  the 
voyage  it  is  evident  that  Hudson  deliberately  steered  in  the  former 
direction.  Or  it  may  be  that  a  severe  storm  disconcerted  his  move- 
ments ;  for  Van  Meteren  informs  us  that  in  latitude  44°  he  landed  on 
the  coast  of  New  France  in  order  to  replace  his  foremast  with  a  new 
one  cut  from  the  virgin  forest.1  From  this  point  he  kept  on  along 
our  coast  southward  until  he  came  upon  Cape  Cod,  discovered  by 
Gosnold  in  1602 ;  but  on  Hudson's  maps  it  had  been  wrongly  placed, 
we  are  told  by  De  Laet,  so  that  he  thought  this  was  undiscovered 
land  and  gave  it  the  name  of  New  Holland.  Standing  out  to  sea  to 
the  south  and  east  he  did  not  see  land  again  until  he  reached  the  vici- 
nity of  Chesapeake  Bay.  Thence  he  coasted  northward,  now 
evidently  bent  on  finding  the  passage  to  the  west  in  the  latitude 
of  40°.  Thus  he  entered  Delaware  Bay,  sighted  the  coast  of  New 
Jersey,  and  on  Wednesday,  September  2d,  1609,  at  five  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon,  the  Half-Moon  cast  her  anchor  in  a  "  great  lake  of 
water,  as  we  could  judge  it  to  be."  To  the  northward  were  seen  high 
hills,  "  a  very  good  land  to  fall  in  with,  and  a  pleasant  land  to  see." 
The  hills  were  the  Navesinks,  and  the  lake  was  the  Lower  Bay. 

For  about  ten  days  Hudson  remained  in  the  Lower  Bay,  shifting 
his  position  occasionally,  sending  out  boats  to  cautiously  sound  the 
broad  expanse  of  waters  and  ascertain  the  channel,  and  dealing  dis- 
trustfully with  the  savages  that  flocked  around  his  ship.  At  one 

1  Van  Meteren,  "  Oorlogen  der  Nederlanderen,"  10 :  203-206  (Ed.  1763). 
VOL.  I.— 8. 


114  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YOEK 

time  the  boat  was  sent  between  the  Narrows  to  explore  the  bay  be- 
yond ;  but  it  was  a  fatal  mission  resulting  in  the  death  of  Coleman, 
one  of  the  crew,  whether  by  accident  or  design,  shot  through  the 
throat  with  an  arrow.  At  last,  on  September  12th,  the  Half -Moon  was 
steered  into  the  opening  between  the  "  small  steep  hills  "  which  Ver- 
razano  had  described,  and  went  up  two  leagues,  which  if  it  were 
measured  exactly  from  the  Narrows  would  have  brought  her  about 
opposite  the  Battery.  And  now  begins  the  oft-told  and  familiar  story 
of  Hudson's  ascent  and  descent  of  the  river  that  immortalizes  his 
name  and  commemorates  his  exploit.  We  can  do  no  better  therefore 
than  to  follow  diligently  and  closely  the  log-book  of  his  English 
mate,  Robert  Juet,  which  has  the  charm  of  quaintness  and  the  ad- 
vantage of  being  written  by  an  eyewitness  on  the  very  spot  where 
these  first  impressions  of  our  noble  river  were  received. 

Drifting  with  the  tide  as  it  went  up  the  river,  and  anchoring  when 
it  ebbed,  the  next  day  eleven  and  a  half  miles  were  gained,  and  anchor 
was  cast  not  far  above  Spuyten  Duyvil  Creek.  Thence  a  "  high  point 
of  land  "  was  seen,  "  which  shewed  out  to  us  bearing  north  by  east  five 
leagues  off  us  " ;  and  the  Hook  Mountain,  which  towers  over  the  vil- 
lage of  Nyack,  may  thereby  be  identified.1  On  the  14th  of  September, 
a  favorable  wind  was  first  obtained,  and  it  carried  the  Half-Moon 
thirty-six  miles  up  stream,  past  the  beetling  walls  of  the  Palisades, 
and  to  the  very  portals  of  the  Highlands.  "The  land  grew  very 
high  and  mountainous."  Twenty  leagues  more  were  made  on  the  15th, 
and  these  sixty  miles  would  have  carried  the  explorers  through  the 
Highlands  and  within  view  of  the  Catskills,  with  their  long  and  undu- 
lating line  far  above  any  of  the  hills  or  highlands  upon  which  they 
had  hitherto  looked.  "Passing  by  high  mountains"  is  the  brief 
record  in  the  matter-of-fact  log-book,  the  writer  being  evidently  more 
intent  upon  the  replenishing  of  the  ship's  stores  by  contributions  of 
"  Indian  corn  and  pompions  "  on  the  part  of  the  friendly  natives,  and 
by  means  of  the  abundance  of  fish  to  be  caught  in  the  river.  Six 
miles  more  were  gained  during  the  ensuing  night,  but  then  follows  a 
series  of  groundings  on  the  unexpected  sand-banks,  or  mud-flats. 
Eighteen  miles  higher  up  the  river  might  have  brought  them  about 
opposite  the  location  of  Hudson  City,  where  certainly  there  are  "shoals 
in  the  middle  of  the  river  and  small  islands,  but  seven  fathoms  water 
on  both  sides."  "  Eiding  still "  all  day  of  the  18th  a  visit  was  made  on 
land  in  the  afternoon  by  "  our  master's  mate,"  says  Juet ;  but  De  Laet 
quotes  Hudson's  own  journal,  and  this  represents  the  navigator 
himself  as  going  on  shore.  There  he  saw  the  habitation  of  an  old 

i  It  is  interesting  to  note  that,  from  the  fact  that  rietig  Hoek,"  or  Tedious  Hook,  as  in  case  of  an 

it  could  be  seen  from  such  a  great  distance  down  unfavorable  or  light  wind  they  had  it  in  view  for 

the  river   (five  leagues  or  fifteen  miles  as  Juet  a  long  and  wearisome  period. 
writes),  the  Dutch  sailors  used  to  call  it  "Verd- 


HENEY    HUDSON'S    VOYAGE    AND    ITS    RESULTS  115 

chief,  a  circular  house  with  an  arched  roof  and  covered  with  bark. 
He  was  especially  impressed  with  the  profusion  of  vegetable  products 
lying  about  the  house,  and  as  a  result  exclaims  that  this  was  "the 
finest  land  for  cultivation  that  he  ever  in  his  life  trod  upon."  A  feast 
was  prepared  in  his  honor,  consisting  of  freshly  killed  pigeons  and  a 
fat  dog ;  but  he  forbears  to  mention,  or  at  least  De  Laet  omits  to  do 
so,  whether  he  partook  of  the  latter  delicacy.  On  September  the  19th, 
with  fair  and  hot  weather,  a  run  of  two  leagues  was  made ;  and  now 
beavers'  and  otters'  skins,  obtained  for  a  trifle,  began  to  indicate 
a  source  of  profitable  trade, 
which  was  not  lost  upon  the 
Dutch  commercial  public  when 
the  account  of  this  voyage 
reached  the  mother-country. 
On  the  20th  the  precaution  . 
was  taken  to  send  the  boat  up 
ahead  of  the  vessel  in  order  to 
sound  the  depth,  and  the  Half- 
Moon  rode  at  anchor  all  day 
and  night.  The  next  day  (the 

21st)  was  again  a  memorable  one:  no  progress  was  made,  but  "our  mas- 
ter and  his  mate  determined  to  try  some  of  the  chief  men  of  the  country, 
whether  they  had  any  treachery  in  them."  It  must  be  admitted  that 
Hudson  resorted  to  a  questionable  experiment.  The  savage  chiefs  were 
taken  into  the  cabin  and  treated  to  an  abundance  of  "  wine  and  aqua- 
vitae,"  so  that  in  the  end  "one  of  them  was  drunk,  and  that  was  strange 
to  them ;  for  they  could  not  tell  how  to  take  it."  On  the  22d  of  Sep- 
tember the  boat  had  gone  up  nearly  twenty-seven  miles  beyond  the 
present  anchorage  of  the  Half -Moon,  and  now  the  disappointing  con- 
clusion was  forced  upon  the  ship's  company  that  their  dream  of  a 
Northwest  passage  must  be  abandoned.  There  were  but  seven  feet  of 
water  at  that  distance,  and  the  river  ever  growing  narrower  and  more 
shallow.  Hitherto  there  had  been  nothing  to  discourage  the  belief 
that  the  river  they  were  on  might  be  a  strait  like  Magellan's  at  the 
southern  extremity  of  the  Hemisphere.  For  long  stretches  that  strait 
drew  its  banks  together  to  within  even  a  smaller  distance  than  that 
which  separated  the  shores  of  this  great  River  of  the  Mountains.  But 
the  report  now  brought  by  the  master's  mate  was  fatal  to  their  hopes. 
This  was  a  river,  and  not  a  strait ;  they  had  reached  the  head  of  navi- 
gation, "  and  found  it  to  be  at  an  end  for  shipping  to  go  in."  Accord- 
ingly on  the  23d  the  anchor  was  weighed  and  the  descent  of  the  river 
was  begun.  In  two  days  the  Half-Moon  had  gone  some  thirty  miles, 
and  on  the  24th  "we  went  on  land,"  says  the  mate,  "and  gathered  good 
store  of  chestnuts."  The  monotony  of  the  progress  by  water  was 


116 


HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 


EMANUEL   VAN    METEREN. 


diversified  on  the  25th  by  a  brisk  walk  along  the  west  shore,  which 
resulted  in  a  minute  observation  of  the  excellency  of  the  soil,  the  abun- 
dance of  slate  rock  in  that  vicinity  and  of  other  good  stone,  and  with 
especial  delight  were  noticed  the  "  great  store  of  goodly  oaks,  and 
walnut  trees,  and  chestnut  trees,  yew  trees,  and  trees  of  sweet  wood." 
The  next  day,  the  wind  being  contrary  though  the  weather  was  fine, 

the  opportunity  was  seized  to  place  on 
the  ship  a  quantity  of  logs  as  speci- 
mens of  the  richness  of  this  country 
in  timber  for  ship-building  purposes. 
A  pleasant  visit  from  old  chiefs  for- 
merly met  was  made  to  the  ship,  and 
Hudson  returned  their  courtesy  by 
causing  them  to  dine  with  him.  On 
the  27th  of  September  a  strong  wind 
from  the  north  would  have  sent  them 
far  down  the  river  if  they  had  not 
struck  upon  a  muddy  bank ;  only 
about  six  leagues  were  thus  made, 
and  they  may  by  this  time  have  come 
within  a  few  miles  of  Fishkill  and  New- 
burgh.  Fifteen  miles  more  brought 
them  to  the  entrance  of  the  Highlands  from  the  north  on  the  28th.  And 
here  Hudson  remained  stationary  for  about  two  days :  "  Storm  King  " 
and  "  Breakneck  "  loomed  up  high  and  forbidding  like  two  grim  senti- 
nels, and  the  cautious  pilot  would  not  venture  among  the  treacherous 
mountains  while  the  wind  blew  strong,  "  because  the  high  land  hath 
many  points  and  a  narrow  channel,  and  hath  many  eddy  winds."  On  the 
29th  and  30th,  accordingly,  they  lay  at  anchor  in  Newburgh  Bay  with 
"the  wind  at  southeast,  a  stiff  gale  between  the  mountains."  Looking 
intently  at  either  shore  they  came  to  the  conclusion  that  this  was  "  a  very 
pleasant  place  to  build  a  town  on";  and  surely  their  prescience  has  been 
justified  by  the  event,  as  the  sight  of  Newburgh  and  Fishkill  abundantly 
testifies.  The  1st  of  October  was  an  eventful  day.  The  wind  changed, 
and  in  one  uninterrupted  run  of  twenty-one  miles  they  cleared  the 
troublesome  channel  of  the  Highlands  and  left  the  mountains  behind 
them.  But  in  other  respects  the  adventurers  were  less  fortunate.  An 
Indian  was  caught  stealing;  "he  got  up  by  our  rudder  to  the  cabin  win- 
dow, and  stole  out  my  pillow,"  said  Juet,  "  and  two  shirts  and  two  ban- 
doleers. Our  master's  mate  shot  at  him  and  struck  him  on  the  breast 
and  killed  him."  Then  the  ship's  boat  was  manned  and  sent  to  recover 
the  stolen  goods;  the  Indians  swam  out  to  it,  and  one  trying  to  upset 
it,  "  the  cook  took  a  sword  and  cut  off  one  of  his  hands,  and  he  was 
drowned."  Thus  two  lives  had  been  sacrificed  that  day,  and  trouble 


HENRY    HUDSON'S    VOYAGE    AND    ITS    RESULTS  117 

with  the  revengeful  natives  was  sure  to  follow.  The  very  next  day  it 
came.  Seven  leagues  further  down  the  strong  incoming  tide  and  a  light 
wind  compelled  them  to  anchor.  There  a  savage  whom  they  had  kid- 
napped on  their  upward  journey,  but  who  had  escaped,  lay  in  wait  to 
have  his  revenge.  An  attack  was  made  on  the  ship's  company  with 
bows  and  arrows,  which  fell  harmless  on  the  deck.  But  a  discharge  of 
six  muskets  slew  two  or  three  of  the  natives.  "  Then  above  a  hundred 
of  them  came  to  a  point  of  land  to  shoot  at  us.  There  I  shot  a  falcon 
at  them,  and  killed  two  of  them,  whereupon  the  rest  fled  into  the 
woods."  The  savages,  still  persisting  in  the  attack,  manned  a  canoe;  at 
which  Juet  leveled  another  falcon,  or  small  cannon,  shooting  through 
the  canoe,  which  sank  with  the  Indians,  and  as  they  struggled  in  the 
water  a  second  discharge  of  muskets  killed  several  more.  Another 
six  miles  and  they  came  to  anchor  off  "  a  cliff  that  looked  of  the 
color  of  white  green  " ;  and  thereby  we  kno.w  that  they  were  nearly 
opposite  the  Elysian  Fields  of  Hoboken,  which  Juet  assures  us  "  is 
on  that  side  of  the  river  that  is  called  Mannahata."  October  3d  was 
a  stormy  day,  which  gave  them  much  trouble  with  their  anchorage. 
Still  the  shelter  of  the  Upper  Bay  was  enjoyed  by  them  and  no  harm 
came  of  it.  On  October  4th,  the  weather  being  fair  and  the  wind 
favorable,  the  Half -Moon  sailed  out  from  between  the  headlands  of  the 
Narrows,  the  first  vessel  to  leave  the  port  of  New- York  direct  for 
Europe.  She  stood  straight  across  the  ocean,  discarding  the  ordi- 
nary course  by  way  of  the  West  Indies  and  the  Canaries.  Indeed  in 
the  opinion  of  some  of  her  officers  her  mission  was  by  no  means 
accomplished,  and  she  ought  even  now  to  be  steered  for  the  northwest 
and  through  Davis'  Strait  to  India.  The  underskipper,  who  was  a 
Dutchman,  Van  Meteren  tells  us,  was  for  spending  the  winter  at 
Terra  Nova,  or  Newfoundland,  and  continuing  the  business  of  Arctic 
exploration  the  next  season.1  But  Hudson  knew  the  temper  of  his 
motley  crew,  and  feared  a  mutiny  unless  a  move  were  made  toward 
home.  Hence,  as  Juet  concludes,  "  We  continued  our  course  toward 
England  without  seeing  any  land  by  the  way,  all  the  rest  of  this 
month  of  October";  and  on  the  7th  of  November,  1609,  the  Half- 
Moon  arrived  safely  at  Dartmouth.2 

The  English  authorities  no  sooner  ascertained  whence  the  Half- 
Moon,  a  Dutch  ship  with  an  English  captain,  had  come,  than  they 
detained  both  ship  and  captain.  Eventually  Hudson  was  permitted 
to  send  his  reports  to  the  Directors  of  the  East  India  Company,  and 
the  Half-Moon  reached  Amsterdam  in  July,  1610 ;  but  it  is  very  un- 
certain whether  Hudson  was  permitted  to  proceed  thither.  The  fol- 
lowing year,  in  June,  1611,  he  ended  a  life  of  heroic  adventure  amid 

1  Van  Meteren,  Oorl.  d.  Nederl.,  10 :  205. 
2  Purchas,  "  His  Pilgrims  and  their  Pilgrimages,"  3 :  ch's  14,  15,  16. 


118  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

the  very  regions  that  had  tempted  him  so  often  to  bold  endeavors. 
The  manner  of  his  death  was  cruel  in  the  extreme,  sent  adrift  by  his 
mutinous  crew  amid  icefields  in  an  open  boat ;  yet  it  was  not  an  in- 
appropriate close  to  a  career  such  as  his,  and  in  this  respect  resembled 
that  of  the  Dutch  Arctic  traveler,  William  Barents,  whose  exploits 
had  no  doubt  helped  to  fire  Hudson's  ambition.1 

The  Dutch  East  India  Company  had  sent  Henry  Hudson  to  the 
northeast,  or  northwest,  to  seek  in  either  direction  a  way  to  China  and 
the  East  Indies  by  sailing  through  Arctic  seas.  When  it  was  reported 
by  him  that,  failing  in  this,  he  had  discovered  unknown  regions,  or  at 
least  explored  regions  but  little  known  before,  on  the  continent  of 
North  America — the  Company  was  prohibited  by  the  express  terms 
of  its  charter  from  utilizing  such  discoveries.  Its  field  of  operation 
was  clearly  defined  to  lie  in  seas  east  of  Cape  of  Good  Hope  around 
which  Vasco  da  Gam  a  had  first  sailed  to  India,  and  west  of  the 
Straits  of  Magellan.  The  coasts  and  countries  bordering  on  the 
Atlantic  were  not  to  be  visited  for  purposes  of  trade  by  its  vessels. 

But  Hudson's  report  was  not  lost  upon  other  portions  of  the  com- 
mercial world  centered  at  Amsterdam ;  nor  were  the  Directors  of  the 
Company  in  their  private  capacity  debarred  from  engaging  in  mer- 
cantile enterprises  beyond  the  limits  indicated  by  the  charter.  The 
papers  forwarded  by  Hudson  from  England  to  his  employers  at  length 
reached  Amsterdam  in  the  spring  of  1610,  while  the  Half-Moon  did 
not  return  until  July.  But  at  that  time  a  number  of  merchants,  hav- 
ing associated  together,2  were  already  prepared  to  send  a  vessel  back 
to  the  parts  whence  she  had  come.  A  portion  of  her  crew  were  at 
once  induced  to  enlist  in  this  new  enterprise,  and  Hudson's  Dutch 
mate  was  made  captain  or  master  of  this  vessel.3 

The  chief  consideration  which  led  to  these  earliest  voyages  to  the 
shores  of  the  Hudson  River  was  the  establishment  of  a  profitable  trade 
in  furs.  This  constituted  by  far  the  greatest  proportion  of  the  very 
extensive  trade  with  the  Muscovy  States,  or  Archangel  in  Russia. 
But  this  valuable  staple,  for  which  the  climate  of  Holland  assured  a 
ready  sale,  had  to  be  purchased  at  Archangel  in  competition  with 
other  merchants  as  in  any  other  civilized  market.  In  the  New  World, 
it  was  ascertained,  there  was  an  inexhaustible  supply  of  the  same 
article,  equal  in  quality,  and  obtainable  by  the  inexpensive  expedient 
of  barter  with  natives  in  whose  eyes  cheap  and  bright  utensils  were 
much  more  desirable  than  the  gold  of  European  currencies.  When 

l  In  regard  to  the  subsequent  fate  of  the  Half-  while  the  remark  "wrecked  on  the  island  of  Mau- 

Moon,  we  are  told  by  Brodhead("  History  of  New-  ritius"  appears  opposite  a  companion  ship,  that 

York,"  1 :  24,  43,  notes)  that  she  was  shipwrecked  opposite  the  Half-Moon  is,  "not  heard  from." 

on  the  Island  of  Mauritius  in  1615;  which  infor-  2  Van  Kampen,  "  Nederlanders  buiten  Europa," 

ination  he  derives  from  the  East  India  Company's  1:  331;    De   Laet,  "Nieuwe  Wereldt"   (Leyden, 

"  Ship-book."  But  Mr.  Murphy  (Henry  Hudson  in  1625),  Bk.  3:  ch.  7:  84. 

Holland,  p.  57)  gives  the  entry  of  this  book,  and  3  Brodhead's  New- York,  1 :  44. 


HENRY    HUDSON'S    VOYAGE    AND    ITS    RESULTS 


119 


the  sailors  who  had  first  come  out  in  the  Half-Moon  saw  their  Indian 
friends  for  the  second  time,  their  persons  were  adorned  with  ax-heads 
and  shovel-blades,  given  in  payment  for  furs.  Such  articles,  whether 
prized  by  the  Indians  for  use  or  ornament,  would  inevitably  assure  a 
profitable  return  upon  the  beaver  and  other  skins  obtained  for  them.1 

There  is  little  doubt  that  the  vessel  despatched  in  1610  returned 
with  a  cargo  that  realized  a  satisfactory  profit  for  her  owners,  thus 
confirming  the  previous  accounts  of  the  country.  At  any  rate,  in 
February,  1611,  two  vessels  are  reported  by  the  Admiralty  Court,  sit- 
ting at  Amsterdam,  to  the  States- General  as  being  very  nearly  ready 
to  sail.  The  destination  avowed  was  China,  via  the  North  Pole,  and 
the  States-General  were  urged  to  prepare  letters,  and  address  them  to 
the  potentates  and  powers  of  whatever  barbarous  countries  might  be 
encountered,2  in  the  over-confident  expectation  that  the  passage  to 
China  would  surely  be  accom- 
plished. The  two  ships,  named 
the  Little  Fox  and  the  Little 
Crane,  went  straight  to  the  north 
till  they  were  opposed  by  im- 
penetrable fields  of  ice.  Then  the 
course  was  changed  to  the  east- 
ward, and  the  winter  was  spent 
in  Norway.  Mindful  of  the  offer 
of  a  reward  of  twenty-five  thou- 
sand florins  ($10,000)  by  the  States- 
General,  it  was  feared  that  the 
return  to  Holland  would  be  re- 
garded as  an  abandonment  of  the 
enterprise.  Hence  they  remained 
upon  the  Norwegian  coast,  intend- 
ing with  the  opening  of  the  spring 
to  attempt  to  penetrate  to  the  East 
Indies  in  the  opposite  direction 
through  Davis'  Strait  and  the  northwest.4  History  makes  no  further 
mention  of  this  venture,  nor  if,  at  any  stage  of  it,  they  touched  upon 
the  coasts  of  New  Netherland.  Perhaps  we  may  assume  that  they 
did,  since  the  official  record  of  the  expedition  is  embraced  among  the 
Holland  archives  under  the  head  of  the  West  India  affairs. 

Meanwhile  interest  in  the  regions  brought  to  notice  by  Hudson's 


1  Rev.  John  Hecklewelder,  in  "  New-York  His- 
torical Society  Collections,"  Second  Series.  1 :  73, 74. 

2  "  Documents  relating  to  Colonial  History  of 
New- York  ;  Holland  Documents,"  1 :  3,  4. 

3  Vasco  da  Gama,  the  Portuguese  explorer,  the 
result  of  whose  discoveries  was  second  only  to 
those  of  his  contemporary  Columbus,  and  which 


have  been  by  Camoens  "married  to  immortal 
verse,"  died  in  December,  1524,  in  Cochin,  soon 
after  his  arrival  there  as  the  governor  of  Portu- 
guese India.  EDITOR. 

4  Van  Meteren,  Oorl.  d.  Nederl.,  10 :  460,  461 ; 
Bk.  32. 


120  HISTORY     OF    NEW-YORK 

voyage  had  spread  to  other  cities  of  the  land  besides  Amsterdam. 
A  number  of  merchants  residing  at  Rotterdam,  Hoorn,  and  Enkhui- 
zen,  then  the  most  active  commercial  towns  next  to  the  metropolis, 
having  heard  something  concerning  a  new  navigable  river  and  coun- 
tries thereabout,  but  perhaps  designedly  kept  in  ignorance  as  to  its 
exact  location,  brought  pressure  to  bear  upon  the  magistrates  of  their 
respective  cities  to  demand  for  them,  from  either  the  Provincial  or 
the  General  Government,  precise  information  and  official  charts,  so 
that  they  too  might  despatch  vessels  thither.  A  similar  request  pro- 
ceeded from  certain  Amsterdam  merchants  also,  who  were  evidently 
not  admitted  to  the  privileged  circles  of  the  East  India  Company 
directors  and  their  friends,  and  who  were  thus  also  in  want  of  enlight- 
enment. Hence,  at  the  meeting  of  the  States  of  Holland  Province  on 
September  7,  1611,  a  demand  was  submitted  on  the  part  of  the  depu- 
ties from  those  four  cities,  asking  that  their  constituents  be  furnished 
with  the  data  in  question. 

Possessed  of  this  information,  some  of  the  five  ships  mentioned  by 
name  in  the  charter  of  1614  were  no  doubt  despatched  to  the  new 
quarter  early  in  the  year  1612.  Of  one  of  these  ships  Henry  Christi- 
aensen  was  captain,  master,  or  skipper,  as  the  commander  of  a  merchant 
vessel  was  then  variously  designated.  On  the  testimony  of  Wassenaer, 
living  at  that  time,  a  resident  of  Amsterdam,  and  thus  a  fellow-towns- 
man of  Christiaensen's,  the  latter  had  been  favorably  impressed  with 
the  country  about  the  mouth  of  the  Hudson,  after  but  a  brief  glance 
at  it.  Sailing  with  a  heavily  laden  ship  from  the  West  Indies  towards 
Holland,  he  approached  our  Lower  Bay,  but  he  dared  not  enter,  or 
anchor,  having  in  mind  the  fate  of  a  former  vessel  from  a  neighboring 
city  in  North-Holland,  which  had  stranded  here  and  had  been  wrecked. 
We  have  no  other  account  of  this  vessel,  or  of  the  errand  upon  which 
it  was  sent,  and  which  ended  so  disastrously ;  and  hence,  we  inciden- 
tally learn  that  unrecorded  voyages  must  have  been  made,  perhaps  in 
more  instances  than  this,  during  those  early  years  after  Hudson's. 
The  glimpse  which  Christiaensen  had  obtained  sufficed  to  kindle  within 
him  a  strong  desire  to  revisit  these  regions.  He  succeeded  in  awaken- 
ing a  similar  enthusiasm  on  the  part  of  his  friend  Adriaen  Block. 
The  two  at  first  chartered  a  vessel  together,  they  themselves  going 
with  it  to  America,  but  placing  her  in  command  of  a  Captain  Ryser,1 
which  appears  strange  when  we  reflect  that  both  of  them  were  com- 
petent sea-captains.  Without  definite  data  to  fix  the  exact  time  of 
this  voyage,  it  is  probable  that  it  took  place  in  the  year  1612 ;  when, 
perhaps,  one  or  two  others  of  the  five  ships  named  in  the  charter  of 
1614  may  also  have  been  despatched  in  pursuance  of  the  information 
gained  through  the  mediation  of  the  States  of  Holland  in  the  autumn 

1  Wassenaer,  "  Documentary  History,"  3 :  25  (4-to). 


HENRY    HUDSON'S    VOYAGE    AND    ITS    RESULTS 


121 


of  1611.  We  may  perhaps  even  specify  that  these  were  the  Nightin- 
gale under  Captain  Thys  Volkertsen,  of  Amsterdam,  and  the  Fortune, 
of  Hooru,  under  Captain  Cornelius  Jacobsen  Mey,  or  May ;  but  the 
time  of  these  earliest  undertakings  cannot  be  stated  with  certainty. 

Christiaensen  and  Block,  returning  in  their  chartered  ship,  brought 
with  them,  besides  a  cargo  of  peltries,  two  sons  of  chiefs,  to  whom 
were  given  the  names  of  Valentine  and  Orson.1  The  exhibition  of 
these  Indians  contribut- 
ed largely  towards  ex- 
citing an  interest  in 
America  throughout  the 
United  Provinces.  It  is 
at  least  abundantly  evi- 
dent that  the  two  friends 
themselves  were  satisfied 
with  the  result  of  their 
experiment  as  a  com- 
mercial venture,  for  each 
now  prepared  to  set  out 
once  more  in  command 
of  a  separate  vessel, — 
Christiaensen  of  the  For- 
tune (of  Amsterdam),  and 
Block  of  the  Tiger, — hav- 
ing also  enlisted  other 
"  adventurers  "  or  mer- 
chants to  share  in  the 
enterprise.  It  may  be 
supposed  that  these  two 
vessels  sailed  early  in 
1613.  As  the  result  of 
his  experiences  on  this 
trip  Christiaensen  came 
to  the  conclusion  that  instead  of  returning  to  Holland  when  the  peltry 
season  was  over,  it  would  be  more  advantageous  to  remain  in  America. 
[He  perceived  that  the  trade  in  furs  would  obviously  be  very  much 
advanced  if  a  somewhat  permanent  settlement  were  established  on 
.some  point  or  points  along  the  Great  River.  The  Indians  could 
thereby  become  accustomed  to  bringing  their  skins  to  a  fixed  locality 
as  a  market.  The  trade  would  thus  acquire  more  regularity,  and 


THE    HALF-MOON    LEAVING    AMSTERDAM. 2 


1  Wassenaer,  Doc.  Hist.,  3 :  25,  26  (4-to  ed.). 

2  The  illustration  in  the  text  indicates  the  spot 
whence  all  vessels  took  their  departure  for  long 
sea  voyages.     The  tower  was  called  "  Schreyers 
Toren,"  or  Weeper's  Tower,  because  here  leave 
was  taken  of  relatives   and  friends,  who   were 


usually  in  a  tearful  condition  as  the  ship  pro- 
ceeded on  her  way  out  of  the  harbor  into  the 
Zuyder  Zee.  It  is  unquestionably  at  this  point 
that  the  Half-Moon  cast  off  her  moorings  and  be- 
gan her  eventful  journey  in  1609. 


122  HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YOEK 

would  receive  greater  stimulus  by  interesting  a  larger  number  of 
tribes  stretching  over  a  more  extended  territory,  than  could  now  be 
reached  by  occasional  and  hurried  visits  to  places  chosen  at  random. 
Naturally  he  first  selected  as  the  most  appropriate  place  for  such  a 
market  the  island  of  Manhattan.  Several  rude  houses,  built  mainly 
of  boards,  and  roofed  with  great  strips  of  bark  peeled  from  the  trees 
around  them,  were  constructed  here  under  Christiaensen's  supervision ; 
and  historians  attempt  to  identify  the  very  spot.1  But  although  he 
provided  himself  with  a  place  of  abode  on  the  island,  Christiaensen  at 
the  same  time  diligently  explored  the  bays,  creeks,  and  inlets  of  the 
immediate  vicinity  in  every  direction  in  order  to  effect  negotiations 
with  the  natives. 

While  Christiaensen  was  thus  variously  employed,  and  while  per- 
haps his  comrade  Block  had  either  gone  back  to  Fatherland  or  was 
exploring  some  other  part  of  the  coast,  a  visit  of  startling  import 
was  made  to  Manhattan  Island  in  November,  1613,  when  an  armed 
and  strongly  manned  English  ship  sailed  up  into  the  Bay.  On 
beholding  the  trading-camp  in  the  midst  of  a  wilderness  the  English- 
men were  greatly  surprised ;  but  upon  finding  that  the  traders  were 
of  the  rival  nation  of  the  Dutch,  their  surprise  changed  into  wrath. 
On  the  basis  of  John  Cabot's  view  of  so  much  of  the  continent  of 
North  America  as  he  could  gain  from  the  deck  of  his  ship  in  1497,  the 
English  claimed  all  of  that  continent  north  of  Florida  as  their  own. 
The  commander  of  the  vessel  now  before  Christiaensen's  trading-post, 
Captain  Samuel  Argall,  had  just  been  engaged  in  an  exploit  which 
had  given  practical  effect  to  this  claim.  With  a  squadron  of  three 
armed  ships,  he  had  been  sent  from  Virginia  to  dislodge  the  French 
settlements  on  the  Bay  of  Fundy.  The  overwhelming  force  at  his 
command  secured  the  complete  success  of  this  undertaking,  and  on 
November  9,  1613,  the  ships  left  Nova  Scotia  on  their  return  voyage. 
A  storm  scattered  the  vessels :  one  foundered  in  mid-ocean  ;  a  second 
was  driven  to  the  Azores,  whence  it  returned  to  England ;  while  the 
third,  bearing  Captain  Argall  himself,  was  forced  to  seek  shelter  in 
our  bay.  If  the  French  could  not  be  tolerated  on  what  was  claimed 
as  English  territory,  neither  could  the  Dutch.  The  alternative  of 
destruction  or  tribute  being  placed  before  the  handful  of  traders,  the 
latter  was  naturally  chosen,  and  Argall  could  depart  with  the  satisfac- 
tion of  having  made  an  additional  conquest,  and  thereby  once  more 
vindicating  his  country's  title  to  this  portion  of  America.  But  the 

i  Moulton,  "  History  of  New- York,"  part  2 :  344,  could  not  be  obtained.  Miss  Mary  L.  Booth,  how- 
note,  says :  "On  the  site  of  the  Macomb  houses  in  ever,  evidently  must  have  discovered  the  location 
Broadway,  according  to  tradition  as  related  by  of  the  "  Macomb  houses,"  for  she  particularizes 
the  Rev.  John  N.  Abeel,  in  MSS.  of  the  New-York  the  matter  by  naming  as  the  site  No.  39  Broadway. 
Historical  Society."  Inquiry  was  made  at  the  ("History  of  the  City  of  New- York,"  p.  39.) 
library  of  the  Society,  but  a  view  of  the  Abeel  MS. 


HENRY    HUDSON'S    VOYAGE    AND    ITS    RESULTS  123 

people  be  had  to  deal  with  in  the  present  instance  were  not  so  easily 
turned  from  their  purposes  of  commercial  or  colonial  enterprise.1 

Undismayed  by  this  unpleasant  interruption,  arid  doubtless  feeling 
but  slightly  troubled  by  the  promise  of  tribute  just  made,  should  the 
English  return  to  collect  it,  Christiaensen  continued  trading  with  the 
Indians.  Taking  his  vessel,  the  Fortune,  he  went  up  the  river  to 
the  head  of  navigation.  Here,  above  the  site  of  Albany,  near  the 
junction  of  the  Mohawk  with  the  waters  of  the  larger  river,  was 
the  place  where  several  routes  of  Indian  trade  concentrated.  The 
Mohawk  Valley  formed  a  natural  highway  between  the  east  and 
west,  between  the  great  Lakes  and  the  Hudson  ;  and  down  from  the 
North,  along  Lake  Champlain  and  Lake  George,  and  the  course  of 
the  upper  Hudson  and  St.  Lawrence,  Indians  came  hither  from  points 
as  distant  as  Quebec.2  So  advantageous  did  this  place  appear  that 
when  the  winter  was  past  Christiaensen  immediately  proceeded  to 
erect  a  primitive  fort  in  this  vicinity.  He  selected  for  its  site  an 
island  in  the  middle  of  the  river,  a  little  nearer  the  west  bank  than 
the  eastern  one.  It  was  probably  not  much  more  than  a  stockade 
and  breastwork  surrounding  the  magazine  or  warehouse,  an  oblong 
building  thirty-six  feet  long  by  twenty-six  wide.  The  line  of  the 
palisades  or  breastworks  measured  fifty-eight  feet  within  the  fort,  but 
the  entire  structure,  including  a  moat  eighteen  feet  wide,  covered  a 
space  of  one  hundred  feet  square.3  Upon  this  first  stronghold  of  the 
Dutch  in  New  Netherland  was  bestowed  the  name  of  "Nassau,"  in 
honor  of  the  Stadholder  of  the  Eepublic,  Maurice,  Count  of  Nassau ; 
and  about  the  same  time  his  first  name  in  the  form  of  "  Mauritius  " 
was  given  to  the  Hudson  River,  hitherto  designated  as  the  River,  or 
the  Great  River,  of  the  Mountains,  or  sometimes  simply  as  the  Great 
River.  Two  cannon  and  eleven  swivel-guns  were  taken  from  the 
Fortune  and  mounted  upon  the  walls  of  Fort  Nassau,  and  ten  or 
twelve  men  were  detailed  to  garrison  it.  Having  completed  this  work 
Christiaensen  departed  to  rejoin  his  trading-post  on  Manhattan.  Not 
long  after  this  bold  navigator  and  intelligent  trader  was,  Wassenaer 

l  See  the  paper  on  Argall's  visit  in  N.  Y.  Hist.  paper  will  not  fail  to  leave  the  impression  that  it 

Soc.  Coll.,  Second  Series,  1 : 334-342,  by  George  Fol-  is  a  historic  fact.     He  dwells  much  on  contempor- 

som,  the  editor.  Some  historians,  Brodhead  among  ary  French  accounts  of  the  expedition   against 

others,    refuse  to    credit  this  story,   and    even  that  nation's  settlements.     If  it  were  fabricated  it 

call  it  a  fiction,  invented  in  support  of  the  Eng-  would  hardly  fit  in  so  well  with  the  dates  and  cir- 

lish  claim  to  New  Netherland.     But  it  is  no  in-  cumstances  there   detailed,     Moulton,  while  not 

justice  to  Mr.  Brodhead,   Mr.   Murphy,  or  Miss  quite  yielding  credence,  is  careful  to  relieve  the 

Booth,  to   suppose  that  their  prejudice  on  the  fears  of  those  who  imagine  that  the  title  of  the 

other  side,  in  favor  of  the  Dutch,  may  have  in-  Dutch    to  Manhattan  Island  was  imperiled  by 

fluenced  them   to   distrust  the  early  printed  ac-  Argall's  visit,  if  it  really  took  place, 

counts    which    make   us    acquainted    with    this  2  De  Laet,  Nieuwe  Wereldt,  Bk.  3 :  Ch.  9  :   88 

incident.      It   is,  indeed,  unfortunate    that  the  (Edition  of  1625,  Leyden). 

documentary  evidence  appealed  to  by  the  English  3  These  measurements  are  carefully  recorded 
writers  does  not  exist,  or  has  not,  as  yet,  been  dis-  on  the  Figurative  Map,  laid  before  the  States- 
covered.  Perhaps  we  may  regard  Mr.  Folsom  as  General  in  1614  or  1616.  Doc.  rel.  Col.  Hist.  N.  Y., 
an  impartial  witness :  a  careful  perusal  of  his  1 :  13. 


124 


HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 


tells  us,  killed  by  Orson,  one  of  the  two  Indians  whom  he  had  taken 
to  Holland.  We  are  not  informed  what  provoked  the  murder,  which 
was  avenged  on  the  spot  by  Christiaensen's  companions.  Jacob  Eel- 
kiris,  a  character  who  will  appear  more  than  once,  and  under  various 
lights,  in  the  subsequent  history  of  these  early  days,  was  placed  in 
command  of  Fort  Nassau  by  Christiaenseri  on  the  latter's  departure, 
and  remained  at  the  station  uninterruptedly  during  three  or  four 
years,  acquiring  much  facility  in  the  intercourse  with  the  natives.1 


THE   "  FIGURATIVE  "  .  MAP. 

A  serious  misfortune,  meanwhile,  had  befallen  Adriaen  Block, 
serving,  however,  rather  to  stimulate  than  to  discourage  the  energies 
of  himself  and  his  men.  While  Christiaensen  was  spending  the  win- 
ter with  his  ship  at  the  junction  of  the  Mohawk  and  Hudson,  Block's 
vessel,  the  Tiger,  lying  at  anchor  in  New- York  Bay,  accidentally 
caught  fire  and  was  totally  destroyed.  When  the  opening  of  spring 
(1614)  found  Christiaensen  erecting  a  fort  at  the  North,  it  heralded 

1  De  Laet,  Nieuwe  Wereldt,  3 :  7 :  88  ;  Doc.  rel.  Col.  His.  N.  Y.,  1 :  94. 


HENEY    HUDSON'S    VOYAGE    AND    ITS    EESULTS  125 

the  completion  by  Block  of  the  first  vessel  constructed  in  the  port  of 
New- York.  There  was,  indeed,  an  abundance  of  timber,  but  it  was 
not  in  condition  for  being  immediately  applied  to  ship-building, 
and  with  insufficient  and  imperfect  tools,  the  undertaking  must  have 
taxed  the  ingenuity  as  well  as  patience  of  captain  and  crew.  The 
result  of  the  labors  of  the  winter  and  early  spring  was  a  shapely  ship 
of  sixteen  tons  burden,  thirty-eight  feet  along  the  keel,  forty-four  and 
a  half  feet  over  all,  and  of  eleven  and  a  half  feet  beam.  To  this  little 
craft  was  given  the  name  of  "  Onrust "  or  Restless.1  Proving  as  rest- 
less as  his  new  vessel,  Block  could  not  idly  await  the  arrival  of  ships 
from  the  Fatherland,  but  at  once  set  out  on  a  voyage  of  exploration, 
for  which  the  Restless  was  well  adapted,  since  with  her  he  could  ven- 
ture into  waters  which  were  inaccessible  to  larger  vessels.  He  first 
pushed  boldly  through  the  hazardous  channel  which  we  now  call  Hell 
Gate ;  a  name  which  at  that  time  designated  the  entire  East  River. 
He  thus  made  his  way,  the  first  of  European  navigators,  into  the 
broad  expanse  of  Long  Island  Sound.2  He  coasted  along  its  northern 
shore ;  entered  the  inlet  of  New  Haven,  the  "  Rodenberg  "  or  Red  Hill 
of  the  Dutch ;  and  sailed  into  the  Connecticut,  which,  contrasting  it 
with  the  salt  and  brackish  water  of  the  Hudson  far  into  the  interior, 
he  called  the  Fresh  Water  River.  The  three-cornered  island  which 
Verrazano  had  seen  and  named,  Block  also  saw,  giving  it  his  own 
name,  which  is  the  only  appellation  of  his  bestowal  that  has  survived 
the  changes  of  years  and  the  supremacy  of  the  English  language. 
He  had  by  this  time  established  the  interesting  fact  that  the  long 
stretch  of  coast  running  almost  directly  east  from  the  mouth  of  the 
Hudson,  apparently  a  part  of  the  mainland,  was  in  reality  an  island. 
The  Restless  was  next  guided  into  Narragansett  Bay,  where  Verrazano 
had  spent  a  fortnight,  and  its  noble  proportions  induced  the  Dutch  to 
give  it  the  name  of  "  Nassau."  Block  passed  and  named  several 
islands,  doubled  Cape  Cod,  and  did  not  turn  his  vessel's  head  home- 
ward until  he  had  penetrated  as  far  as  Salem  Harbor,  then  called 
"  Pye  Bay."  On  the  return  to  Manhattan,  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Cape  Cod,3  he  fell  in  with  Christiaensen's  ship,  which  was  directing  its 
course  to  Holland,  probably  to  announce  the  news  of  its  master's  fate. 
It  was  commanded  by  one  Cornelius  Hendricksen,  or  Hendrick's  son, 
so  that  it  is  not  unlikely  that  he  was  the  son  of  Hendrick  Christiaeu- 
sen,  if  we  are  to  judge  from  the  prevailing  custom  of  family  names 
among  the  burgher  class  of  Holland  at  that  date.  Block  directed 

1  De  Laet,  Nieuwe  Wereldt,  3 :  10 :  89.  Ferdinando  Gorges,  and  English  historians,  with- 

2  In  1619  Captain  Thomas  Dermer  sailed  in  an  out  further  investigation,  at  once  asserted  that 
open  pinnace  from  New  England  to  Virginia,  and  he  was  the  discoverer  of  the  Sound.     See  Captain 
passed  through  the  Sound  from  the  opposite  di-  Dermer's  Letter  to  Gorges,  and  note  on  same,  in 
rection.     He   was  whirled  swiftly  through   Hell  N.  Y.  Hist.  Soc.  Colls.,  Second  Series,  1:343-354. 
Gate,  to  his  great  alarm,  but  without  accident.  3  De  Laet,  Nieuwe  Wereldt,  3 :  9 :  90. 

He  wrote  an  account  of  his  experience  to  Sir 


126  HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YORK 

Hendricksen  to  take  charge  of  the  Restless,  and  to  continue  in  her 
the  series  of  discoveries  which  he  had  begun.  He  himself  embarked 
in  the  Fortune,  and  kept  her  on  her  course  to  Amsterdam,  to  report 
the  results  of  his  adventures.  Before  following  him  thither,  to  note 
the  consequences  of  this  report,  a  few  words  will  suffice  to  indicate 
his  subsequent  career.  He  does  not  seem  to  have  ever  re-visited  the 
regions  which  he  so  industriously  explored.  He  entered  the  service 
of  the  great  "  Northern  Company,"  the  Holland  (provincial)  branch  of 
which  was  chartered  in  1614,  and  which  was  erected  upon  a  national 
basis  in  1622.  In  December,  1624,  he  was  promoted  to  the  command 
of  an  entire  fleet  of  whaling  ships  ;  but  history  makes  no  further  men- 
tion of  him.1 

Besides  his  own  explorations  Block  had  also  in  charge  to  report 
those  made  by  Captain  May,  in  the  ship  Fortune,  of  Hoorn.  The 
latter  had  been  partly  over  the  same  ground,  for  his  testimony  is 
appealed  to  later  in  regard  to  the  clayey  appearance  of  the  soil  of 
Martha's  Vineyard,  called  "Texel"  by  the  Dutch.  But  May  had 
been  busy  on  the  south  coast  of  Long  Island  while  Block  was  in  the 
Sound  north  of  it,  for  on  his  authority  its  length  is  given  by  the  histo- 
rian De  Laet  as  being  twenty-five  (Dutch)  miles  from  Montauk  Point, 
or  "  Visscher's  Hoek,"  to  the  Bay  of  New- York.2 

Fortified  with  these  facts,  and,  it  is  more  than  likely,  aided  by  what 
is  known  as  the  Figurative  Map,  Adriaen  Block  appeared  before  the 
authorities  at  The  Hague.  In  March  of  this  very  year,  1614,  the 
States-General  had  published  a  decree  than  which  nothing  could 
have  been  better  calculated  to  stimulate  enterprise,  or  to  advance  the 
cause  of  geographical  discovery,  in  an  age  when  such  discovery  was 
not  merely  a  noble  ambition,  but  had  become  a  veritable  passion.  It 
was  in  the  form  of  a  "General  Charter  for  those  who  discover  New 
Passages,  Havens,  Countries,  or  Places."  Thus  it  was  a  charter  in 
blank,  so  to  speak,  to  be  filled  in  with  the  names  of  the  most  success- 
ful adventurers  on  the  one  hand,  and,  on  the  other,  with  the  names 
of  the  regions  which  they  should  bring  to  the  knowledge  of  mankind. 
The  reward  was  to  be  a  monopoly  of  trade  to  such  countries,  but  only 
to  the  extent  of  making  four  voyages  thither.  A  final  proviso  was  that 
within  fourteen  days  after  the  return  from  the  original  exploring  voy- 
age, a  report  of  the  same,  with  careful  details  of  the  work  accomplished, 
should  be  made  to  the  States-General.3  There  are  no  means  of  ascer- 
taining the  date  on  which  Block  arrived  in  Holland.  The  Restless 
could  not  have  been  ready  for  launching  till  part  of  the  spring  had 
elapsed,  and  the  minute  exploration  of  every  prominent  feature  that 

1  Brodhead's  "  Memoir,"  N.  Y.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.,         3  Wagenaar,  "  Vaderlandsche  Historic,"  10 :  69  ; 
Second  Series,  2 :  358.  Doc.  rel.  Col.  Hist.  N.  Y.,  1 :  5. 

2  De  Laet,  Nieuwe  Wereldt,  3:8:85  and  9 :  90. 


HENRY    HUDSON'S    VOYAGE    AND    ITS    RESULTS  127 

offered  itself  along  some  hundreds  of  miles  of  coast-line  must  have 
consumed  months  at  least.  Add  to  this  the  return  trip  across  the 
Atlantic  in  the  Fortune,  which  was  not  a  matter  of  a  few  weeks  or 
days  then  as  now,  and  our  calculations  will  bring  us  to  about  Octo- 
ber 1st.  He  doubtless  hastened  to  The  Hague  with  his  report  before 
the  required  fortnight  had  passed ;  and  on  October  llth,  he  arrived 
there.  For  there  was  good  reason  for  promptness  aside  from  the 
limit  set  in  the  charter.  On  the  18th  of  July,  a  number  of  merchants, 
severally  located  in  no  less  than  six  of  the  principal  cities  of  the  Prov- 
ince of  Holland,  appeared  before  the  Provincial "  States,"  or  Legislature. 
They  sought  to  obtain  the  indorsement  of  that  influential  body  to  a 
petition  for  a  charter  from  the  States-General  for  exclusive  trade  to 
Africa  and  America.  Probably  they  had  in  mind  the  promised  char- 
ter of  the  preceding  March,  and  they  may  have  urged  the  recent 
discovery  of  Hudson  as  sufficiently  meeting  the  conditions  of  that 
document ;  the  more  so  as  that  discovery,  while  it  had  been  followed  by 
a  number  of  ventures  on  the  part  of  a  few  individuals,  had  not  been 
made  the  basis  for  the  organization  of  any  very  general  association 
of  merchants  throughout  the  country. 

Adriaen  Block,  however,  had  something  better  to  put  forward  than 
Hudson's  exploit  of  1609  as  a  claim  for  a  charter  for  himself  and  the 
merchants  he  represented.  On  Saturday,  October  11,  1614,  in  com- 
pany with  some  or  all  of  the  captains  or  ship-owners  whose  names 
appear  in  the  subsequent  charter,  he  presented  himself  before  the 
Assembly  of  the  States-General.  It  was  no  imposing  gathering  so 
far  as  numbers  went,  only  twelve  deputies  being  present,  including 
the  illustrious  John  of  Barneveld.  For  such  a  limited  company  the 
small  hall  of  the  States-General  described  in  a  previous  chapter  was 
amply  sufficient.  Standing  by  the  side  of  the  President  on  the  raised 
dais  near  the  three  windows  opening  upon  the  Binnenhof,  we  may 
imagine  Block  explaining  with  the  aid  of  the  Figurative  Map,  spread 
out  upon  the  "  Greffier's,"  or  Secretary's  table,  the  course  of  the  Rest- 
less through  Hell  Gate  into  the  Long  Island  Sound.  Here  certainly 
was  a  "  new  passage,"  an  addition  to  the  discovery  of  Henry  Hudson. 
Block's  arguments  carried  conviction  with  them  ;  for  new  discoveries 
had  indisputably  been  made  by  him.  The  latest  maps  then  known, 
even  the  map  of  1610  prepared  expressly  for  King  James,  and  only 
recently  brought  to  public  notice,1  gave  the  coast-line  along  the  Long 
Island  shore  without  a  hint  of  its  separation  from  the  main.  A  reso- 
lution was  therefore  at  once  adopted  to  grant  a  charter  to  the  asso- 
ciation of  merchants  for  whom  Block  had  spoken,  and  the  document 
itself  was  issued,  signed,  and  sealed  on  that  same  day,  October  11, 

1  See  Alexander  Brown's  "  Genesis  of  the  United  States,"  1 : 457-461 ;  also  above,  Chapter  1. 


128  HISTORY    OF    NEW- YORK 

1614.  It  is  of  peculiar  interest  because  it  first  officially  gave  the  name 
of  New  Netherland  to  this  portion  of  the  Republic,  and  a  fac-simile  of 
it  seemed  worthy  of  a  place  in  this  history  of  our  city.  For  the  same 
reason  we  insert  the  translation  of  it  here.1 

• 

"  The  States- General  of  the  United  Netherlands  to  all  to  whom  these  presents  shall 
come,  Greeting.  Whereas,  Gerrit  Jacobz  Witssen,  ex-Burgomaster  of  the  city  of 
Amsterdam ;  Jonas  Witssen,  Simon  Morissen,  owners  of  the  ship  called  the  Little  Fox, 
whereof  Jan  de  With  was  skipper ;  Hans  Hongers,  Paulus  Pelgrom,  Lambrecht  van 
Tweenhuyzen,  owners  of  the  two  ships  called  the  Tiger  and  the  Fortune,  whereof 
Adriaen  Block  and  Henrick  Cristiaensen  2  were  skippers ;  Arnolt  van  Lybergen, 
Wessel  Schenck,  Hans  Claessen,  and  Berent  Sweertssen,  owners  of  the  ship  called  the 
Nightingale,  whereof  Thys  Volckertsen  was  skipper,  merchants  of  the  aforesaid  city 
of  Amsterdam ;  and  Peter  Clementsen  Brouwer,  John  Clementsen  Kies,  and  Cornells 
Volckertsen,  merchants  of  the  city  of  Hoorn,  owners  of  the  ship  called  the  Fortune, 
whereof  Cornelius  Jacobsen  May  was  skipper,  all  now  united  into  one  company,  have 
respectfully  represented  to  us,  that  they,  the  petitioners,  after  great  expenses  and 
damages  by  loss  of  ships  and  more  such  perils,  have  this  present  current  year  dis- 
covered and  found  with  aforesaid  five  ships  certain  new  lands  situated  in  America, 
between  New  France  and  Virginia,  the  sea-coasts  of  which  lie  between  forty  and 
forty-five  degrees  north  latitude,  and  now  called  New  Netherland.  And  whereas,  we 
did  in  the  month  of  March  last,  for  the  promotion  and  increase  of  commerce,  cause  to 
be  published  a  certain  general  consent  and  charter  setting  forth,  that  whosoever 
should  thereafter  discover  new  havens,  lands,  places,  or  passages  might  traffic  or 
cause  to  traffic,  to  the  extent  of  four  voyages,  with  such  newly  discovered  and  found 
places,  passages,  havens,  or  lands,  to  the  exclusion  of  all  others  trafficking  or  visiting 
the  same  from  the  United  Netherlands,  until  the  said  first  discoverers  and  finders  shall 
have  themselves  completed  the  said  four  voyages,  or  cause  the  same  to  be  done  within 
the  time  prescribed  for  that  purpose,  under  the  penalties  prescribed  in  the  said  char- 
ter, they  request  that  we  would  accord  to  them  due  Act  of  the  aforesaid  charter  in  the 
usual  form  :  Which  being  considered,  we,  therefore,  in  our  assembly  having  heard  the 
report  of  the  petitioners  appertaining  hereto,  relative  to  the  discoveries  and  finding  of 
the  said  new  countries  between  the  above-named  limits  and  degrees,  and  also  of  their 
adventures,  have  consented  and  granted,  and  by  these  presents  do  consent  and  grant, 
to  the  said  petitioners  now  united  into  one  company,  that  they  shall  be  privileged  ex- 
clusively to  traffic,  or  caused  to  be  trafficked,  with  the  above  newly  discovered  lands, 
situate  in  America  between  New  France  and  Virginia,  whereof  the  sea-coasts  lie 
between  the  fortieth  and  forty-fifth  degrees  of  north  latitude,  now  named  New  Nether- 
land, as  can  be  seen  by  a  Figurative  Map  hereunto  annexed,  and  that  for  four  voyages 
within  the  term  of  three  years,  beginning  the  first  of  January,  sixteen  hundred  and 
fifteen  following,  or  earlier,  without  it  being  permitted  to  any  other  person  from  the 
United  Netherlands  to  sail  to,  navigate,  or  traffic  with  the  said  newly  discovered  lands, 
havens,  or  places,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  within  the  said  three  years,  on  pain  of 
confiscation  of  the  vessel  and  cargo  wherewith  infraction  hereof  shall  be  attempted, 
and  a  fine  of  fifty  thousand  Netherland  ducats  for  the  benefit  of  said  discoverers  or 
finders ;  provided,  nevertheless,  that  by  these  presents  we  do  not  intend  to  prejudice  or 
diminish  any  of  our  former  grants  or  charters ;  and  it  is  also  our  intention  that  if  any 

l  A  translation  of  this  charter  by  Dr.  O'Calla-  2  A  close  study  of  the  photographic  copy  of  the 

han  is  published  both  in  Doc.  rel.  Col.  Hist.  N.  Y.  original  MS.leaves  it  somewhat  uncertain  whether 

(1  :  11)  and  in  his  "  History  of  New  Netherland,"  Corstiaensen  or  Cristiaensen  be  the  correct  read- 

1  :  74-76.     We  have  compared  this  with  the  origi-  ing.  But  with  Wassenaer's  undoubted  Christiaen- 

nal  and  made  a  few  changes  in  the  phraseology  sen  before  us,  we  may  conclude  that  the  latter 

where  this  appeared  to  be  called  for.  reading  is  the  proper  one. 


HENRY    HUDSON'S    VOYAGE    AND    ITS    RESULTS  129 


THE  NEW  NETHERLAND  CHARTER. 


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VOL.  I.— 9. 


130  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK. 


disputes  or  differences  arise  from  these  our  concessions,  they  shall  be  decided  by  our- 
selves. We  therefore  expressly  command  all  governors,  justices,  officers,  magistrates, 
and  inhabitants  of  the  aforesaid  United  Lands  that  they  allow  the  aforesaid  Company 
quietly  and  peacefully  to  enjoy  and  use  the  complete  effect  of  this  our  charter  and 
consent,  refraining  from  all  opposition  or  detention  to  the  contrary,  for  we  have  found 
such  to  serve  for  the  benefit  of  the  country.  Given  under  our  seal,  paraph,  and 
signature  of  our  secretary,  at  the  Hague,  the  llth  of  October,  1614." 

New  Netherland  was  thus  named;  and  by  a  curious  coincidence, 
to  which  Brodhead  calls  attention,  in  the  very  same  month  and  year, 
the  name  New  England  was  first  applied  to  the  adjoining  regions  (to 
some  extent  the  same  regions)  by  Prince  Charles,  heir  to  England's 
throne,  when  he  was  made  acquainted  with  Captain  John  Smith's 
explorations  on  the  coasts  of  Massachusetts  and  Maine. 

To  return  to  New  Netherland:  after  the  charter  which  gave  it  a 
name,  the  first  event  that  calls  for  attention  is  the  erection  of  a  second 
fort.  It  has  been  supposed  such  was  built  on  Manhattan  Island  in 
the  year  1615.  Twenty  years  later  the  West  India  Company  re- 
minded the  States-General  in  a  memorial  that  "one  or  more  little 
forts  were  built,"  under  their  High  Mightinesses'  jurisdiction,  "even 
before  the  year  1614."  But  this  declaration,  like  some  others  of  their 


HENRY    HUDSON'S    VOYAGE    AND    ITS    EESULTS  131 

historical  statements,  admits  of  doubt.  And  while  learned  historians 
differ  as  to  the  fact  whether  any  fort  was  erected  on  Manhattan 
before  that  constructed  by  Director  Minuit  in  1626,  perhaps  we  will 
not  be  far  amiss  in  looking  for  the  origin  of  the  rumor  that  there  was, 
in  the  very  probable  circumstance  that  Hendrick  Christiaensen  may 
have  constructed  breastworks  or  have  surrounded  his  little  hamlet 
with  a  stockade  in  anticipation  of  another  visit  from  the  English. 
Certain  it  is  that  neither  on  the  Figurative,  nor  on  what  we  may 
call  Hendricksen's  Map  of  1616,  do  we  notice  any  indication  of  a  fort 
on  Manhattan  Island.  But  near  the  head  of  navigation  there  un- 
doubtedly was  one ;  and,  indeed,  so  great  appeared  to  be  the  neces- 
sity for  a  stronghold  there  that  we  find  one  succeeding  another  in 
rather  rapid  succession.  Christiaensen's  Fort  Nassau,  with  Jacob 
Eelkens  in  command,  remained  "occupied  steadily  through  three 
years,"  says  De  Laet,  "  and  then  fell  into  decay."1  Its  position  on  the 
island  was  advantageous  in  some  respects ;  but  on  the  other  hand  the 
floods  at  the  breaking  up  of  winter  made  havoc,  until  in  1617,  they 
swept  away  ramparts  and  warehouse  and  ditch  and  all.  Eelkens 
thereupon  promptly  selected  a  less  perilous  situation.  A  few  miles 
below  Albany  there  falls  into  the  Hudson  Eiver  from  the  west  a  small 
stream  known  as  "  Norman's  Kill,"  corrupted  from  Noordtman's,  given 
to  it  by  the  Dutch  because  a  Scandinavian  at  one  time  possessed  a 
farm  on  its  banks.  The  Iroquois  name  "  Tawasentha "  was  more 
euphonious ;  but  its  associations  must  have  been  sad,  as  this  signified 
"the  place  of  many  dead";  evidently  an  Indian  bury  ing-ground  was 
to  be  found  in  its  neighborhood.2  Its  northern  bank  rose  into  an 
eminence  called  by  the  Indians  "  Tawassgunshee,"  overlooking  the 
broad  stream  of  the  Hudson.  Tawasentha  has  been  the  theme  of 
many  American  poets,  including  Alfred  B.  Street  and  Henry  W.  Long- 
fellow.3 At  Tawasentha  a  redoubt  was  built  to  succeed  the  one  on 
Castle  Island,  four  miles  further  up  the  river  ;  and  having  no  infor- 
mation to  the  contrary,  we  may  suppose  that  the  name  of  Nassau  was 
retained  for  its  successor. 

But  the  names  of  Tawassgunshee  and  Tawasentha  have  become 
historic  for  another  reason.  Here  in  1618  was  held  a  great  council 
of  the  chiefs  of  several  Indian  tribes,  at  which  appeared  also  the  com- 

1  Nieuwe  Wereldt,  3  :  9  :  88.  Stood  the  groves  of  singing  pine-trees, 

2  Henry  R.  Schoolcraft's  «  Indian  Names  along  green  .in  J™^  ^  *  ^ter, 
the  Hudson,"  in  »  New-York  Historical  Society's  *?*?£**$  *™  Smgmg' 
Proceedings,"  1844,  p.  111.  vAnd  th°  &*&s&?*  water  cou*ses' 

You  could  trace  them  through  the  valley, 

3  In  the  Vale  of  Tawasentha,  By  the  rushing  in  the  spring-time, 
In  the  green  and  sient  valleyl,  By  the  alders  in  the  summer, 

By  the  pleasant  water  courses,  By  the  white  fog  in  the  autumn, 

Dwelt  the  singer  Nawadaha.  By  the  black  line  in  the  winter ; 

Bound  about  the  Indian  village  And  beside  them  dwelt  the  singer, 

Spread  the  meadows  and  the  corn-flelds,  In  the  Vale  of  Tawasentha, 

And  beyond  them  stood  the  forest,  In  the  green  and  silent  valley. 


132  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

mander  and  officers  of  the  new  Fort  Nassau,  in  order  to  effect  with 
the  red  men  a  solemn  treaty  of  amity  arid  mutual  assistance.  About 
the  mouth  of  the  Hudson,  on  the  islands  and  the  main,  dwelt  tribes 
belonging  to  the  numerous  Algonquin  nation.  But  when  the  Dutch 
erected  their  forts  in  the  vicinity  of  its  junction  with  the  Mohawk 
River,  they  had  penetrated  to  the  border-line  between  this  and  an- 
other great  Indian  family,  not  quite  so  populous,  perhaps,  but  much 
more  formidable  by  reason  of  their  political  organization  and  warlike 
prowess.  These  were  the  Iroquois,  and  more  particularly  that  part  of 
them  which  was  known  as  the  "  Five  Nations,"  a  confederacy  com- 
prising the  tribes  of  the  Mohawks,  the  Oneidas,  the  Onondagas,  the 
Cayugas,  and  the  Senecas.  For  a  century  or  more  this  confederacy 
had  nourished,  and,  finding  strength  in  their  union,  they  had  subdued 

the  surrounding  tribes,  as  much  by  the 
dread  of  their  name  as  by  the  force  of 
arms.  No  one  chief  bore  rule  among 
them,  but  affairs  of  common  interest  to 
the  several  members  of  the  confederacy 
were  discussed  in  councils  especially 
called,  to  which  each  of  the  five  nations 
sent  a  delegation,  one  of  whom  acted 
as  the  orator  and  was  distinguished  by 
a  name  which  it  was  stipulated  should 
always  be  borne  by  some  person  of  the 
tribe.1  Such  a  council  had  now  met 
on  Tawassgunshee  Hill.  The  affairs  of 
the  Five  Nations  had  reached  a  pain- 
ful  crisis.  Accustomed  to  undisputed 
sway  over  the  surrounding  country, 
conquering  whatever  tribes  of  red  men  dared  to  wage  war  against 
them,  they  had  recently  met  with  an  unexpected  repulse  on  the  banks 
of  Lake  Champlain  and  of  the  beautiful  "  Horican."  An  Algonquin 
tribe  in  Canada,  assured  of  the  assistance  of  the  French  on  the  St. 
Lawrence  River,  had  declared  war  against  the  Iroquois  confederacy. 
A  handful  of  the  Europeans,  under  Champlain,  marching  in  the  ranks 
of  the  Indian  warriors,  by  the  use  of  a  strange  weapon  had  scattered 
swift  and  mysterious  death,  to  the  utter  dismay  of  the  hitherto  invin- 
cible Iroquois,  and  their  complete  discomfiture  in  battle.  The  Euro- 
pean firearms,  clumsy  as  they  were,  had  proved  effective  and  more 
than  a  match  for  the  primitive  bows  and  arrows  of  the  natives.  The 
disastrous  and  unusual  experience  of  defeat  had  been  repeated  more 
than  once,  so  that  the  Five  Nations  prudently  resolved  to  refrain  from 
wars  in  that  direction  until  they  could  furnish  themselves  with  allies 

1  Moulton's  New- York,  p.  346. 


HENRY    HUDSON'S    VOYAGE    AND    ITS    KESULTS  133 

possessed  of  the  deadly  firearms,  or  better  still,  until  they  could  ob- 
tain these  destructive  weapons  from  some  friendly  European  nation, 
and  learn  the  use  of  them  themselves.  The  advent  of  the  Dutch 
seemed  to  open  the  way  towards  the  fulfilment  of  their  desires.  At 
the  council  of  Tawassgunshee  a  treaty  was  made,  the  main  terms  of 
which  were  that,  on  the  one  hand,  the  natives  should  supply  the 
Dutch  traders  with  the  furs  they  valued  so  highly ;  while  in  return 
the  strangers  promised  to  furnish  the  tribes  of  the  Five  Nations  ex- 
clusively with  muskets  or  carbines.  Representatives  from  other  tribes 
of  the  neighborhood,  of  the  Algonquin  family,  such  as  the  Lenni-Le- 
napes,  the  Mohicans,  the  Minquas,  were  allowed  to  be  present  at  the 
council,  but  only  to  bear  a  humiliating  part  in  the  ceremonies ;  for  as 
the  Iroquois  and  the  Dutch  at  either  end  upheld  the  long  belt  of  wam- 
pum in  token  of  the  covenant  that  bound  them  together,  the  middle 
portion  of  it  was  made  to  rest  upon  the  shoulders  of  the  subject  Indians. 
This  may  have  been  meant  to  emphasize  the  fact  that  the  furs  would 
have  to  be  furnished  by  the  tribes  which  they  represented,  while  the 
warrior  tribes  of  the  confederacy  were  confining  their  attention  to  the 
conquests  which  they  would  be  able  to  achieve  when  the  possession 
of  firearms  should  put  them  on  an  equality  with  the  French  and  their 
allies.  The  compact  thus  solemnly  and  ceremoniously  formed  was 
never  seriously  violated.  It  was  the  basis  of  a  lasting  friendship 
between  the  Iroquois  and  the  Dutch,  to  which  the  English  succeeded, 
and  which  raised  a  perpetual  barrier  to  the  encroachments  of  the 
French  from  the  North.  For  the  question  of  the  domination  and 
development  of  the  continent  of  North  America  by  a  Latin  or  a 
Teutonic  race  and  faith — "the  most  momentous  and  far-reaching 
question  ever  brought  to  an  issue  on  this  continent" — depended  al- 
most entirely  upon  this  other  question,  "which  side  should  win  and 
hold  the  friendship  of  that  powerful  confederation  of  red  men  who 
overawed  or  held  in  tribute  the  Indians  from  the  Mississippi  to  the 
Atlantic,  and  from  Lake  Champlain  to  the  Chesapeake." 1  No  doubt 
Jacob  Eelkens'  sojourn  of  more  than  three  years  among  them  had  en- 
abled him  to  win  the  confidence  and  to  understand  the  character  of 
the  Indians;  and  his  share  in  this  transaction  goes  far  to  condone 
one  or  two  other  acts  which  do  not  place  him  in  so  favorable  a  light. 
It  may  be  added  that  as  a  final  ceremony  on  the  part  of  the  Indians, 
symbolic  of  perpetual  peace,  a  tomahawk  was  trampled  under  foot 
until  it  had  disappeared  under  the  loose  soil;  while  the  Dutch  on 
their  side  promised  to  build  a  church  on  the  spot  consecrated  by  this 
burial  of  the  implement  of  war.2 

1  William  E.  Griffls,  D.  D.,  "Arendt  van  Curler,"  principally  to  Moulton's  New-York  (p.  346)  as  their 
p.  5  (1884).  source,  who,  in  turn,  refers  his  readers  to  a  "note 

2  O'Callahan's  New  Netherland,  1 :  78-80 ;  Brod-  (157),"  which  unfortunately  is  not  to  be  found  in 
head's  New-York,  1 :  81-88.    These  authors  refer  any  edition  of  his  book. 


134 


HISTORY    OF    NEW- YORK 


Hudson  on  his  way  along  our  coast  had  anchored  within  Delaware 
Bay,  and  the  curiosity  and  enterprise  of  the  Dutch  traders  needed 
but  this  hintto  send  them  off  in  that  direction  also,  to  see  what  could 
be  discovered.  As  a  result  of  explorations  there  we  find  Captain 
Cornelius  Hendricksen  before  the  States-General  at  the  Hague,  in 
midsummer,  1616.  He  at  first  gave  a  verbal  report,  but  he  was 
instructed  to  reduce  it  to  writing.  He  had  also  in  his  possession 

an  outline  map,  which  roughly  de- 
lineated the  part  of  New  Nether- 
land  which  he  had  explored,  and 
upon  which  he  had  hastily  jotted 
a  note  conveying  most  interesting 
information. 

After  he  had  exchanged  the  ship 
Fortune,  bound  for  the  Fatherland, 
for  the  Eestless,  this  convenient 
craft  was  employed  once  more  in 
the  service  of  examining  untried 
waters.  It  must  have  been  some 
time  during  the  year  1615  that  Hen- 
dricksen sailed  southward  along 
the  coast  of  New  Jersey.  He  ap- 
plied to  at  least  one  feature  of  it  a 
name  which  has  descended  to  our 
day,  although  in  a  translation ;  this  being  "  Eyerhaven "  or  Egg 
Harbor.  He  doubled  ere  long  the  triangular  point  of  land  now 
called  Cape  May,  but  gave  it  the  name  of  Hinloopen,  either  in 
honor  of  a  merchant  of  Amsterdam,  or  after  the  town  of  Hinde- 
loopen  in  Friesland.  The  point  opposite  he  called,  with  pardonable 
self-assertion,  after  himself,  Cape  Cornelius.  But  by  a  strange  fate 
that  designation  has  disappeared  from  our  maps,  "  Hinloopen"  hav- 
ing been  substituted  for  it,  and  the  first  Cape  Hinloopen  becoming 
later  Cape  May,  in  honor  of  the  navigator  who  afterwards  came  upon 
the  scene,  although  he  had  already  borne  a  part  in  the  exploration  of 
adjoining  regions.  Favored  by  the  small  size  of  the  Eestless,  Hen- 
dricksen could  now  undertake  what  Hudson  dared  not  do  in  the  Half- 
Moon.  He  pushed  his  way  up  the  Bay  that  opened  upon  his  delighted 
vision,  entering  the  creeks,  or  bays,  or  rivers  that  offered  on  either 
side.  He  soon  found  the  shores  narrowing,  however,  until  they  became 
unmistakably  the  banks  of  a  river,  and  it  must  have  been  no  small 
satisfaction  to  him  thus  to  realize  that  he  was  the  discoverer  of  a  new 
and  unsuspected  stream.  In  distinction  from  the  Mauritius  further 
north,  he,  or  other  Dutch  geographers,  called  this  the  "  South  River." 
He  followed  its  course,  it  is  supposed,  up  as  far  as  the  Schuylkill,  thus 


HENRY    HUDSON'S    VOYAGE    AND    ITS    RESULTS.  135 

passing  the  site  of  Philadelphia ;  and  he  reported  to  the  States-General 
that  here  he  encountered  three  of  his  countrymen,  whom  he  was 
obliged  to  ransom  from  the  custody  of  the  Minqua  Indians.  These 
men  proved  to  be  a  part  of  the  garrison  that  had  been  left  at  Fort 
Nassau.  They  had  been  captured  by  one  of  the  tribes  living  on  the 
Mohawk  Eiver,  and  made  to  act  as  their  servants.  They  had  escaped, 
however,  and  had  been  sheltered  and  aided  on  their  way  through  the 
country  by  a  tribe  of  Ogehages,  who  were  hostile  to  the  Mohawks. 
Reaching  the  banks  of  the  Delaware,  they  had  followed  its  course 
down,  and  had  finally  come  into  the  country  of  the  Minquas,  from 
whose  rather  mild  bondage  they  were  easily  ransomed  by  a  few 
trinkets.  Here  certainly  was  a  chapter  of  adventure  worthy  of 
record.  Hence,  Heridricksen  relates  this  circumstance  in  the  written 
report  to  the  States-General,  and  in  a  note  upon  his  map  he  also 
mentions  it,  and  shows  besides  that  valuable  information  regarding 
the  relative  positions  of  various  Indian  tribes  was  furnished  to  him  by 
these  three  wanderers.1  But  whatever  interest  Captain  Hendricksen 
may  have  awakened  in  the  mind  of  their  High  Mightinesses,  they  saw 
nothing  in  either  his  verbal  or  written  report  to  warrant  them  in 
giving  him  a  charter  in  fulfilment  of  their  promise  of  March,  1614. 
The  regions  he  brought  to  their  notice  were  too  closely  contiguous  to 
those  reported  on  by  Block,  and  they  were  of  a  character  so  similar  in 
the  way  of  trade,  that  it  seemed  unjust  to  the  "United  Netherland 
Company,"  erected  on  the  basis  of  the  charter  of  October,  1614,  to 
grant  another  patent  of  monopoly  to  a  rival  association. 

When  the  three  years  of  exclusive  trade  to  New  Netherland  con- 
ceded to  the  above  Company  had  expired,  they  found  it  difficult  to 
obtain  renewal  of  the  privilege,  for  other  merchants  now  claimed  the 
right  of  sending  ships  thither.  One  company  of  adventurers,  headed 
by  a  Henry  Eelkens,  no  doubt  a  relative  of  Jacob  Eelkens,  obtained 
permission  to  send  a  ship,  the  "  Schilt,"  or  Shield,  from  their  port  of 
Amsterdam  to  the  North  River,  as  the  Mauritius  was  now  designated, 
in  October,  1618.  But  still  the  aim  of  each  band  of  merchants  who 
wished  to  send  their  ships  to  the  fur  regions  of  America  was  to  enjoy 
such  a  privilege  to  the  exclusion  of  others ;  and  the  competition  to 
secure  the  monopoly  became  eager.  In  August,  1620,  it  appears  that 
Captain  Cornelius  Jacobsen  May  has  been  abroad  again,  visiting  the 
scenes  he  had  explored  six  or  seven  years  before.  In  the  ship  called 
the  Glad  Tidings  he  had  sailed  up  the  James  River  in  Virginia.2  He 
may  then,  too,  have  entered  Delaware  Bay  and  given  his  name  to  the 
Cape  that  still  bears  it,  although  this  was  perhaps  the  result  of  his 
subsequent  prominence  in  those  parts.  At  any  rate  it  was  hardly 

i  See  the  note  on  the  map  in  Doc.  rel.  Col.  Hist.  N.  Y.,  1  :  opposite  page  11:   also  Hendricksen's 
"Report,"  Ib.,  1 :  13,  14.  2  De  Laet,  Nieuwe  Wereldt,  3  :  13  :  93. 


136  HISTOKY    OF    NEW-YOBK 

honest  for  him  to  claim  that  he  had  discovered  new  countries,  within 
the  meaning  of  the  General  Charter,  and  to  seek  to  obtain  a  charter 
for  an  exclusive  trade  of  four  years.  His  mistake,  or  worse,  was  there- 
fore promptly  exposed  by  Henry  Eelkens  and  his  partners,  and  the 
issuing  of  a  charter  to  May's  principals  opposed.  The  States-General 
made  an  attempt  to  reconcile  the  parties  at  issue,  but  as,  after  a  delay 
of  nearly  two  months,  "  that  could  not  be  done,  it  is,  after  considera- 
tion, resolved  and  concluded  that  the  requested  Charter  shall  be 
refused."1  This  was  on  November  6,  1620.  Indeed  the  disputes 
between  these  rival  firms  only  served  to  commend  the  superior  ad- 
vantages that  attached  to  one  consolidated  national  association,  the 
scheme  which  had  begun  to  be  agitated  in  1604,  and  had  been  dis- 
cussed again  in  1614.  The  consummation  of  the  West  India  Company 
was  therefore  only  hastened  by  this  quarrel.  In  November,  1618, 
after  Barneveld's  arrest,  the  subject  of  its  formation  had  been  intro- 
duced into  the  States-General,  and  it  was  now  awaiting  action  on  the 
part  of  the  several  Provincial  Legislatures.  Even  at  the  time  of  this 
discussion  between  Eelkens  and  Captain  May,  the  reports  from  the 
Provinces  were  slowly  coming  in,  and  on  June  3,  1621,  the  charter 
establishing  this  great  Company  was  finally  signed  and  sealed. 

An  incident  now  occurred  to  which  attaches  a  special  interest  for 
two  important  reasons :  because,  in  the  first  place,  it  gives  evidence 
that  the  idea  of  colonization,  for  which  there  was  made  such  slight 
provision,  as  has  been  seen,  in  the  charter  granted  to  the  West  India 
Company,  was  distinctly  entertained  and  its  importance  intelligently 
appreciated  by  many  men  in  Holland  whose  attention  had  been 
directed  to  this  country ;  and,  in  the  second  place,  because  it  connects 
the  Hudson  River  and  Manhattan  Island  in  an  intimate  and  pleasant 
way  with  a  neighboring  Colony,  the  advent  of  whose  members  to  the 
shores  of  America  is  looked  upon  as  the  beginning  of  national  history 
for  the  Republic  of  the  United  States. 

On  the  20th  of  February,  1620,  a  unique  document 2  was  addressed 
to  Maurice,  Prince  of  Orange,  the  Stadholder  of  the  Republic  of  the 
Netherlands.  It  was  a  petition  from  the  Directors  of  the  "New 
Netherland  Company."  The  Company  was  still  in  existence  and 
actively  engaged  in  the  trade  to  the  Hudson,  although  its  charter 
had  expired  three  years  after  January  1,  1615.  The  trade  was  now 
open  to  all,  and,  as  they  remark  in  this  paper,  other  associations  and 
private  merchants  were  also  despatching  vessels  thither.  There  is  not 
in  their  petition,  however,  the  slightest  trace  of  a  desire  to  revive 
their  monopoly.  Another  and,  we  may  say,  a  nobler  project  was  in 
their  minds.  Beyond  a  mere  trading-post,  they  had  conceived  the 
idea  of  making  the  banks  of  the  Hudson  the  seat  of  a  regular  colony. 

l  Doc.  rel.  Col.  Hist.  N.  Y.,  1 :  24,  25.  2  Doc.  rel.  Col.  Hist.  N.  Y.,  1 :  22,  23. 


HENEY    HUDSON'S    VOYAGE    AND    ITS    EESULTS 


137 


But  it  was  not  easy  for  Holland  to  colonize  uninhabited  districts  in 
foreign  lands.  Much  as  has  been  said  by  some  writers  about  the 
overcrowded  condition  of  the  United  Provinces,  we  must  accept  such 
statements  with  caution.  There  was  ample  space  for  all  her  citizens 
within  the  territories  of  the  Seven  Provinces.  At  any  rate  they  were 
not  a  people  inclined  to  leave  the  Fatherland  permanently.  Restlessly 
diligent  in  pursuing  wealth  or  glory  to  the  remotest  parts  of  the 
earth,  her  sons  ever  cherished  the  expectation  of  spending  their  last 
days  amid  the  early  associations  of  home.  So  it  will  be  seen  that 
the  first  attempts  at  colonization  in 
connection  with  New  Netherland  de- 
pended for  the  supply  of  colonists  upon 
refugees  who  had  found  an  asylum  in 
free  Holland  from  religious  persecution 
in  their  own  lands.  These  having  been 
once  transplanted,  and  not  yet  rooted 
to  the  soil,  it  seemed  easier  for  them  to 
make  another  change. 

Now  it  "happened,"  the  petitioners 
informed  the  Prince,  and  through  him 
the  Government,  that  there  was  "re- 
siding in  Leyden  a  certain  English 
preacher,  versed  in  the  Dutch  language, 
who  is  well  inclined  to  proceed  thither 
to  live,"  i.  e.t  to  New  Netherland.  What 
is  more,  he  was  the  representative  in 
this  proposal  of  no  less  than  four  hun- 
dred families  who  would  "accompany 
him  thither  both  out  of  this  country 
and  England."  Here  was  thus  a  golden 
opportunity  for  forming  a  colony.  A  thousand  people  at  their  doors, 
indebted  to  Holland  for  a  home  and  freedom  of  worship  during 
a  dozen  years,  besides  several  hundred  fellow-sufferers  in  England 
ready  to  join  their  brethren  in  this  change  of  abode,  and  likely  to 
be  equally  grateful  for  the  favor  accorded.  Eagerly  do  the  Direc- 
tors of  the  New  Netherland  Company  recommend  this  project  to  the 
Prince,  requesting  that  they  be  aided  in  transporting  these  families. 
They  had  themselves,  as  we  learn  elsewhere,  made  generous  pro- 
posals to  these  English  exiles ;  New  England  historians  call  them 
^  large  offers,"  and  well  they  may,  for  the  Directors  promised  to  give 
them  free  passage  to  America,  and  to  furnish  every  family  with 
cattle.1  But  there  was  danger  to  be  apprehended  on  the  high  seas 

ISee  Brodhead's  (N.  Y.,  1: 124)  references  to  Bradford  in  Alexander  Young's  "Chronicles  of  the 
Pilgrim  Fathers,"  p.  421 ;  and  to  Winslow,  p.  385. 


SITE  OF  ROBINSON'S  HOUSE,  LEYDEN. 


138  HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YORK 

as  well  as  after  they  should  have  landed  on  the  distant  shores, 
from  the  vindictive  persecution  of  their  own  King;  and  hence  the 
Directors  begged  the  Dutch  Government  to  take  the  enterprise 
under  its  protection,  and  to  allow  two  armed  ships  to  accompany 
the  expedition.1 

There  is  no  mistaking  who  were  this  preacher  and  the  people  for 
whom  he  was  authorized  to  speak.  John  Robinson  and  his  flock  had 
been  living  in  Ley  den  since  1609,  and  thus  from  the  first  must  have 
heard  of  the  exploit  of  Henry  Hudson  which  had  been  for  years  agi- 
tating commercial  Holland.  Their  views  of  church  government 
differing  hopelessly  from  those  prevalent  in  England  and  indorsed  as 
well  as  enforced  by  the  Crown,  and  king  and  prelates  insisting  on 
conformity  thereto  or  banishment,  or  worse,  the  nonconformist 
band  at  Scrooby  in  Nottinghamshire,  led  by  their  pastor,  chose 
banishment,  and  being  assured  of  tolerance  and  protection  in  Hol- 
land, the  asylum  for  the  oppressed  of  all  creeds  or  despotisms, 
they  entered  upon  their  first  "  pilgrimage,"  and  took  up  their 
abode  in  Amsterdam  in  1608.  But  in  1609  Robinson's  flock  found 
it  more  advantageous  to  remove  to  Ley  den.  Here  they  spent 
many  peaceful  years,  though,  being  in  a  country  just  recuperating 
from  a  sanguinary  war,  they  were  compelled  in  common  with  her 
own  citizens  to  maintain  a  severe  struggle  for  existence,  and  they 
sometimes  speak  of  "hard"  times.  Yet  they  must  have  been  reason- 
ably prosperous,  for  in  1611  they  bought  a  large  piece  of  ground  with 
a  spacious  house  upon  it,  for  over  three  thousand  dollars,  which 
would  represent  about  four  times  that  amount  in  our  day.  The  site 
of  this  house  is  now  indicated  by  a  stone  in  the  front  wall  of  the 
building  occupying  it  at  present,  which  records  that  "on  this  spot 
lived,  taught  and  died  John  Robinson,  1611-1625." ~  Believing  in  the 
independency  of  the  congregation  as  distinguished  from  the  Presby- 
terian system  of  both  the  Dutch  and  the  Scotch  churches,  and  object- 
ing to  worship  in  buildings  that  had  once  been  devoted  to  Roman 
Catholic  services,3  Robinson  himself  could  form  no  ecclesiastical 
affiliations  with  the  church  of  the  land,  as  the  pastors  of  Scotch 
refugees  had  done ;  nor  could  his  people  be  granted  a  sanctuary,  as 

iDoc.  rel.  Col.  Hist.  N.  Y.,  1:  23.  were  unfurled  and  saluted,  the  band  playing  the 

2  It  stands  immediately  opposite  the  St.  Peter's  "  Star  Spangled  Banner,"  "  God  Save  the  Queen," 

church,  in  which  the  remains  of  Robinson  were  and  the  tune  "  Plymouth  Rock."  The  tablet  having 

deposited  after  his  death  in  1625.    July  24,  1891,  been  formally  delivered  by  the  representative  of 

there  was  unveiled  a  large  bronze  tablet  placed  the  American  Council  to  the  city's  keeping,  the. 

in  the  front  outside  wall  of  the  church,  at  the  in-  Burgomaster,  Mr.  De  Laat  de  Kanter  (presumably 

stance  of  the  "  National  Council  of  Congregational  a  descendant  of  the  historian  De  Laet,  who  was  a 

Churches  of  the  United  States  of  America."    (For  citizen  of  Leyden),  accepted  the  trust  with  a  few 

illustration,  see  p.  149. )    The  unveiling  was  an  im-  brief  and  appropriate  words.     The  University,  of 

pressive  ceremony,  witnessed  by  a  large  assem-  which  Robinson  was  made  a  member,  was  repre- 

blage,  including   about    sixty  Americans.      The  sented  by  Professor  Kuenen,  who  also  made  an 

whole  town  was  en  fete  and  the  ancient  church  address  in  Dutch  and  English, 

decorated  with  flags  and  flowers.   As  it  was  un-  SWagenaar,    "  Amsterdamsche    Geschiedenis," 

veiled  the  American,  Dutch,   and  English  flags  4:  125-127. 


HENRY    HUDSON'S    VOYAGE    AND    IT^S    RESULTS  139 

had  been  assigned  to  the  Scotch,  since  the  Protestants  throughout 
Holland  were  wisely  using  the  abundant  supply  of  such  edifices  built 
in  Roman  Catholic  times,  which  it  would  have  been  mere  wantonness 
to  destroy  or  to  leave  vacant.  The  Pilgrims  therefore  met  for  public 
worship  in  the  spacious  house  they  had  purchased,  which  was  also 
set  apart  for  their  pastor's  residence ;  while-  about  the  extensive  gar- 
den smaller  buildings  were  erected  for  the  use  of  a  number  of  the 
poorer  families.  And  it  is  certainly  worth  noting  that  upon  this  very 
ground  stands  an  almost  similar  institution,  it  being  a  home  for 
indigent  people  belonging  to  the 
French  or  Walloon  congrega- 
tion— that  is,  descendants  of 
religious  refugees  from  France 
and  Belgium. 

But  while  enjoying  perfect 
liberty  to  conduct  their  church 
government  on  the  principles 
which  they  had  adopted,  and  to 
exercise  their  worship  in  the 
place  or  manner  that  their  con- 
sciences could  approve,  there 
were  some  considerations  which 
made  Robinson  and  his  flock 
wish  for  different  surroundings. 
In  the  recent  discussions  in 
New  England  in  regard  to  erect- 
ing a  monument  at  Delf shaven 
to  commemorate  the  departure 
thence  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  those  who  oppose  the  scheme  have 
charged  that  the  Hollanders  did  not  treat  them  handsomely.  But 
we  cannot  discover  this  among  the  causes  of  their  leaving.  They 
were  Englishmen,  and  the  younger  generation  were  fast  becoming 
amalgamated  with  the  foreign  element  around  them.  They  were 
not  far  enough  away  from  James  I.  to  altogether  escape  his  annoy- 
ances, for  although  the  Dutch  Government  necessarily  defied  him 
in  harboring  the  refugees  at  all,  it  could  not  entirely  break  with 
the  head  of  the  only  other  great  Protestant  Power,  and  thus  at 
times  it  was  compelled  to  give  the  appearance  at  least  of  heed- 
ing the  remonstrances  of  their  King.  Again,  the  Pilgrims  could 
not  much  better  bear  the  Presbyterian  government  of  the  Dutch 
Church  than  they  could  the  English  Episcopacy ;  yet  their  children 
were  growing  up  where  they  constantly  saw  this  form  exemplified, 
and  they  would  thus  not  only  be  reconciled  to  it  but  might  become 
identified  with  it.  The  new  free  principles  of  church  polity  for  which 


140  HISTOBY    OF    NEW-YORK 

Robinson  and  his  co-religionists  contended  needed  wide  space  and 
unmolested  practice  for  their  development.  Early  in  their  stay  in 
Holland,  therefore,  they  began  to  turn  their  eyes  towards  America. 
Negotiations  were  attempted  more  than  once  with  the  London  or  the 
Plymouth  Company.  But  their  own  countrymen  could  not  be  quite 
depended  on,  and  their  King  least  of  all.  Then  their  intentions  were 
made  known  to  the  New  Netherland  Company,  whose  Directors,  as 
we  have  seen,  met  their  advances  cordially.  When  the  matter,  how- 
ever, came  before  the  States-General,  they  adopted  a  broader  view  of 
the  situation.  Here  was  not  a  mere  colonizing  scheme,  an  under- 
taking for  enterprising  Dutch  merchants  only.  Important  political 
questions  were  involved,  which  had  not  occurred  to  simple  business 
men.  Dutch  statesmen,  accustomed  to  take  in  a  wide  range,  and 
to  look  far  in  advance,  in  their  keen  combat  against  overwhelming 
power,  were  not  ignorant  of  the  claims  of  the  English,  and  how  these 
might  be  favored  in  the  future  by  the  proposed  action  at  present. 
Argall  had  given  practical  exhibition  of  the  temper  of  his  nation 
towards  the  Dutch  on  Manhattan.  That  which  in  a  few  decades  was 
to  find  its  way  into  printed  volumes  was  undoubtedly  then  abroad  in 
diplomatic  circles — namely,  that  on  the  strength  of  Hudson's  nation- 
ality all  his  discoveries  properly  belonged  to  England.1  It  would 
therefore  have  been  the  height  of  impolicy  to  send  as  the  first  colo- 
nists to  a  section  so  strenuously  claimed  by  England  some  hundreds 
of  families  who,  although  exiled,  were  nevertheless,  to  their  honor  be 
it  said,  Englishmen  to  the  core.  Hence  the  States-General  denied  the 
petition  of  the  Directors  of  the  New  Netherland  Company,  and  refused 
to  allow  the  Pilgrims  to  proceed  thither.  Less  than  six  months  after- 
wards, on  July  20,  1620,  the  half  of  the  number  dwelling  at  Leyden 
left  that  city,  parted  from  their  pastor  and  the  remainder  of  their 
brethren  at  Delfshaveu,  and  sailed  forth  thence  in  the  Speedwell  to  a 
glorious  destiny,  going  out  from  the  protection  of  the  republican 
institutions  of  the  United  Netherlands  to  plant  the  seeds  of  a  greater 
Eepublic  on  the  far-distant  shores  of  America.  A  simple  memorial, 
an  "  answering  monument "  to  that  which  on  Plymouth  Rock  com- 
memorates the  arrival  of  the  Mayflower,  might  well  therefore  be  set 
up  to  mark  the  beginning  of  a  journey  fraught  with  so  much  promise 
to  our  country.2 

The  charter  of  the  Dutch  West  India  Company  was  granted  in  1621 ; 
but  not  until  1623  was  the  Company  ready  for  complete  organization, 
and  not  till  1626  was  the  first  regular  colonial  government  provided 

1  Peter  Heylin,  "  Cosmographie,"  Bk.  4  :  1028  August,  1889,  visited  Delf shaven,  and  addressed 
(Ed.  1653).  a  despatch  to  Secretary  Blaine,  suggesting  the 

2  Mr.  Thayer,  the  present  Minister  of  the  United  erection  of  a  monument  at  the  latter  place,  and 
States  at  The  Hague,  immediately  after  the  un-  pointing  out  the  advantages  of  the  locality  for 
veiling  of  the  monument  at  Plymouth,  Mass.,  in  such  a  purpose. 


HENRY    HUDSON'S    VOYAGE    AND    ITS    RESULTS  141 

for  New  Netherland.  The  interval  was  filled  up  with  a  number  of 
voyages  that  are  worth  recording,  of  which  some  were  for  purposes 
of  trade  merely,  while  others  were  made  in  the  interest  of  colonization. 
To  avoid  confusion  we  shall  consider  these  events  in  chronological 
order ;  as  indeed,  for  the  most  part  there  is  no  other  connection  be- 
tween them,  until  we  approach  within  a  few  years  of  the  arrival  of 
Director  Minuit. 

In  this  series  of  individual  enterprises  the  name  of  Henry  Eelkens  is 
met  with  again.  He  had  been  among  the  earliest  to  take  advantage 
of  the  expiration  of  the  New  Netherland  Charter  and  the  opening  of 
the  trade  to  the  Mauritius  in  1618.  It  was  still  necessary,  however, 
to  obtain  a  special  license  for  each  voyage,  and  thus  in  September, 
1621,  he  and  his  partners,  all  of  Amsterdam,  brought  a  petition  before 
the  States- General,  asking  leave  to  send  their  ship,  the  White  Dove, 
to  the  New  World.  They  specified  Virginia  in  their  document,  but 
that  term  embraced  a  much  wider  extent  of  territory  then  than  now, 
and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  New  Netherland  was  meant.  Next 
there  appeared  before  the  Parliament  of  the  Eepublic  a  company  of 
men,  including  other  than  merchants,  and  representing  besides  the 
awakened  interest  of  cities  other  than  Amsterdam.  The  week  after 
the  former  petition  was  granted  one  was  received  from  six  persons, 
two  of  whom  were  physicians,  and  some  of  whom  were  citizens  of 
Hoorn  and  Medemblik,  then  active  participants  in  the  national  com- 
merce, but  now  among  the  "  Dead  Cities  of  the  Zuyder  Zee."  Four 
days  later  another  group  of  adventurers  procured  leave  to  trade  to 
our  coast,  among  whom  was  Petrus  Plancius,  minister  of  the  gospel 
at  Amsterdam,  but  better  known  as  a  cosmographer,  the  Hakluyt 
and  Purchas  of  Holland.  He  has  been  already  referred  to  as  the  chief 
promoter  of  the  Arctic  voyages  of  1594  to  1596,  whose  cosmographical 
studies  and  the  maps  prepared  by  himself  had  been  placed  at  the 
service  of  Henry  Hudson,  and  with  whom  beyond  question  that  navi- 
gator had  enjoyed  many  a  personal  conference  during  those  weeks 
from  January  to  April,  1609,  that  he  was  in  Amsterdam  preparing 
for  the  voyage  that  ended  in  our  river.  His  personal  interest  in  that 
discovery  or  exploration  was  now  practically  manifested  by  his  in- 
vesting with  others  in  a  trading  expedition.  Two  ships  were  to  be 
engaged  in  this,  and  they  were  to  enter  not  only  the  waters  of  the 
Mauritius  or  North  River,  but  also  to  penetrate  into  the  "  great  river 
situate  between  the  thirty-eighth  and  fortieth  degrees" — that  is,  the 
South  or  Delaware  River,  which  Hendricksen  had  brought  to  the 
attention  of  the  Dutch  traders.  Ere  a  twelvemonth  had  elapsed, 
before,  indeed,  the  expedition  had  returned  to  Holland,  death  had  put 
an  end  to  the  useful  labors  of  this  venerable  scholar,  which  had  been 
so  largely  in  keeping  with  the  spirit  of  the  age  in  which  he  lived. 


142 


HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YOEK 


These  numerous  expeditions  of  the  Dutch  to  the  coast  of  North 
America  embraced  within  our  United  States  had  not  passed  un- 
noticed in  England.  The  maritime  nations  of  that  day  were  watching 
each  other  closely  as  to  what  was  being  accomplished  on  the  new 
continent  in  the  West.  The  Papal  bull  had  given  to  Spain  the  entire 
world  west  of  a  certain  imaginary  line  running  through  the  middle 
of  the  Atlantic.  But  the  decline  of  her  power  left  her  impotent 

to  keep  the  Dutch,  English,  and 
French  from  the  regions  north  of 
Florida.  That  vast  extent  of  coun- 
try England  claimed,  and  by  virtue 
of  that  claim  had  devastated  a  few 
plantations  of  the  French  in  Nova 
Scotia  and  New  Brunswick,  while 
she  was  only  waiting  her  opportu- 
nity to  eject  them  from  the  whole 
of  Canada,  an  achievement  reserved 
for  the  middle  of  the  next  century. 
But  now,  south  of  Canada,  into  the 
very  heart  of  the  country,  claimed 
not  only  but  partly  occupied  by 
England,  into  the  very  portion  that 
divided  her  northern  from  her  southern  colonies,  the  Hollanders 
were  diligently  penetrating  and  establishing  a  nucleus  for  profitable 
trade  and  future  colonization.  The  voyages  undertaken  or  licensed 
in  1621,  and  the  charter  extended  to  a  Dutch  West  India  Company  in 
June  of  that  year,  led  James  I.  in  December  to  direct  Sir  Dudley 
Carleton,  his  ambassador  at  the  Hague,  to  address  a  remonstrance  to 
the  States-General.1  After  some  preliminary  exchange  of  communi- 
cations Carleton  presented  such  an  address  in  French  to  their  High 
Mightinesses  in  February,  1622.  In  spite  of  the  English  title  to  those 
countries,  which  his  sovereign  declared  to  be  "  notorious  to  every  one,"2 
yet  was  the  King  "  informed  that  in  the  previous  year  some  Holland- 
ers had  put  foot  in  certain  parts  of  the  said  country,  and  had  planted 
a  colony  there,  changing  the  names  of  ports  and  havens,  and  baptizing 
them  anew  after  their  own  fashion,  with  the  intention  of  sending  more 
ships  for  the  continuance  of  the  said  Colony,  and  that  in  fact  they  now 
had  six  or  eight  ships  all  ready  to  sail  thither."  Sir  Dudley,  accord- 


PETRUS   PLANCIUS. 


l  It  is  possible  also  that  Captain  Dermer's  vis- 
its to  Manhattan  Island  in  1619  and  1620  (see  N.  Y. 
Hist,  Soc.  Col.,  Second  Series,  1:343-354)  may 
have  been  one  of  the  moving  causes.  At  least 
the  immediate  occasion  of  the  instructions  to 
Carleton  was  a  petition  submitted  to  James  by 
four  persons,  of  whom  Sir  Fernando  Gorges, 
Dermer's  principal,  was  one,  and  Samuel  Argall 


was  another.  See  O'Callahan's  "  New  Nether- 
land,"  1 : 95 ;  Brodhead,  New- York  1 :  140  ;  and 
Doc.  rel.  Col.  Hist.  N.  Y.,  1:58. 

2  "  Comme il est  notoire  aun  chacun."  See O'Cal- 
lahan'  s  "New  Netherland,''  1 :  97,  note,  for  this 
address  in  the  original ;  a  translation  is  to  be 
found  in  Doc.  rel.  Col.  Hist.  N.  Y.,  3  : 8. 


HENEY    HUDSON'S    VOYAGE    AND    ITS    EESULTS  143 

ingly,  stated  that  his  master  had  commanded  him  to  apply  to  the  States- 
General,  and  "  to  require  of  you  in  his  name  that  by  your  authority 
not  only  the  vessels  already  fitted  out  for  the  said  voyage  be  detained, 
but  also  that  the  further  prosecution  of  the  said  Colony  be  expressly 
forbidden."  This  was  strange  language  to  address  to  an  independent 
republic,  quivering  with  an  irrepressible  vitality  born  of  forty  years 
of  heroic  struggle  against  a  foe  much  mightier  than  James ;  a  vitality 
that  had  been  seeking  an  outlet  in  commercial  enterprises  which 
embraced  the  ends  of  the  earth  !  A  visionary  title  to  a  vast  region 
which  England  was  incapable  of  occupying  could  not  restrain  a 
nation  such  as  the  Dutch.  The  foreign  interference,  therefore,  the 
more  exasperating  because  it  proceeded  from  such  a  source,  only 
stimulated  instead  of  checking  the  "  further  prosecution  "  of  coloniz- 
ing New  Netherland. 

As  if  in  defiance  of  England's  remonstrance  we  now  observe  for  the 
first  time  the  participation  of  the  West  India  Company  itself  in  the 
enterprise.  In  the  spring  of  1622  the  Company  was  still  awaiting 
the  slow  ingathering  of  its  required  capital,  and  was  therefore  not  yet 
fully  organized.  At  this  juncture,  but  a  month  or  two  after  Carleton's 
protest,  application  was  made  to  the  States  of  Holland  by  a  number 
of  families  who  desired  transportation  as  colonists  to  New  Netherland. 
It  was  referred  to  the  West  India  Company,  and  taken  in  hand  by  the 
Amsterdam  Chamber,  as  doubtless  its  capital  was  fully  subscribed 
before  that  of  the  other  Chambers.  Moreover,  the  families  who  had 
made  this  request  were  settled  at  Amsterdam,  and  there  direct  com- 
munication could  be  held  with  them.  The  same  peculiarity  attached 
to  them  which  distinguished  the  people  who  had  offered  to  form  a 
Colony  in  America  in  1620.  They  too,  like  John  Robinson  and  his 
flock,  were  exiles  for  conscience'  sake,  having  been  compelled  to  leave 
their  homes  in  the  Southern  Provinces  of  the  Netherlands,  bordering 
on  France,  because  they  were  Protestants,  and  the  Belgian  Provinces 
had  failed  to  maintain  a  united  struggle  against  Spain  and  the  Church 
of  Rome  until  for  Protestant  and  Catholic  alike  there  might  be  liberty 
of  worship  as  in  the  provinces  of  the  North.  The  inhabitants  of  the 
Southern  Provinces  of  Belgium  were  designated  by  the  name  of  Wal- 
loons, either  on  account  of  their  Gallic  origin,  or  of  their  proximity  to 
France  and  the  use  of  that  language.1  Being,  as  the  pilgrims  were, 
sojourners  in  a  strange  land,  these  Walloons  were  prepared  to  under- 
take a  second  removal,  although  the  vast  majority  of  their  compatriots 
felt  perfectly  at  home  in  Holland,  and  became  thoroughly  identified 
with  all  her  institutions  of  Church  and  State.  It  seems  possible  that 

l  In  transition  from  the  Romance  to  the  Teutonic  Gaullois  would  become  Waalsch  or  Walloon.  The 
tongues  the  g  is  often  changed  into  w;  even  as  Prince  of  Wales  is  the  "Prince  de  Gattes"  in 
guerre  becomes  war,  and  Guillatime,  William,  so  French. 


144  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

at  first  they  hesitated  to  pass  from  Holland  to  regions  to  which  Hol- 
landers indeed  were  trading,  but  which,  lying  between  the  northern 
and  southern  limits  of  English  patents,  were  a  debatable  land  where 
no  settlement  might  'be  secure.  At  least  they  applied  to  Sir  Dudley 
Carleton  to  intervene  for  them  with  the  authorities  in  England,  to 
obtain  permission  to  settle  in  Virginia.1  Failing  to  arrive  at  any 
satisfactory  arrangements  in  this  quarter,  they  had  addressed  them- 
selves to  the  Provincial  Legislature  of  Holland. 

For  the  transportation  of  these  fifty  or  sixty  families  there  was 
provided,  by  the  Amsterdam  Chamber  of  the  West  India  Company,  a 
vessel  of  great  size  for  that  day,  having  more  than  three  times  the 
dimensions  of  the  Half-Moon,  or  a  measurement  of  two  hundred  and 
sixty  tons.  It  was  appropriately  christened  the  New  Netherland. 
Thirty  of  the  Walloon  families  were  placed  upon  her,  and  it  was  care- 
fully planned  in  advance  how  these  were  to  be  distributed  into  va- 
rious settlements.  Part  of  them  were  to  go  to  the  South  River,  and 
Cornelius  Jacobsen  May,  who  was  made  Captain  of  the  New  Nether- 
land,  was  appointed  to  be  director  or  governor  of  the  settlement 
there  to  be  planted.  But  he  was  to  have  a  general  survey  of  the  whole 
expedition  and  of  the  plantation  in  America.  Proceeding  first  to  the 
head  of  navigation  on  the  Hudson,  he  was  to  restore  the  former  fort 
there  or  build  a  new  one,  and  leave  in  command  Adriaen  Joris  of 
Thienpont,  or  as  some  writers  call  him,  Adriaen  Joris  Thienpont. 

The  setting  out  of  this  first  colonizing  expedition  to  New  Netherland 
cannot  be  regarded  without  interest.  It  left  Amsterdam  in  March, 
1623,  or  nearly  a  year  after  the  application  of  the  Walloon  families 
had  been  laid  before  the  States  of  Holland.  It  reached  the  mouth  of 
the  Hudson  in  May,  and  several  incidents  connected  with  its  arri- 
val, as  well  as  the  facts  just  stated,  have  been  preserved  for  us  by 
the  contemporary  historian  Wassenaer.  In  the  first  place  the  New 
Netherland  encountered  a  French  vessel,  upon  an  errand  similar  to 
her  own,  in  the  Upper  Bay.  The  intruder  was  soon  disposed  of.  An 
armed  yacht,  the  Mackarel,  coming  opportunely  down  the  river  from 
Fort  Nassau,  it  convoyed  the  stranger  outside  the  bay  well  into  the 
ocean,  with  so  unmistakable  an  intimation  of  the  danger  of  returning 
that  the  attempt  does  not  seem  to  have  been  renewed.  But  it  is  said 
that  the  Frenchman  tried  to  effect  his  object  on  the  South  or  Delaware 
River ;  with  the  same  result,  however,  for  the  Dutch  traders  there 
treated  the  would-be  colonists  of  France  with  equal  firmness. 

The  New  Netherland,  after  the  episode  just  mentioned,  proceeded 
up  the  river,  perhaps  now,  or  else  on  its  return  later,  leaving  a  part 
of  the  Walloons  upon  Manhattan  Island.2  At  any  rate  about  this  time 

iDoc.  rel.  Col.  Hist.  N.  Y.,  3:9.  3:32  (4to).     She  states  that  eight  men  were  left 

2  Deposition  of  Catelina  Trico,  in  Doc.  Hist.,      on  Manhattan. 


HENRY    HUDSON'S    VOYAGE    AND    ITS    RESULTS 


145 


a  number  of  them  must  have  settled  at  the  "  Waelenbogt,"  or  Walloon 
Bay,  the  Wallabout  of  to-day,  bearing  testimony  in  this  corrupt  form 
to  the  presence  of  these  earliest  settlers  in  that  portion  of  Long  Island 
and  the  city  of  Brooklyn.  And  here,  two  years  later,  occurred  an 
event  full  of  human  interest  as  well  as  of  a  merely  historic  one.  A 
certain  Simon  Jansen  de  Rapallo  or  Eapalje,  according  to  the  Dutch 
spelling,  having  first  settled  on  Staten  Island,  removed  to  the  Wal- 
loon Bay,  in  the  spring  of  1625.  When  but  a  few  months  in  this  new 
home,  on  June  6,  1625,  he  became  the  father  of  the  first  female  child 
of  European  parents  born  within  the  bounds  of  New  Netherland.1  It 
was  long  supposed  that  Sarah 
de  Rapalje  was  the  first  white 
child  born  in  New  Netherland. 
But  the  Labadist  voyagers  who 
photographed  upon  their  writ- 
ten journal  the  manners  and 
customs  and  people  of  New 
Amsterdam,  and  indeed  of  all 
New  Netherland,  as  they  were 
in  1679,  have  left  the  record  that 
in  this  year  they  were  intro- 
duced to  one  Jean  Vigne,  then 
about  sixty-five  years  old,  who 
was  known  to  be  the  first  child 
thus  born .  His  birth ,  therefore, 
must  have  taken  place  in  1614 
or  1615.  His  parents  were  from 
Valenciennes,  situated  in  one 
of  the  Walloon  Provinces,  now 
in  France.2 

Approaching  the  head  of 
navigation  in  the  Hudson,  the 
unusual  size  of  the  New  Netherland,  as  compared  with  the  class  of 
trading  ships  that  ordinarily  visited  these  parts,  proved  to  be  of  some 
inconvenience.  When  opposite  Esopus  Creek,  it  was  found  necessary 
to  lighten  her  by  transferring  a  portion  of  her  cargo  to  boats,  and  by 
this  expedient  she  was  enabled  to  work  her  way  up  as  far  as  the  Tawa- 
sentha.  While  this  had  been  thought  a  good  place  for  the  small  redoubt 
called  Fort  Nassau,  now  that  it  was  contemplated  to  build  a  regular  fort 
another  site  was  deemed  preferable.  And  thus  Fort  Orange,  scientifi- 
cally constructed,  with  four  angles,  a  few  miles  further  to  the  north, 


THE   SHIP   NEW    NETHERLAND. 


l  If  Virginia  Dare,  the  first  white  child  born  in 
the  United  States,  had  not  perished  less  than  three 
years  after  her  birth,  she  would  at  this  time  have 
been  nearly  thirty-eight  years  of  age. 
VOL.  I.— 10. 


2  "  Journal  of  Bankers  and  Sluyter,"  translated 
with  notes  by  Henry  C.  Murphy,  p.  114,  and 
note;  published  by  the  Long  Island  Historical 
Society. 


146  HISTORY    OF    NEW- YORK 

caine  to  occupy  the  site  of  the  present  Albany,  or  that  level  part 
of  it  where  its  business  is  now  transacted.  At  the  same  time 
that  the  engineers  and  soldiers  of  the  expedition  began  marking 
out  the  angles  of  the  fortress  and  digging  the  trenches,  the  Walloon 
colonists  put  their  spades  into  the  virgin  soil  and  sowed  their  grain, 
so  that  when  the  fort  was  completed  and  Captain  May,  leaving 
Adriaen  Jorisz  in  command,  was  about  to  betake  himself  to  the  quar- 
ter assigned  for  his  special  jurisdiction,  the  grain  stood  high  and 
promising.  On  Wassenaer's  sole  authority  we  learn  that  another  fort 
or  redoubt,  called  "  Wilhelmus,"  was  built  on  an  island  in  the  vicinity 
of  Fort  Orange  (or  perhaps  near  Kingston1),  by  the  name  of  "  Prince's 
Island,"  formerly  "Murderer's  Island."  But  it  is  difficult  to  iden- 
tify this  spot,  although  the  suggestion  offers  itself  whether  it  may  not 
have  been  upon  it  that  Christiaensen,  whose  murder  this  historian 
alone  relates,  met  his  fate  at  the  hands  of  young  Orson.  Eighteen 
families  were  left  at  Fort  Orange,  and  besides  Adriaen  Jorisz,  who  as 
sea-captain  had  occasion  to  make  the  voyage  to  Holland  at  certain 
intervals,  one  Daniel  Kriekenbeeck,  whose  rather  lengthy  cognomen 
was  considerately  abbreviated  to  simple  "  Beeck  "  or  "  Beck  "  in  daily 
conversation,  was  appointed  to  command  in  his  absence.  Eelkens,  with 
all  his  valuable  experience  gained  through  several  years  of  trading 
with  the  Indians,  had  been  guilty  of  a  serious  misdeed,  as  we  shall  see 
later,  and  had  been  dismissed. 

The  year  1623  had  therefore  been  made  memorable  for  Albany. 
Ere  it  was  gone  Captain  May  had  already  established  himself  on 
the  South  or  Delaware  River.  He  built  a  fort  there  also,  for 
which  he  selected  a  spot  on  the  Timmer's  Kill,  near  the  site  of  the 
present  town  of  Gloucester,  in  New  Jersey,  about  four  miles  south 
of  Philadelphia.  Four  couples  that  had  been  married  at  sea,  and 
eight  men.  were  appointed  to  remain  there.2  The  name  borne  for 
nearly  ten  years  by  the  redoubt  on  the  banks  of  the  upper  Hud- 
son was  transferred  to  the  stronghold  on  the  Delaware,  and  there 
we  must  look  henceforth  for  Fort  Nassau.  It  is  related,  but  with 
rather  slight  grounds  of  probability,  that  during  this  same  year 
(1623)  a  fort  was  built  and  a  colony,  consisting  of  no  more  than 
two  families  and  six  men,  established  on  the  Freshwater  or  Con- 
necticut River,  where,  in  1633,  Fort  Good  Hope  was  erected;  but 
of  this  more  hereafter. 

Thus  the  first  colonies  had  been  established  in  New  Netherland; 
but  we  need  not  suppose  that  the  thirty  families  brought  out  by  the 
first  ship  were  the  only  ones  to  supply  so  many  points.  A  few 
months  after  she  sailed,  or  in  June,  1623,  the  project  upon  which 

l  Wassenaer,   Doc.   Hist.,   3:35    (8vo);   see  Brodhead's   conjectures  and  explorations,  New- York, 
1 : 152,  note.  2  Deposition  of  Trico,  Doc.  Hist.,  3 :  31. 


HENRY    HUDSON'S    VOYAGE    AND    ITS    RESULTS 


147 


those  who  despatched  her  were  bent  was  pursued  still  farther,  and 
more  of  the  Walloon  families  were  brought  over  by  an  expedition 
consisting  of  no  less  than  three  ships  at  once — the  Orange  Tree,  the 
Eagle,  and  the  Love.  And  it  is  to  be  noticed,  moreover,  that  these 
vessels  were  sent,  not  by  the  Amsterdam  Chamber  alone,  but  by 
the  West  India  Company  as  a  whole.  It  was  now  perfecting  its  ar- 
rangements and  fast  completing  its  organization;  its  capital  was 
nearly  all  subscribed,  and  notices  everywhere  published  that  its 
books  would  soon  be  closed.  Perhaps  in 
honor  of  this  event  and  in  compliment  to 
the  Company,  the  States-General  in  this  very 
year  (1623)  granted  a  seal  for  New  Nether- 
land,  as  if  to  place  it  on  a  level  with  the 
provinces  of  the  Republic.  As  it  will  be  re- 
membered, these  United  Provinces  had  all 
originally  been  separate  suzerainties, — Duch- 
ies, Counties,  Baronies,  or  Lordships, —  and 
as  such  each  had  possessed  his  appropriate 


SEAL   OF   NEW   NETHERLAND. 


armorial  bearings,  which  were  still  retained 
on  their  provincial  seals.  To  New  Netherland  such  armorial  bearings 
were  now  assigned,  which  was  equivalent  to  making  it  a  province,1  the 
seal  representing  a  shield  bearing  a  beaver,  proper,  over  which  was  a 
count's  coronet,  surrounded  by  the  words  :  "  Sigillurn  Novi  Belgii."2 
Nor  is  it  to  be  forgotten  that  a  little  later  the  American  province  re- 
ceived a  conspicuous  share  of  attention  in  the  literature  of  Holland  ; 
for  in  1625  there  was  published  in  Leyden,  by  the  famous  house  of 
Elsevier,  De  Laet's  "  Nieuwe  Wereldt,  ofte  Beschryvinghe  van  West 
Indien,"  a  monumental  work,  the  source  to  this  day  of  much  of  our 
information  concerning  Hudson's  exploit,  the  condition  of  the 
country  and  of  the  natives  at  the  time  of  his  visit,  also  of  the  subse- 
quent explorations  by  Block,  May,  and  Hendricksen.  De  Laet  was 
one  of  the  directors  of  the  West  India  Company,  and  his  book,  no 
doubt,  contributed  greatly  towards  directing  the  attention  of  Hol- 
landers to  those  interesting  regions  in  America  of  which  that  great 
corporation  was  just  beginning  to  assume  the  charge. 

Director  May's  term  of  office  having  expired  in  1624,  another  Di- 
rector, appointed  again  for  only  one  year,  was  sent  out.  This  was 
one  William  Verhulst.3  As  no  trace  of  him  appears  on  or  about  Man- 
hattan, while  in  the  Delaware  there  was  an  island  known  for  some 
time  as  Verhulsten  Island,  whereon  stood  a  substantial  trading-house  of 
brick,  it  may  be  concluded  that  the  seat  of  his  jurisdiction,  like  May's, 
was  mainly  on  the  Delaware  River.  One  event  of  note,  that  gave 
evidence  of  how  thoroughly  the  idea  of  colonizing  had  now  taken  root, 

l  Doc.  rel.  Col.  Hist.  N.  Y.,  1 :  262.     2  Brodhead,  New-York,  1 : 148.     3  Wassenaer,  Doc.  Hist.,  3 :  30  (4to). 


HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YOKK 

marked  his  brief  administration.  This  was  the  sending  of  over  one 
hundred  head  of  cattle  to  New  Netherland  by  Peter  Evertsen  Hulft, 
one  of  the  directors  of  the  West  India  Company.  The  expedition  con- 
sisted of  three  ships,  furnished  by  himself,  and  an  armed  yacht  pro- 
vided by  the  Dutch  Government.  The  cattle  were  placed  upon  two 
of  the  ships.  A  special  deck  was  constructed  for  their  stalls,  which 
were  kept  thickly  sanded,  and  doubtless  every  other  provision  was 
made  to  secure  that  scrupulous  neatness  and  cleanliness  that  still 
characterize  the  stables  of  Holland.  Beneath  these  decks  immense 
tanks  were  placed  filled  with  a  supply  of  water,  while  a  sufficient 
quantity  of  fodder  was  stored  on  a  separate  ship,  which  contained 
also  six  families  or  forty-five  persons  as  colonists.  Of  the  one  hun- 
dred and  three  head  of  cattle,  beeves,  hogs,  and  sheep,  only  two  died 
on  the  passage.  Arriving  before  Manhattan  the  precaution  was  taken 
to  land  them  on  Nooten  Island,  lest  they  should  go  astray  and  be 
lost  in  the  forests.  But  there  being  some  difficulty  in  properly  water- 
ing them  there,  they  were  finally  transferred  to  Manhattan  Island. 
In  a  short  time  about  twenty  died,  in  consequence  of  grazing  on  some 
strange  or  poisonous  weeds.1 

At  the  end  of  1625  William  Verhulst's  term  as  Director  came  to  a 
close,  and  about  the  middle  of  December  of  that  year  Peter  Miiiuit 
was  invested  with  the  title  of  Director-General.  Furnished  with  a 
staff  of  officers  for  a  fully  equipped  Colonial  Government,  he  embarked 
for  his  seat  of  authority  on  Manhattan  Island,  where  he  arrived  in 
May,  1626,2  and  regular  Colonial  history  for  the  State  of  New-York,, 
or  the  then  Province  of  New  Netherland,  began. 


NOTE  ON  THE  POETEAIT,  AUTOGKAPH,  AND  ANTECEDENTS  OF  HUDSON. 

OF  the  oil-painting  of  Henry  Hudson  in  the  "  Governor's  Room  "  in  the  City  Hall,, 
which  has  been  handsomely  engraved  on  steel  for  this  work,  and  it  is  believed  for  the 
first  time,  there  is,  unfortunately,  no  satisfactory  account  obtainable.  A  diligent  and 
careful  search  of  the  records  in  the  City  Hall  has  resulted  only  in  disappointment,  as 
•we  have  been  unable  to  discover  any  trace  of  former  ownership,  or  of  the  authenticity 
of  the  portrait.  In  1868  David  T.  Valentine,  then  clerk  of  the  Common  Council,  wrote 
to  General  Meredith  Read, "  I  have  examined  the  indexes  to  the  proceedings  as  far  back 
as  1730,  under  every  imaginable  head  that  would  be  likely  to  lead  to  the  information 
desired,  but  without  avail.  I  am  convinced  that  unless  the  name  of  the  donor  can  be 
first  ascertained,  there  is  no  way  to  obtain  it  otherwise  than  by  an  examination  of  the 
records,  page  by  page  —  a  labor  that  I  do  not  feel  warranted  in  undertaking.  I  regret 
exceedingly  that  I  cannot  obtain  what  you  desire  in  this  particular,  and  can  only  say 

1  Wassenaer,  Doc.  Hist.,  3  :  25. 

2  Dr.  O'Callahan,  usually  so  accurate,  places  the  date  of  Minuit's  arrival  in  1624.    We  can  find  na 
other  authority  for  this  statement. 


HENBY    HUDSON'S    VOYAGE    AND    ITS    KESULTS  149 

that  the  records  are  at  your  service,  for  a  personal  examination,  should  you  deem  the 
object  in  view  of  sufficient  importance  to  warrant  the  labor  necessary  to  attain  it." 
Foiled  in  my  search  among  the  archives  of  the  city,  I  next  attempted  to  learn  some- 
thing of  the  history  of  the  portrait  from  other  sources,  and  have  only  succeeded  in 
obtaining  the  following,  which  I  found  in  a  work  published  in  1827,  entitled  "  The 
Picture  of  New- York  and  Stranger's  Guide  to  the  Commercial  Metropolis  of  the  United 
States,"  by  A.  T.  Goodrich.  Speaking  of  Henry  Hudson,  he  says :  "  A  portrait  of  this 
distinguished  navigator  is  in  the  City  Hall,  painted  in  1592,  when  he  was  twenty-three 


THE    ROBINSON    TABLET,    UNVEILED  JULY    24,   1891. 


years  of  age.  He  is  represented  with  a  frill  round  his  neck,  and  holding  a  compass  in 
his  hand  ;  he  has  a  youthful  and  very  interesting  appearance.  It  was  deposited  by  an 
ancient  Dutch  family,  and  is  of  undoubted  originality." 

Washington  Irving's  description  of  that  "  worthy  and  irrecoverable  discoverer  "  is 
not  at  all  in  harmony  with  our  portrait  of  Hudson,  who  is  described  by  Irving,  but 
without  giving  his  authority,  as  "  a  short,  square,  brawny  old  gentleman  with  a  double 
chin,  a  mastiff  mouth,  and  a  broad  copper  nose,  which  was  supposed  in  those  days  to 
have  acquired  its  fiery  hue  from  the  constant  neighborhood  of  his  tobacco  pipe  !  "  Our 
personal  search  in  England  and  Holland  for  any  writing  of  Hudson's,  or  even  his  au- 
tograph, was  as  unsuccessful  as  the  quest  for  authentic  data  concerning  his  portrait. 
Under  date  of  London,  July  9,  1891,  Mr.  W.  Noel  Saintbury,  assistant  keeper  of  the 
English  Public  Records,  writes  :  "  I  have  delayed  answering  your  letter  requesting  signa- 
ture, until  I  had  exhausted  every  available  source  for  obtaining  one.  Hudson  was  for 
so  short  a  time  a  prominent  man  that  very  little  indeed  is  known  authentically  about 
him.  ...  In  my  Colonial  Calendar,  East  Indies,  1513-1616,  are  several  incidental  allu- 
sions to  him  and  to  his  widow  and  son.  The  former  was  assisted  by  the  East  India 
Company,  and  the  latter  was  taken  into  their  service,  but  there  is  not  a  particle  of 
Hudson's  writing  in  this  office,  neither  is  there  in  the  British  Museum,  where  I  have 
had  search  made.  There  is  no  will  in  Doctors'  Commons,  and  it  is  not  likely  that  he 
ever  made  one  —  if  he  did,  it  went  to  the  bottom  of  the  deep  with  him.  As  you  will 
i  For  an  account  of  the  ceremonies  attending  the  unveiling  of  this  Tablet,  see  page  138,  note. 


150  HISTOBY    OF    NEW-YOEK 

see  by  the  inclosed  answer  of  their  secretary,  I  have  written  to  the  Hudson  Bay  Com- 
pany, so  that  I  feel  convinced  the  search  is  hopeless." 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  so  little  was  known  of  Henry  Hudson  beyond  the  four  year& 
from  1607  to  1631,  when  he  appears  so  prominently  in  the  annals  of  navigation  and  dis- 
covery, General  Meredith  Read,  in  proposing  to  himself  the  preparation  of  a  bio- 
graphical work  on  Hudson,1  determined  to  deal  only  cursorily  with  the  well-known 
portion  of  his  life,  in  order  to  discover  some  light  upon  his  unknown  past.  In  the 
course  of  his  studies  he  explored  the  founding  and  the  great  services  of  the  then  un- 
familiar Muscovy  or  Russia  Company.  Among  its  charter-members  in  1555  was  found 
the  name  of  Henry  Hudson,  perhaps  the  grandfather  of  the  explorer  of  the  Hudson 
River.  From  1555  to  1615  many  persons  of  this  name  are  found  among  the  distin- 
guished servants  of  the  Muscovy  Company,  and  while  the  precise  family  connection 
remains  as  yet  undiscovered,  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  Henry  Hudson  the 
Navigator  belonged  to  this  family.  It  was  learned  that  the  children  and  relatives  of 
members  of  the  Company  were  frequently  in  its  service.  Two  classes  of  boys  were  em- 
ployed. "  The  members  of  one  class,"  remarks  General  Read,  "  having  received  at 
the  Company's  expense  a  good  elementary  education,  were  sent  out  to  Russia  to  keep 
accounts  and  to  buy  and  sell  goods  under  the  direction  of  the  chief  agents.  Many  of 
these  lads  finally  reached  high  official  stations  as  ambassadors  and  statesmen.  The 
other  class,  comprised  of  young  men  also  of  influential  connections,  were  placed  as 
apprentices  aboard  of  the  Company's  vessels  to  learn  the  art  of  navigation.  The 
destruction  of  the  books  of  individual  records  makes  it  impossible  for  me  to  prove  by 
documentary  evidence  that  Henry  Hudson  was  educated  from  his  earliest  youth  in  the 
Muscovy  Company's  service,  but  the  circumstantial  evidence  is  so  overwhelming  as  to 
make  it  clear  that  this  was  the  case.  At  the  time  that  he  first  appears  (1607)  as  a 
trusted  captain  in  its  employ,  the  Company's  commanders  were  all  mariners  who  had 
been  from  their  earliest  youth  advanced  grade  by  grade."  EDITOR. 

l  "  Historical  Inquiry  concerning  Henry  Hudson,  his  friends,  relatives,  and  early  life,  and  his  con- 
nection with  the  Muscovy  Company,"  Albany,  1866. 


HENEY    HUDSON'S    VOYAGE    AND    ITS    KESULTS  151 


HENDRICK'S  PROPHECY.1 

FLOW  fair  beside  the  Palisades,  flow,  Hudson,  fair  and  free, 
By  proud  Manhattan's  shore  of  ships  and  green  Hoboken's  tree  ; 
So  fair  yon  haven  clasped  its  isles,  in  such  a  sunset  gleam, 
When  Hendrick  and  his  sea-worn  tars  first  rounded  up  the  stream, 
And  climbed  this  rocky  palisade  and,  resting  on  its  brow, 
Passed  round  the  can  and  gazed  awhile  on  shore  and  wave  below  ; 
And  Hendrick  drank  with  hearty  cheer,  and  loudly  then  cried  he  : 
"  'T  is  a  good  land  to  fall  in  with,  men,  and  a  pleasant  land  to  see ! '' 

Then  something— ah!  't  was  prophecy !  —  came  glowing  to  his  brain  ; 
He  seemed  to  see  the  mightier  space  between  the  oceans  twain, 
Where  other  streams  by  other  strands  run  through  their  forests  fair, 
From  bold  Missouri's  lordly  tide  to  the  leafy  Delaware  ; 
The  Sacramento,  too,  he  saw,  with  its  sands  of  secret  gold, 
And  the  sea-like  Mississippi  on  its  long,  long  courses  rolled  ; 
And  great  thoughts  glowed  within  him ;  — "God  bless  the  laud,"  cried  he  ; 
"  'T  is  a  good  land  to  fall  in  with,  men,  and  a  pleasant  land  to  see ! 

"  I  see  the  white  sails  on  the  main ;  along  the  land  I  view 
The  forests  opening  to  the  light  and  the  bright  ax  flashing  through ; 
I  see  the  cots  and  village  ways,  the  churches  with  their  spires, 
Where  once  the  Indians  camped  and  danced  the  war-dance  round  their  fires  ; 
I  see  a  storm  come  up  the  deep  —  't  is  hurrying,  raging  o'er 
The  darkened  fields, —  but  soon  it  parts,  with  a  sullen,  seaward  roar. 
'T  is  gone ;  the  heaven  smiles  out  again ; —  God  loves  the  land,"  cried  he; 

"  'T  is  a  good  land  to  fall  in  with,  men,  and  a  pleasant  land  to  see! 

"  I  see  the  white  sails  on  the  main ;  I  see,  on  all  the  strands, 
Old  Europe's  exiled  households  crowd,  and  toil's  unnumbered  hands  — 
.  From  Hessenland  and  Fraukenland,  from  Danube,  Drave,  and  Rhine, 
From  Netherland,  my  sea-born  laud,  and  the  Norseman's  hills  of  pine, 
From  Thames,  and  Shannon,  and  their  isles  —  and  never,  sure,  before, 
Invading  hosts  such  greeting  found  upon  a  stranger  shore. 
The  generous  Genius  of  the  West  his  welcome  proffers  free ; 
'T  is  a  good  land  to  fall  in  with,  men,  and  a  pleasant  land  to  see ! 

"  They  learn  to  speak  one  language ;  and  they  raise  one  flag  adored 
Over  one  people  evermore,  and  guard  it  with  the  sword ; 
In  gay  hours  gazing  on  its  four  and  forty  stars  above, 
And  hail  it  with  a  thousand  songs  of  glory  and  of  love. 
Old  airs  of  many  a  fatherland  still  mingle  with  the  cheer, 
To  make  the  love  more  glowing  still,  the  glory  still  more  dear  — 
Drink  up-sees  out !  join  hands  about !  bear  chorus  all,"  chants  he ; 

"  'T  is  a  good  land  to  fall  in  with,  men,  and  a  pleasant  land  to  see  !  " 

l  The  words  of  the  refrain  in  this  song  are  those  used  by  Henry  Hudson  when  he  sailed  his  ship 
through  the  Narrows,  and,  for  the  first  time,  it  is  supposed,  saw  the  beautiful  Bay  of  New- York. 

EDITOR. 


CHAPTER  V 

PETER   MINUIT   AND   WALTER   VAN   TWILLER 

1626-1637 


THE    PURCHASE    OF    MANHATTAN    ISLAND. 


HE  commercial  metropolis  of  the 
Western  Hemisphere  had  its  origin  in 
the  pursuit  of  commerce.  In  Holland,  a 
country  which  had  achieved  its  independence  and  estab- 
lished a  government  of  the  people,  there  were  no  political  exiles  to 
seek  freedom  in  foreign  lands.  Since  the  Dutch  Republic  had  been 
founded  as  a  protest  against  religious  persecution,  and  consistently 
with  that  protest  had  become  the  asylum  for  the  persecuted  for  con- 
science' sake  in  other  lands,  whether  Catholics,  Jews,  or  Protestants, 
there  was  no  occasion  to  leave  the  United  Provinces  in  order  to  enjoy 
liberty  of  worship  on  the  distant  shores  of  the  New  World.  "  Adven- 
ture brought  men  to  Virginia,"  writes  an  American  author,  "  politics 
and  religion  to  New  England,  philanthropy  to  Georgia ;  but  New- York 


PETER    MINUIT    AND    WALTER    VAN    TWTLLER  153 

was  founded  by  trade  and  for  trade,  and  for  nothing  else.  The  settle- 
ment on  the  island  of  Manhattan  was  due  to  the  active  spirit  of  Dutch 
commerce." l  The  early  trading  voyages  were  now  to  be  succeeded 
by  permanent  colonization.  But  none  the  less  was  the  aim  of  the 
West  India  Company  that  of  merchants  rather  than  of  statesmen,  to 
derive  financial  profit  from  the  settlement  rather  than  to  create  a 
new  province  for  the  advancement  of  social  prosperity  and  political 
principles.  It  was  inevitable  under  these  circumstances  that  the  con- 
duct of  colonial  affairs  should  suffer  from  mistakes. 

A  clearer  conception  of  the  conditions  under  which  Colonial  Govern- 
ment in  New- York  began  may  be  obtained  by  a  brief  glance  at  the 
Colonies  already  established  on  the  soil  of  the  subsequent  United 
States  of  America.  Virginia's  permanent  settlement  dates  from  the 
year  1607,  and  after  many  vicissitudes,  after  many  discouragements 
and  even  disasters,  it  was  at  this  time  greatly  prospering  under  the 
liberal  rule  of  Sir  George  Yeardley.  It  was  he  who  instituted  the 
first  colonial  legislature,  consisting  of  representatives  from  the  people, 
and  which  began  its  sessions  in  July,  1619,  or  a  whole  year  before  the 
Pilgrims  left  Leyden.  In  1622,  no  less  than  four  thousand  souls  oc- 
cupied plantations  along  both  banks  of  the  James  River,  and  after  the 
Indian  massacres  of  that  year  and  the  consequent  wars,  inducing  many 
to  return  to  England,  there  remained  still  a  population  of  nearly  twenty- 
five  hundred.  While  Minuit  governed  New  Netherland  a  charter 
was  granted  to  Lord  Baltimore,  embracing  the  territory  that  later  be- 
came the  State  of  Maryland,  but  the  first  colonists  did  not  arrive  until 
Van  Twiller  had  succeeded  to  the  Directorship,  in  1634,  and  the  next 
year  already  beheld  a  popular  assembly  established  among  them,  with 
religious  toleration  the  keynote  of  their  history  from  the  very  begin- 
ning. In  New  England,  since  1620,  there  had  been  prepared  by  the 
circumstances  of  the  times  a  plantation  of  men  who  might  be  expected 
to  prove  friendly  to  the  settlers  from  Holland,  so  that  in  this  distant 
quarter  of  the  world,  much  mutual  comfort  could  be  derived  from  their 
comparatively  close  neighborhood.  These  were  the  Pilgrims  at  New 
Plymouth,  still  filled  with  memories  of  the  free  Republic ;  still  receiv- 
ing accessions  to  their  numbers  from  the  families  left  in  Leyden  when 
the  Speedwell  sailed  away  with  the  first  adventurers.  And  in  these 
regions,  too,  other  colonies  found  a  home  before  Director  Minuit's  term 
had  expired.  Portsmouth  and  Dover,  which  Bancroft  places  "  among 
the  oldest  towns  in  New  England,"  had  been  established  in  1623 ;  and 
five  years  later  stern  John  Endicott  settled  at  Salem.  In  1630,  re- 
ligious intolerance  had  already  sent  back  the  brothers  Browne  for 
daring  to  adhere  to  the  Church  of  England,  but  the  year  was  also 
marked  by  a  brighter  event,  the  coming  of  Governor  John  Winthrop 

1  Henry  Cabot  Lodge,  '•  Short  History  of  English  Colonies  in  America,"  p.  285  (1881). 


154  HISTOEY     OF    NEW- YORK 

with  seven  hundred  colonists,  and  the  founding  of  the  city  of  Boston. 
Finally  in  1636,  or  one  year  before  Director  Van  Twiller's  term  ended, 
Ehode  Island's  history  began  with  the  colony  established  by  Roger 
Williams  at  Providence  —  a  monument  to  his  own  liberal  spirit,  and 
to  advanced  ideas  that  were  to  find  America  so  congenial  a  soil  in 
later  generations;  but  also  a  living  witness  to  the  wrong  then  com- 
mitted, of  practising  under  these  free  skies  that  very  religious  perse- 
cution which  had  driven  its  perpetrators  themselves  across  the  broad 
Atlantic.  It  was  nearly  fifty  years  after  Minuit's  arrival  before  the 
Carolinas  were  colonized;  and  almost  sixty  years  ere  William  Penn 
established  a  refuge  for  Quakers  in  the  State  known  by  his  name. 
Georgia  originated  just  a  century  after  the  expiration  of  the  term 
of  the  first  Director-General  of  New  Netherland,  while  that  colony 
itself  was  the  beginning  of  the  States  of  Connecticut,  Delaware,  New 
Jersey,  and  New- York. 

History  records  that  Peter  Miniiit,  appointed  Director-General  of 
New  Netherland,  embarked  in  the  ship  called  the  Sea-Mew,  on  De- 
cember 19,  1625.  Detained  by  the  ice  in  the  broad  harbor  of  the  Y 
or  in  the  Zuyder  Zee,  the  vessel  did  not  clear  the  Texel  channel  till 
January  9th,  and  on  the  4th  of  May,  1626,  arrived  at  Manhattan  Island. 
So  vast  have  been  the  changes  wrought  upon  its  vicinity  that  it  is 
hardly  possible  for  the  imagination  to  picture  the  appearance  of  New- 
York  Bay,  and  especially  that  of  our  island,  as  it  presented  itself  to 
the  eyes  of  the  small  company  upon  the  deck  of  the  Sea-Mew.  If  the 
spring  had  been  reasonably  forward  that  year,  the  early  verdure 
must  have  enhanced  the  beauty  of  woodland  and  open  field,  diversi- 
fying the  surrounding  hills  and  valleys.  Instead  of  the  forest  of 
masts  that  now  encircles  the  island,  and  almost  hides  the  view  of 
southern  Brooklyn,  above  which  the  graceful  arch  of  the  great  bridge 
suspends  its  delicate  tracery  of  cables,  the  primeval  forest  stood  solemn 
and  silent,  waiting  to  make  way  for  the  march  of  civilization  whose 
pioneers  had  already  begun  their  work.  The  tides  ebbed  and  flowed 
against  the  rocky  and  reedy  shores  of  Manhattan,  and  instead  of 
the  stately  buildings,  the  marts  of  commerce,  or  the  teeming  hives  of 
business  and  enterprise,  that  now  rise  upon  the  view  from  far  adown 
the  bay,  a  few  lowly  cabins  were  nestled  among  the  trees,  scarce  to  be 
seen  until  the  vessel  had  actually  anchored  near  the  shore. 

There  had  been  two  Directors  before  Minuit,  but  the  office  was  to 
be  henceforth  of  a  more  important  nature,  and  was  thus  distinguished 
by  a  more  exalted  title,  and  he  was  the  first  Director-General.  On 
board  the  same  ship  with  him  came  his  council,  consisting  of  five 
members,  Peter  Bylvelt,  Jacob  Elbertsen  Wissinck,  John  Jansen 
Brouwer,  Simon  Dircksen  Pos,  and  Reynert  Harmensen.  These  were 
to  advise  the  Director  upon  all  matters  pertaining  to  the  government 


PETER    MINUIT    AND    WALTER    VAN    TWILLER 


155 


of  the  colony,  and  to  see  to  it  that  he  and  others  properly  advanced 
the  interest  of  the  Company.  They  constituted  also  a  court  for  the 
trial  of  offenses,  but  could  not  punish  beyond  the  imposition  of  a  fine. 
Capital  cases  were  to  be  referred  to  the  mother  country.  Indeed,  al- 
though New  Amsterdam  was  not  incorporated  as  a  city  until  ]  653,  the 
appointment  of  the  colonial  officers  seems  to  have  been  modeled  after 
the  plan  of  municipal  government  in  Holland,  even  the  number  of  the 
council  suggesting  the  analogy.  In  Dutch  town-government  the  Court 
of  the  Schepens  or  Scabini  consisted  of  five,  seven,  nine,  eleven,  or 
thirteen  members,  according  to  the  size  of  the  place,  five  being  the 
least.  When  it  is  considered  that  the  other  officers  were  a  Secretary 


FIRST    VIEW    OF    NEW    AMSTERDAM.1 


and  a  Schout,  or  a  Schout-fiscal,  the  municipal  form  is  borne  out  still 
more  completely.  The  Secretary  first  met  with  is  Isaac  de  Rasieres, 
who,  however,  did  not  come  with  the  Sea-Mew,  but  arrived  in  July  of 
this  year.  The  Schout-fiscal  was  John  Lampe.2  His  was  an  office 
much  like  a  Sheriff's  of  our  day,  but  combining  also  the  functions  of 
prosecuting  attorney  and  counsel  for  the  defense  at  the  same  time. 
Several  other  odd  and  incongruous  duties  fell  to  his  share  in  the  new 
community.  But  in  a  general  way  Lampe's  office  resembled  both  in 
name  and  in  character  that  of  the  most  prominent  official  of  Nether- 
land  towns,  who  in  earliest  times  was  superior  to  the  Burgomasters. 


1  See  page  244. 

2  It  is  impossible  to  state  whether  this  dignitary's 
signature  should  be  deciphered  Lampe,  or  Lampo. 
In  the  peculiar  script  of  those  days,  the  final  letter 
may  be  regarded  as  either  an  e  or  an  o ;  in  some 
of  the  signatures  the  letter  looks  a  little  more  like 


an  e.  Lampe  would  be  unquestionably  a  Dutch 
name,  whereas  Lampo  is  neither  Dutch  nor 
French  nor  German,  but  would  indicate  a  Spanish 
or  Italian  origin.  He  could  hardly  have  been  of 
either  of  these  nationalities. 


156  HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YORK 

While  so  much  of  New  Netherland  centered  at  Manhattan  Island  the 
Colonial  Government  was  practically  a  town  government. 

About  the  personal  history  of  Peter  Minuit  very  little  is  known. 
He  is  generally  introduced  to  us  as  being  from  Wesel,  a  town  of 
Ehenish  Prussia,  very  near  the  borders  of  Holland.  And  hence  he 
has  been  called  by  some  writers  a  German.  But  his  name  is  unques- 
tionably Dutch,  it  being  the  old  form  of  the  word  for  minute,  which 
in  ancient  Dutch  is  spelled  "  minuit,"  while  illiterate  people  still  use 
the  older  pronunciation.  Wesel,  so  near  the  borders,  had  been  a  veri- 
table "  city  of  refuge  "  in  the  days  of  persecution  under  the  Duke  of 
Alva,  and  thousands  of  Protestants  fled  to  it  from  Holland.  In  1568, 
the  year  of  the  beginning  of  the  Eighty  Years'  War,  the  first  Synod 
of  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church  was  held  there,  and  when  the  Eepublic 
had  gained  strength  and  freedom,  it  is  possible  that  some  of  her 
citizens  remained  permanent  residents  of  the  town.  Hence  Peter 
Minuit  may  have  been  of  Dutch  parentage  though  born  at  Wesel ;  for 
in  the  Church  composed  of  the  descendants  of  the  Dutch  refugees, 
we  learn  from  the  letter  of  the  first  pastor  on  Manhattan  Island  that 
Minuit  was  a  deacon.  How  he  came  to  be  selected  by  the  Dutch  West 
India  Company  for  their  first  Director-General  does  not  appear.  He 
must,  however,  have  commended  himself  as  a  person  worthy  to  be 
intrusted  with  the  command  of  others,  and  of  a  sufficiently  adven- 
turous disposition  to  try  his  fortunes  under  circumstances  so  novel 
as  they  were  likely  to  be  in  the  New  World.  It  is  also  extremely  prob- 
able that  the  Amsterdam  merchants  had  knowledge  of  his  capacity 
as  derived  from  some  occupation  or  office  connected  with  the  East 
India  Company.  Its  possessions  abroad  had  become  a  training-school 
for  energetic  and  enterprising  young  men  in  the  work  of  colonial 
government  and  the  advancement  of  Dutch  commerce.  Wesel  was 
far  from  the  sea  but  on  the  banks  of  the  Rhine,  and  Amsterdam,  with 
its  preponderating  size  and  wealth,  acted  as  a  loadstone  upon  all  am- 
bitious natures  who  wished  to  see  the  world,  to  every  part  of  which 
she  was  daily  sending  scores  of  ships. 

There  being  no  houses  suitable  to  receive  the  Director-General,  his 
Council,  and  his  subordinate  officers,  it  may  be  supposed  that  they 
remained  for  a  time  upon  the  Sea-Mew  while  she  lay  anchored  in 
some  sheltered  cove  within  the  shore-line  of  Manhattan  Island.  The 
first  act  of  the  Colonial  Government  was  the  highly  honorable  one 
of  securing  the  land  to  be  acquired,  by  purchase  from  its  aboriginal 
owners.  Imagination,  aided  by  the  painter's  brush,  has  brought  that 
scene  before  the  minds  of  later  generations.1  On  the  very  edge  of 

l  The  illustration  of  the  text  on  another  page  is  in  of  the  late  Dr.  James  Anderson,  an  Elder  for  several 
part  a  reproduction  of  a  picture  of  this  scene  by  years  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  (Collegiate)  Church 
William  Ranney,  of  Philadelphia,  painted  by  order  of  New- York. 


PETER     MINUIT     AND    WALTER     VAN    TWILLEB 


157 


the  land,  low  by  the  water,  in  a  clearing  of  the  primeval  forest,  stood 
the  representatives  of  European  civilization  face  to  face  with  the 
"  untutored  Indian."  The  contact  in  many  instances  before  had  been 
ruinously  destructive  to  the  red  man,  Here  was  suppressed  all  con- 
sideration of  laws  that  were  binding  as  between  man  and  man  on  the 
other  side  of  the  Atlantic.  Might,  in  rude  contempt  for  right,  where 
ignorance  knew  not  how 
to  assert  it  nor  weak- 
ness how  to  defend  it, 
had  trampled  upon  the 
very  instincts  of  human 
nature  in  the  savage 
breast.  Such  had  been 
the  policy  and  practice 
of  Spain;  the  citizens 
of  a  free  republic,  how- 
ever, growing  stronger 
every  day  by  successful 
commerce  with  numer- 
ous tribes  and  nations — 
these  would  show  an  ex- 
ample of  acknowledg- 
ing rights  where  none 
could  be  asserted,  and 
of  dealing  fairly  with 
savages  upon  a  desert 
isle.  We  can  see  the  glit- 
tering trinkets,  brought 
from  the  ship  near  by 
in  chests,  opened  upon 
the  shore,  the  eager 
eyes  of  Indian  men  and 
women  watching  the 

display  of  the  contents,  each  article  still  more  wonderful  than  that 
which  went  before.  An  extent  of  territory  which  Minuit  and  his 
officers  estimated  at  eleven  thousand  Dutch  morgens,  or  more  than 
twenty-two  thousand  acres,  was  definitely  transferred,  in  some  way 
doubtless  mutually  understood,  as  becoming  henceforth  the  property  of 
the  strangers  from  Europe,  ceded  to  them  in  due  form,  so  that  the  In- 
dian proprietors  comprehended  and  appreciated  that  it  had  passed  out 
of  their  hands  into  those  of  the  others,  conveying  to  them  an  ownership 
as  legitimate  as  had  been  their  own.  Exception  has  been  taken  to  the 
inadequacy  of  the  price  paid :  sixty  guilders,  or  twenty-four  dollars. 
Yet  how  was  adequacy  of  price  then  to  be  determined  ?  The  honest 


158  HISTORY     OF     NEW-YORK 

Hollanders  certainly  could  not  be  expected  to  have  paid  its  present 
value,  estimated  at  two  thousand  millions  of  dollars.  And  what  would 
the  Indians  have  cared  for  a  hundred  thousand  florins,  at  which  the 
Dutch  valued  a  ton  of  gold  ?  But,  on  the  contrary,  the  glittering  beads 
and  baubles  and  brightly  colored  cloths,  great  quantities  of  which 
could  have  been  obtained  in  that  day  for  sixty  florins,  filled  the  minds 
of  the  simple  Indians  with  delight.  These  would  represent  untold 
wealth  to  them  by  reason  of  the  attractiveness  of  the  articles,  and  a 
more  than  adequate  price  for  an  island,  small  in  the  midst  of  the  vast 
regions  over  which  they  were  free  to  roam  and  hunt. 

When  in  the  summer  of 
1875  the  writer  asked  the 
late  Queen  of  the  Nether- 

\  . 

lands  it  sixty  guilders  was 
not  a  very  small  considera- 
tion  to  give  for  Manhattan 
Island,  being  but  about 
one-tenth  of  a  penny  an 
acre,  Her  Majesty,  un- 
aware  that  the  amount 
was  not  paid  in  gold  or 
silver  coin,  promptly  re- 
plied, making  the  follow- 

s  -  ing    clever    defense,    if 

<77+~~.i  •**  ^L/so+J  .  any  was  required,  of  the 

thrifty  Dutchmen:  "If 
the  savages  had  received 
more  for  their  land  they  would  simply  have  drunk  more  fire-water. 
With  sixty  florins  they  could  not  purchase  sufficient  to  intoxicate 
each  member  of  the  tribe ! " 

Of  this  purchase,  so  unique  and  rare  an  episode  in  the  history  of 
American  colonization,  there  fortunately  exists  unassailable  proof. 
On  July  27,  1626,  a  vessel  named  the  Arms  of  Amsterdam  arrived  at 
Manhattan  Island.  She  bore  as  passenger  Isaac  de  Easieres,  the 
Secretary  of  the  Colonial  Government,  and  had  for  her  captain 
Adriaen  Joris,  who  in  1623  accompanied  Captain  May,  and  was  left 
in  charge  of  the  colony  at  Fort  Orange.  On  the  23d  of  September  the 
vessel  was  ready  to  sail  again  for  the  Fatherland  with  a  valuable 
cargo  of  furs  and  logs  of  timber,  soon  to  be  tested  in  Holland  for  its 
ship-building  qualities.  But  more  than  that,  she  carried  the  official 
announcement  of  the  purchase  of  Manhattan  Island,  addressed  to  the 
"Assembly  of  the  XIX"  of  the  West  India  Company,  in  session  at 
Amsterdam,  for  the  first  six  years  of  the  charter  were  not  yet  past. 
'The  nineteenth  member,  representing  the  States-General  at  this  ses- 


PETER    MINUIT    AND    WALTER    VAN    TWILLER  159 

sion,  was  Peter  Jans  Schaghen,  Councilor  and  Magistrate  of  the  city 
of  Alkmaar,  in  North  Holland,  and  deputy  in  the  States-General  from 
the  States  of  Holland  and  West  Friesland.1  While  in  duty  bound  to 
report  the  proceedings  of  the  Assembly  of  the  XIX  to  the  august 
body  who  had  delegated  him,  it  would  scarcely  seem  likely  that  he 
was  required  to  send  a  report  every  day.  It  is  more  probable  that 
after  the  adjournment  of  the  former  he  would  render  an  account  of 
its  affairs  in  person  at  a  regular  session  of  the  States-General.  But 
on  November  4,  1626,  so  interesting  an  event  occurred  that  he 
did  not  wait  to  report  it  in  person.  The  Arms  of  Amsterdam  had 
arrived  from  New  Netherlarid,  and  the  announcement  of  the  purchase 
had  been  presented  in  the  Assembly.  Thereupon,  on  the  next  day, 
Schaghen  addressed  to  the  States-General,  in  session  at  The  Hague, 
the  following  historic  letter: 

High  Mighty  Sirs : 

Here  arrived  yester'day  the  ship  The  Arms  of  Amsterdam  which  sailed  from  New 
Netherland  out  of  the  Mauritius  River  on  September  23 ;  they  report  that  our  people 
there  are  of  good  courage  and  live  peaceably.  Their  women,  also,  have  borne  children 
there,  they  have  bought  the  island  Manhattes  from  the  wild  men  for  the  value  of  sixty 
guilders,  is  11,000  morgens  in  extent.  They  sowed  all  their  grain  the  middle  of  May, 
and  harvested  it  the  middle  of  August.  Thereof  being  samples  of  summer  grain,  such 
as  wheat,  rye,  barley,  oats,  buckwheat,  canary  seed,  small  beans,  and  flax.  The  cargo 
of  the  aforesaid  ship  is  :  7246  beaver  skins,  178^  otter  skins,  675  otter  skins,  48  mink 
skins,  36  wild-cat  (lynx)  skins,  33  minks,  34  rat  skins.  Many  logs  of  oak  and  nut- 
wood. Herewith  be  ye  High  Mighty  Sirs,  commended  to  the  Almighty's  grace,  In 
Amsterdam,  November  5,  Ao.  1626. 

Your  High  Might.'s  Obedient, 

P.  SCHAGHEN. 

The  letter  is  addressed : "  Messieurs  the  States-General,  in  The  Hague,"2 
and  the  original  copy  is  preserved  to  this  day  among  the  archives 
of  the  Kingdom  of  the  Netherlands.  By  the  courtesy  of  Mr.  T.  H.  F. 
Van  Eiemsdyk,  the  "  General  Archivist,"  at  The  Hague,  a  photographic 
copy  for  this  work  was  for  the  first  time  permitted  to  be  taken,  and 
thus  its  fac-siinile  reproduction  upon  another  page  furnishes  to  every 
reader  undeniable  proof  of  the  purchase  of  the  Island  of  Manhattan 
by  Director-General  Minuit  as  the  initial  act  of  his  term  of  office,  and 
the  inauguration  of  colonial  government  for  the  State  of  New- York. 

i  In  passing  by  rail  from  the  city  of  Alkmaar  to  Manhattan  Island,  it  has  seemed  of  sufficient  in- 

that  of  Den  Helder,  the  great  naval  station  of  Hoi-  terest  to  mention  these  particulars, 

land,  the  traveler  will  see  the  village  of  Schagen,  2  The  translation  of  this  letter  is  published  twice 

a  few  miles  north  of  Alkmaar,  attention  being  es-  in  "Documents  relating  to  Colonial  History  of 

pecially  attracted  by  a  large  and  handsome  brick  New- York,"  pp.  xxxix  and  37.     We  have  adhered 

church  with  stone  trimmings,  that  would  grace  somewhat  more  closely  to  the  original  phraseology 

any  of  the  avenues  of  our  city.    In  some  forms  of  and  punctuation.     "  Sirs  "  gives  a  more  correct 

Schagen's  name  occurs  the  "van"  or  of;   some-  idea  of  the  Dutch  "Heeren  "  than  "Lords."    It  is 

times  he  is  called  the  Lord  of  Schagen.     Possibly  unnecessary  to  add  that  sixty  guilders  is  equiva- 

this  village  formed  part  of  his  patrimonial  estate,  lent  to  $24 ;  and  that  11,000  morgens  amount  to 

or  at  least  he  may  have  been  born  there.     From  more  than  22,000  acres.     The  Dutch  morgen  is 

his  connection  with  the  episode  of  the  purchase  of  equal  to  two  and  one-tenth  acres. 


PAC-SIMILE    OF    THE    SCHAGHEN    LETTER. 


PETEE    MINUIT    AND    WALTEE    VAN    TWILLEE  161 

From  the  letter  of  Deputy  Schaghen  it  would  appear  that  the  colo- 
nists who  accompanied  the  Director  very  soon  addressed  themselves  to 
cultivating  the  purchased  land.  Having  arrived  at  Manhattan  on  May 
4th,  by  the  middle  of  the  month,  it  appears,  grain  of  many  kinds  was 
already  in  the  ground.  But  there  was  work  also  of  another  character 
for  a  portion  of  the  pioneers.  A  military  engineer,  whose  name  is 
given  by  Wassenaer  as  Kryn  Fredericke,  accompanied  the  expedition, 
and  under  his  direction  labor  was  at  once  commenced  upon  the  lines 
of  a  regular  fort.  Nature  itself  indicated  a  site  such  as  would  com- 
mand the  entrance  to  both  rivers.  The  shore-line  now  includes  the  park 
of  the  Battery ;  but  in  those  days  the  waves  of  the  incoming  tides 
beat  close  to  the  western  wall  along  the  line  of  State  street.  The 
walls  of  the  fort  were  originally  constructed  of  earth  and  faced  with 
sods ;  in  1628  it  was  still  in  process  of  construction,  and  then  the  walls 
were  fortified  by  masonry- work  of  "good  quarry  stone."1  In  the 
later  history  of  the  fort  the  ample  space  within  was  occupied  by 
numerous  edifices,  even  a  church,  but  while  it  was  building  several 
structures  were  erected  outside  of  the  lines.  Among  these  were  a 
stone  or  brick  warehouse  for  the  storing  of  the  Company's  goods 
while  awaiting  shipment  for  the  Fatherland,  and  a  mill,  whose  motive 
power  was  a  horse.  The  upper  story  of  this  mill  was  devoted  to 
sacred  uses,  rude  benches  and  a  pulpit  or  desk  of  primitive  form  being 
placed  in  position  for  religious  services.  Clustering  near  the  walls 
that  were  daily  rising  higher  was  a  group  of  thirty  small  houses,  built 
mostly  of  boards  or  logs,  and  covered  on  roof  and  sides  with  bark  or 
thatch.  These  lined  the  bank  of  the  North  River,  each  family 
occupying  a  cabin.  The  roofs  of  thatch  and  bark,  exposed  to  the 
summer  sun,  invited  a  disaster  which  finally  took  place.  Before  1628 
the  settlement  on  Manhattan  Island  had  already  suffered  from  a 
general  conflagration,  by  which  many  of  the  colonists  lost  valuable 
papers  and  other  property.2 

Surveying  in  advance  the  period  of  this  administration,  there  seem 
to  be  but  few  events  upon  which  to  dwell.  Perhaps  this  evinces 
its  peculiar  merit,  according  to  the  familiar  maxim,  "  Happy  is 
the  people  that  has  no  annals."  Until  recent  years,  the  very  fact 
that  Peter  Minuit  ruled  here  as  Director  was  somewhat  apocryphal. 
"  Some  doubt  has  hitherto  existed,"  remarked  Senator  Folsom,  in 
his  report  on  Brodhead's  collection  of  documents,  "in  regard  to  the 
name  of  the  Director- General  or  Governor  of  the  Colony  prior  to 
the  year  1633;  and  although  it  was  generally  supposed  that  the 
office  was  then  held  by  Peter  Minuit,  yet  no  official  act  of  that  per- 
son as  chief  magistrate  was  among  our  records."  Mr.  Brodhead 
found  an  original  document  conveying  part  of  the  Patroonship  on  the 

l  Letter  of  Rev.  Jonas  Michaelius,  in  Doc.  rel.  Col.  Hist.  N.  Y.,  2:  769  (Appendix).     2  n>M  p.  704. 
VOL.  I.— 11. 


162 


HISTORY    OF    NEW- YORK 


Delaware,  and  bearing  Minuit's  name.  Two  other  documents,  how- 
ever, exist  which  afford  additional  proof  of  his  Directorship.  They 
were  discovered  by  the  editor  of  this  work  while  engaged  in  the 
summer  of  1889  in  making  researches  among  the  archives  of  Amster- 
dam.1 This  contract  and  deed,  of  which  fac-similes  are  herewith 

given,  are  both  signed  by  Director  Minuit 
and  his  Council,  and  convey  part  of  the 
patroonship  of  Rensselaerswyck.  They 
were  in  the  possession  of  the  late  Admiral 
Van  Rensselaer  Bowier,  aide-de-camp  to 
the  King,  and  the  representative  of  the 
Dutch  branch  of  the  Van  Rensselaer  fam- 
ily, who,  in  perfect  good  faith,  asserted  that 
they  were  the  contract  and  deed  for  Man- 
hattan Island,  but  which  on  careful  exami- 
nation proved  not  to  be  the  case.2  They 
were  for  the  Albany  lands  of  his  ancestor, 
ADMIRAL  VAN  RENSSELAER  BOWIER.  Kiliaen  Van  Eensselaer,  and  it  is  exceed- 
ingly doubtful  if  any  documentary  transfer  of  title  was  made  to 
Minuit  by  the  Manhattan  or  Rickgawawanc  tribe  of  Indians. 

There  exists  therefore  ample  documentary  evidence  that  before  1633 
Peter  Minuit  guided  the  destinies  of  New  Netherland  under  the  aus- 
pices of  the  Dutch  West  India  Company.  And  uneventful  as  were 
the  years  of  his  incumbency,  it  will  be  observed  that  the  few  events 
that  present  themselves  for  notice  proved  to  be  the  germ  of  later  oc- 


l  In  the  matter  of  documents  it  may  be  well  to 
indicate  here  that  there  is  no  occasion  to  aban- 
don the  hope  of  discovering  such  as  bear  on  the 
earliest  colonial  history  of  our  State.  As  is  well 
known,  when  Mr.  Brodhead  undertook  researches 
among  the  archives  of  Holland  at  The  Hague  in 
1841,  lie  learned  that  twenty  years  before  more 
than  a  ton  of  the  West  India  Company's  papers 
had  been  sold  at  auction  for  waste  paper  by  an 
unwise  official  who  wished  to  use  the  space  occu- 
pied by  what  he  deemed  worthless  documents. 
Brodhead  concluded  that  these  must  have  been 
irretrievably  lost,  and  that  none  were  in  existence 
except  the  few  found  in  the  Archives  Office.  But 
Netscher  in  his  "  Les  Hollandais  au  Br6sil "  (1853) 
mentions  the  fact  that  in  1851  a  number  of  West 
India  documents  were  discovered  at  Middelburg, 
and  later  Mr.  Carson  Brevoort  collected  some 
three-score  papers  relating  to  Brazil,  to  New 
Netherland,  and  to  the  recapture  of  New- York  by 
the  Dutch  in  1673  (including  a  letter  of  Admiral 
Evertsen)  which  are  undoubtedly  a  part  of  the 
original  West  India  Company's  documents.  These 
are  now  in  New- York,  having  passed  into  the 
hands  of  Mr.  Walter  R.  Benjamin,  of  New- York, 
and  the  Archivist  of  the  Netherlands  is  in  corre- 
spondence with  him  for  their  purchase.  They 
should,  however,  remain  in  this  country,  and  be 
added  to  the  collections  of  our  City  or  State. 


2  During  the  past  week,  while  engaged  in  ex- 
amining the  public  archives  at  the  Hague,  General 
Grant  Wilson,  the  well-known  American  author, 
met  with  a  letter  addressed  to  the  States-General 
of  the  "United  Netherlands  by  P.  Schagen,  dated 
Amsterdam,  November  7,  1626,  announcing  the 
purchase  of  the  Island  of  Manhattan  by  the  Dutch 
West  India  Company  for  the  sum  of  $24,  or  say 
£5.  Two  days  later  he  was  so  fortunate  as  to  find 
the  original  deed,  which  had  lain  perdu  for  263 
years  among  the  papers  of  an  ancient  Dutch 
family.  Amsterdam  furnished  eight  of  the  nineteen 
delegates  from  five  chambers  of  managers  of  the 
company,  located  in  the  five  principal  cities  of 
Holland.  In  the  family  of  perhaps  the  most  im- 
portant of  the  Amsterdam  delegates,  it  is  pre- 
sumed, the  deed  has  remained  since  the  year  1626. 
General  Wilson  expects  to  be  able  to  purchase  the 
deed  and  take  it  with  him  when  he  returns  to  New 
York  in  October,  in  order  to  place  it  in  the  cus- 
tody of  the  city  or  State  of  New- York.  Comput- 
ing the  interest  at  the  rates  that  have  prevailed 
on  the  island  since  its  original  purchase,  it  would 
make  its  cost  at  the  present  time  £2,178,000.  Large 
as  this  sum  may  appear,  it  is  but  a  small  portion 
of  its  value,  as  will  readily  be  seen  when  it  is 
stated  that  two  corner  lots  on  the  Fifth  Avenue, 
25  ft.  by  100  ft.  each,  were  last  month  sold  for 
£60,000.  These  were  simply  vacant  lots,  without 


PETER    MINUIT    AND    WALTER    VAN    TWILLER 


163 


currences  of  importance,  especially  in  the  matter  of  the  relations  with 
the  English  and  the  surrounding  Indians;  while  the  institution  of  the 
Patroonships,  beginning  under  Minuit's  Administration,  was  both  fatal 


buildings,  situated  between  56th  and  57th  streets, 
near  the  entrance  to  the  Central  Park.  The  island 
contains  more  than  22,000  acres.  The  discovery  of 
this  deed  was  made  in  the  course  of  researches  con- 
cerning Mrs.  Wilson's  Bayard  ancestors,  who  went 


to  the  New  World  in  1647  with  their  kinsman,  the 
last  of  the  Dutch  Governors  of  New  Netherland, 
the  celebrated  Peter  Stuyvesant. 

—  The  London  Times,  1G  July,  1889. 


CONTRACT. 


INASMUCH  AS  BASTIAEN  JANSSEN  CROL,  com- 
missary at  Fort  Orange  here  at  the  Manhatas,  has 
made  known  to  the  Hon.  Council  of  this  place, 
that  the  land  situated  near  the  aforesaid  fort 
could  not  be  bought  this  present  year  from  the 
owners  thereof,  and  that,  even  though  such  were 
acquired  thereafter,  it  would  only  be  understood 
by  the  Virginians  to  be  sold  so  long  as  he  (Crol) 
should  continue  to  reside  at  the  fort ;  THAT,  further, 
Wolfert  Gerritsz,  having  orders  from  the  Hon. 
High  Principals  to  inform  their  Hons.  of  the 
state  of  affairs  there,  had  expressly  inquired  of 
him  (Crol)  as  to  this,  what  and  what  sort  of  advice 
he  should  send  about  it  to  the  estimable  H.(igh) 
Principals,  DID  thereupon  reply  that  there  was 
this  year  no  chance  or  means  of  acquiring  any 
land,  answering  to  the  same  effect  repeatedly  ac- 
cording to  the  deposition  of  aforesaid  Wolfert 
Gerritsz  thereanent  made,  Thereafter  it  occurred, 
That  Gilles  Hosset,  on  the  twenty-seventh  of  July, 
1630,  in  sailing  up  the  river,  arriving  at  the  place 
where  Jan  Jansz  Meyns  was  encamped  with  his 
men  for  the  cutting  of  round  timber  for  the  new 
ship;  there  having  also  come  by  chance  to  this 
spot,  Kotiamak,  Nawanemitt,  Alantzenee,  Sagiskwa, 
and  Kanamoak,  owners  and  proprietors  of  their 
respective  parcels  of  land,  stretching  along  the 
river  to  the  south  and  north  of  dita  fort,  to  a  lutien 
south  of  Moeneminnes  Castle,  Belonging  together 
and  conjunctim  to  the  aforesaid  owners,  and  to  the 
aforesaid  Nawanemit  in  particular  his  land  called 
Semesseeck,  situated  on  the  east  shore,  from 
opposite  the  castle  island  to  the  aforesaid  fort, 
Item  from  Potanock  the  Mill  Kill  northward  to  Ne- 
gagonse,  fully  about  three  miles  long,  and  the 
Aforesaid  Gilles  Hosset,  having  come  to  an  agree- 
ment with  the  said  owners  of  the  aforesaid  land, 
to  sell,  cede,  and  surrender  the  said  respective 
parcels  of  land,  these  same  Declared  in  presence 
of  and  before  Jan  Jansz  Meyns,  Wolfert  Gerritsz, 
and  Jan  Tyssen,  Trumpeter,  to  be  content  there- 
with, to  sell,  transfer,  cede,  and  surrender,  the 
said  respective  parcels  of  land;  in  pursuance 
whereof  they  thereafter  on  the  8th  of  August  next 
following,  before  us,  Director  and  Council  in  New 
Netherland,  residing  on  the  island  Manhatas  and 
the  fort  Amsterdam,  under  the  jurisdiction  of 
their  H.  M.  the  Lords  States  General  of  the 
United  Netherlands,  and  the  Chartered  West 


India  Company  of  the  Chamber  of  Amsterdam, 
voluntarily  and  deliberately  for  and  in  consider- 
ation of  certain  portions  of  cargoes,  which  they 
acknowledge  to  have  and  to  hold  in  their  hands 
and  power  for  the  passing  of  these  presents,  even 
as  they  by  virtue  and  title  of  sale  do  transfer, 
cede  and  surrender  by  these  presents  to  and  for 
the  benefit  of  Mr.  Kiliaen  Van  Eensselaer,  being 
absent,  and  for  whom  we  accept  the  same  ex  officio 
with  proper  stipulations,  namely  the  respective 
parcels  of  land  hereinbefore  specified,  with  the 
forests,  appendages  and  dependencies  thereof, 
together  with  all  action,  claim,  and  rights  accru- 
ing therefrom  to  the  cedents  jointly  and  in  par- 
ticular; constituting  and  surrendering  the  same 
to  the  abovementioned  Mr.  Rensselaer,  in  their 
stead,  condition,  and  right  giving  him  real  and 
actual  possession  thereof,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
complete,  absolute  and  irrevocable  power,  au- 
thority, and  special  control  tanqnam  A  ctor  et  Pro- 
curator in  rem  suam  ac  propriam  ;  the  same  land 
to  be  assumed  by  the  oft  and  abovementioned  Mr. 
Rensselaer,  or  those  who  hereafter  might  acquire 
his  rights,  to  be  possessed  in  peace,  cultivated, 
occupied,  used;  also  therewith  or  thereof  to  do, 
treat,  and  dispose,  even  as  his  Hon.  or  others, 
would  do,  or  be  allowed  to  do,  with  their  own 
properly  and  by  lawful  title  acquired  lands  and 
domains ;  without  that  they,  the  cedents,  shall  in 
the  least  have,  reserve,  or  retain  any  part,  right, 
claim,  or  authority  therein  whether  of  proprietor- 
ship, command,  or  jurisdiction;  but  much  rather 
in  his  behalf,  as  before  said,  in  infinitum  desisting, 
surrendering,  resigning  and  renouncing  all  this  by 
these  presents ;  Promising  further  not  alone  to  hold 
firm,  binding  and  irrevocable,  this  their  Transfer, 
and  that  which  may  be  done  by  virtue  thereof,  but 
also  to  see  to  the  eviction  of  the  aforesaid  land 
oUigans  et  Renuncians  and  A  bonafide ;  In  witness 
whereof  is  the  present  confirmed  by  our  customary 
signatures,  with  the  ordinary  seal  suspended  below. 
Actum  on  aforesaid  island  Manhatas,  and  fort 
Amsterdam,  on  the  day  and  year  mentioned  above. 

PETER  MINUIT,  D. 
PIETER  BYLVELT. 
JAN  LAMPE,  Schout. 
REYNER  HARMENSEN 
JAN  JANSZ  MEYNS. 


DEED. 
Anno  1630 -Adi  13  Augusti. 


WE,  DIRECTOR  AND  COUNCIL  IN  NEW  NETHER- 
LAND, RESIDING  ON  THE  ISLAND  THE  MANNAHATAS 
AND  THE  FORT  AMSTERDAM,  under  the  jurisdiction 
of  Messrs,  their  H  M.  the  Lords  States  General  of 
the  United  Netherlands  and  the  Chartered  West  In- 


dia Company,  of  the  Chamber  of  Amsterdam,  tes- 
tify and  declare  by  these  presents,  That  on  this 
date  subscribed  hereto,  appeared  and  showed  them- 
selves before  us  in  proper  person  Kottamack,  Na- 
wanemit,  Alantzeene,  Sagiskwa,  and  Kanamoack, 


164  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YOEK 

to  its  continuance  and  left  for  future  generations  a  heritage  of  trouble 
and  legal  contentions. 

Negotiations  with  the  English  colonies  were  soon  inaugurated.  The 
Indians  occupying  the  territory  lying  between  the  Dutch  and  the 
Pilgrims,  who  traded  their  furs  to  representatives  from  both  settle- 
ments, soon  made  them  aware  of  one  another's  exact  positions.  Minuit 
was  the  first  to  extend  the  courtesy  of  addressing  letters  to  Governor 
William  Bradford,  conveying  a  formal  and  cordial  greeting.  But 
from  the  first  a  presage  of  trouble  was  thrown  into  the  intercourse. 
Bradford,  receiving  Minuit's  letters  written  in  French  and  Dutch,  early 
in  March,  1627,  replied  on  March  29th.  He  acknowledged  with  cordi- 
ality the  indebtedness  incurred  and  the  gratitude  felt  by  the  Pilgrims 
toward  the  Netherlander  for  "  the  good  and  courteous  entreaty " 
which  they  had  found  in  their  country,  "having  lived  there  many 
years  with  freedom  and  good  content."  But  at  the  same  time  he 
reminded  the  Dutch  that  the  region  where  they  had  settled  was  Eng- 

land's  by  first  right,  offering  indeed  no  inter- 

*33tfzJr0>t'L  ference  on  nig  own  Part>  but  warning  them 
against  the  possible  assertion  of  that  right  on 
the  part  of  the  Virginians,  or  by  vessels  from  England  engaged  in  the 
fisheries  on  the  American  coast.  Director  Minuit  hastened  to  assure 
the  governor  of  New  Plymouth  Colony  that  there  was  no  doubt  in  his 
own  mind  or  in  that  of  his  countrymen  as  to  their  right  to  settle  in 

owners  and  proprietors  of  their  respective  parcels  used,  also  therewith  and  thereof  to  act,  to  do,  and 
of  land,  stretching  along  the  river  to  the  south  and  to  dispose,  even  as  his  Hon.,  or  others,  might  or 
north  from  dito  fort  to  a  lutien  south  of  Moenemin-  may  be  permitted  to  do  with  their  remaining  and 
nes  Castle,  belonging  to  the  aforesaid  owners  to-  other  own  and  properly  acquired  lands  and  do- 
gether  and  conjunction,  and  to  the  aforesaid  Nawa-  mains,  Without  that  they  the  cedents  shall  reserve 
nemit  in  particular,  his  land  called  Semesseeck,  or  retain  therein  any  the  least  part,  right,  title,  or 
situated  on  the  east  shore,  from  opposite  the  authority,  whether  of  proprietorship,  control,  or 
Castle  island  to  the  aforesaid  fort,  Item  from  Pota-  jurisdiction,  But  much  rather  in  behalf  of  the 
nock  the  Mill  Kill  northward  to  Negagonse,  fully  aforesaid  in  itifinitum  desisting,  surrendering,  re- 
about  three  miles  in  length,  and  declared  that  they  signing,  and  renouncing  it  by  these  presents, 
voluntarily  and  deliberately,  — for  and  in  consid-  Promising  further,  not  alone  to  observe  always 
eration  of  certain  portions  of  cargoes,  which  they  firmly,  faithfully  and  irrevocably  this  their  trans- 
acknowledged  to  have  received  into  their  hands,  fer  and  whatever  may  be  done  by  virtue  thereof, 
and  power  for  the  passing  of  this  present  [instru-  and  to  follow  and  fulfil  the  same;  but  to  see  to  the 
ment] ,  even  as  they  by  virtue  and  title  of  sale  evacuation  of  the  aforesaid  land,  obligans  et  Henun- 
hereby  do — transfer,  cede,  and  yield  by  these  cians  et  A  bona  fide.  In  Witness  is  this  present 
presents,  to  and  in  behoof  of  Mr.  Kiliaen  Van  confirmed  by  our  usual  signatures,  with  the  ordi- 
Bensselaer,  absent,  and  for  whom  weexqfficio,  in  nary  seal  suspended  below,  Actum  on  the  aforesaid 
view  of  proper  stipulations,  accept  the  same,  Island  Manahatas,  and  Fort  Amsterdam,  on  the  day 

namely,  the  respective  parcels  of  land  hereinabove  and  year  hereinabove  written 

specified,  with  the  forests,  appendages,  and  de-  PETER  MINUIT,  Director. 

pendencies  thereof,  together  with  all  title,  right,  PIETER  BYLVELT. 

and  equity  accruing  therefrom  to  the  cedents  joint-  JACOBS  ELBERTSZ  WISSINOK. 

ly  or  in  particular ; —  constituting  and  surrender-  JAN  JANSZEN  BROUWER. 

ing  to  the  above-mentioned  Mr.  Rensselaer  in  their  SYMON  DIRCKSZ  Vos. 

stead,  condition  and  right,  real  and  actual  posses-  BEYNER  HARMENSEN. 

sion  thereof,  and  at  the  same  time  giving  [him] 

perfect,  absolute  and  irrevocable  power,  authority,  This  instrument,  written  with  mine  own  hand, 

and  special  control  tanquam  Actor  et  Procurator  in  Is  in  the  absence  of  the  Secretary  executed  in  my 

rem  suam  ac  propriam ;  the  same  land  to  be  by  the  presence  on  the  thirteenth  of  August,  sixteen  hun- 

often-  and  above-mentioned  Mr.  Bensselaer,  or  by  dred  and  thirty,  as  above, 

those  who  hereafter  may  acquire  his  Hon.'s  title,  LENAERT  COLE,  Vice-Secretary. 

assumed,  peaceably  possessed,  cultivated,  occupied,  JAN  LAMPE,  Schout. 


PETEH    MINUIT    AND    WALTER    VAN    TWILLEB 


165 


New  Netherlaud.  In  his  zeal  to  assert  a  priority  of  trade  he  put  an 
exaggerated  estimate  upon  the  length  of  time  the  Dutch  had  been 
trading  in  this  vicinity,  making  it  "  six  or  seven  and  twenty  years," 
instead  of  sixteen  or  seventeen.1  These  letters  had  been  despatched 
back  and  forth  by  the  hands  of  friendly  Indians.  But  when  Minuit's 
last  missive,  sent  in  May,  had  received  no  reply  by  August,  on  the  9th 
of  that  month  he  sent  the  captain  of  a  vessel  then  in  port,  to  carry  a 
third  communication  to  Governor  Bradford.  This  was  John  Jacob- 
sen,  of  the  island  of  Wieringen,  in  the  Zuyder  Zee.  He  sailed  with 
his  ship  the  "  Drie  Koningen," 
or  the  Three  Kings,2  into  Buz- 
zard's Bay,  and  landing  at  a 
point  then  called  Manomet, 
now  Monument  Village,  in  the 
town  of  Sandwich,  he  proceed- 
ed on  foot  to  New  Plymouth. 
He  was  graciously  received  by 
Bradford,  and  sent  back  with  a 
request  for  a  still  more  formal 
delegation,  to  consist  of  a  per- 
son in  authority  at  Fort  Amster- 
dam, with  whom  negotiations 
could  be  effected  of  an  important  nature.  Director  Minuit  readily  fell 
in  with  this  request,  and  selected  for  the  mission  the  Provincial  Secre- 
tary, who  may  be  regarded  as  the  next  in  command  under  him.  The 
ship  Nassau,  freighted  with  merchandise  both  for  trading  and  for  pre- 
sentation to  the  Governor,  was  placed  at  his  disposal,  and  a  party 
of  soldiers  with  a  trumpeter  was  sent  as  a  guard  of  honor.  The 
Nassau  proceeded  to  Manomet,  whence  De  Rasieres  sent  word  to 
Bradford  that  he  had  arrived  at  this  point,  but  naively  remarking 
that  he  could  not  follow  Captain  Jacobsen's  example  and  walk  all  the 
remainder  of  the  journey.  "  I  have  not  gone  so  far  this  three  or  four 
years,"  he  added,  "  wherefore  I  fear  my  feet  will  fail  me."  A  boat 
was  accordingly  sent  up  a  creek  falling  into  Cape  Cod  Bay  from  the 
south,  whose  head  waters  reached  to  within  four  or  five  miles  of  Mano- 
met on  the  other  side  of  the  isthmus.  To  this  short  distance  De 
Rasieres  did  not  object,  and  embarking  in  the  boat,  he  reached  New 
Plymouth  in  due  season,  "  honorably  attended  with  a  noise  of  trum- 
pets." The  principal  result  of  these  personal  negotiations,  besides 
cementing  the  bonds  of  friendship,  and  encouraging  commerce  be- 

iThis  obvious  and  natural  mistake  has  given      wise  men  from  the  East  who  came  to  visit  the 
some  ground  for  the  otherwise  unsupported  asser-      Christ-child  in  Bethlehem, 
tion  that  the  Dutch  had  been  on  Manhattan  Island         3  The  house  where  Secretary  de  Rasieres  was 


GOVERNOR  BRADFORD'S  HOUSE.3 


prior  to  Hudson. . 


hospitably  entertained  at  Plymouth  is  still  stand- 


2  "Drie  Koningen  "  is  the  Dutch  for  the  three      ing,  and  is  represented  in  the  above  illustration. 


166 


HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 


tween  the  two  colonies,  was  the  sale  to  the  Pilgrims  of  a  quantity  of 
wampum,  and  the  recommendation  of  its  use  in  trading  with  the 
natives.  The  English  soon  found  great  advantages  flowing  from  their 


>iMH.    Hj^.fyU'W'  vJlawK*.,.  vrft.  v4^*'»**«H  ^'yiJk^HW-ww"*'*^**^***  «fv-«^ 
^8^  *4  >««B  't*W*»  ^'Vl**  "•?'•**-  f****''  **1  **  ***%^  V*5t,  s*aifc»  ^    ***^?  •****-,?  ; 

^P8^P^ip»*^ S^  j^A^'^|U^-  ^3^-  *^-» v**^***^^*' 


Translation  of  above  fac-simile  of  the  last  page 
of  the  Michaelius  letter :  The  writer  has  begun  the 
sentence  with  the  statement  that  the  soil  was  fer- 
tile, and  would  reward  labor,  but  the  farmers 
"  must  clear  it  well  and  manure  and  cultivate  it 
the  same  as  our  lands  require.     It  has  happened 
hitherto  much  worse,  because  many  of  the  people 
are  not  very  laborious,  or  could  not  obtain  their 
proper  necessaries  for  want  of  bread.    But  it  now 
begins  to  go  on  better,  and  it  would  be  entirely 
different  now  if  the  Masters  would  only  send 
good  laborers  and  make  regulations  of  all  matters 
in  order,  with  what  the  land  itself  produces,  to  do 
for  the  best.    I  had  promised  [to  write]  to  the 
Reverend    Brothers    Rudolphus    Petri,  Joannes 
Sylvius,  and  Dom.  Cloppenburg,  who  with  your 
Reverence  were  charged  with  the  superintendence 
of  these  regions,  but  as  this  would  take  long,  and 
the  time  is  short,  and  my  occupations  at  present 
many,  will  you,  Right  Reverend,  be  pleased  to 
give  my  friendly  and  kind  regards  to  their  Rever- 
ences and  to  excuse  me,  on  condition  that  I  remain 
their  debtor  to  fulfill  my  promise— God  willing— 
by  the  next  voyage.    Will  you  also  give  my  sincere 
respects  to  the  Reverend  Dom.  Triglandius  and 
to  all  the  brethren  of  the  Consistory,  besides  to  all 
of  whom  I  have  not  thought  it  necessary  to  write 
particularly  at  this  time,  as  they  are  made  by  me 
participants  in  these  tidings,  and  are  content  to  be 


fed  from  the  hand  of  you,  Right  Reverend  Sir. 
If  it  shall  be  convenient  for  your  Reverence,  or 
any  of  the  Reverend  Brethren,  to  write  hither  to 
me  a  letter  concerning  matters  which  might  be 
important  in  any  degree  to  me,  it  would  be  very 
interesting  to  me,  living  here  in  a  savage  land 
without  any  society  of  our  order,  and  would  be  a 
spur  to  write  more  assiduously  to  the  Reverend 
Brethren  concerning  what  might  happen  here. 
And  especially  do  not  forget  my  hearty  salutation 
to  the  beloved  wife  and  brother-in-law  of  you, 
Right  Reverend,  who  have  shown  me  nothing 
but  friendship  and  kindness  above  my  deserts.  If 
there  is  anything  in  which  I  can  in  return  serve 
or  gratify  you,  Right  Reverend,  I  will  be  glad  to 
do  so  and  will  not  be  behindhand  in  anything. 
Concluding  then  herewith  and  commending  my- 
self to  your  Right  Reverend's  favorable  and  holy 
prayers  to  the  Lord. 

"Reverend  and  Learned  Sir,  Beloved  Brother 
in  Christ  and  kind  Friend:  commending  you, 
Right  Reverend,  and  all  of  you,  to  Almighty  God, 
by  His  Grace,  to  continued  health  and  prosperity, 
and  to  eternal  salvation  of  heart. 

"  From  the  Island  of  Manhatas,  in  New  Nether- 
land,  this  llth  August,  Anno  1628,  by  me,  your 
Right  Reverend's  obedient  in  Christ. 

"  JONAS  MICHAELJUS. 


PETER    MINUIT    AND    WALTER    VAN    TWILLER  167 

adoption  of  this  practical  advice.1  It  is,  however,  to  be  regretted  that 
relations  so  profitably  initiated  should  have  been  marked  ere  long  by 
unpleasant  features. 

Scanty  as  is  the  record  of  events  during  the  two  administrations 
which  form  the  subject  of  this  chapter,  it  is  a  singularly  fortunate  cir- 
cumstance that  there  are  in  existence  two  letters  descriptive  of  Man- 
hattan Island  during  the  earliest  years  of  colonization.  One  of  these 
is  the  letter  of  Secretary  de  Rasieres,  which,  in  addition  to  describing 
affairs  within  the  colony,  furnishes  the  details  of  his  embassage  to 
New  Plymouth  just  noted.  The  other  was  written  in  1628  by  the 
Rev.  Jonas  Michaelius,  the  first  clergyman  settled  on  this  island, 
and  is  addressed  to  a  minister  in  Amsterdam.2  It  affords  an  admir- 
able picture  of  every-day  life,  of  the  trials  and  hardships  that  beset 
the  first  settlers  of  Manhattan. 

The  first  item  of  importance  gathered  from  this  interesting  epistle  is 
the  character  of  a  sea  voyage  in  the  year  1628.  This  of  course  was 
the  initiatory  stage  in  the  process  of  colonizing,  and  it  certainly  was 
enough  to  deter  emigrants  altogether.  It  has  been  already  stated  that 
a  voyage  from  Holland  to  New  Netherland  was  unnecessarily  pro- 
longed, by  reason  of  the  roundabout  course  pursued  by  way  of  the 
Canary  Islands  and  the  West  Indies.  Leaving  Amsterdam  on  January 
24th,  the  ship  which  conveyed  Mr.  Michaelius  and  his  family  did  not 
arrive  at  Manhattan  till  April  7th.  And  that  long  journey  was  marked 
by  the  endurance  of  the  most  disagreeable  hardships.  The  captain 
was  often  intoxicated.  He  would  not  listen  to  complaints  when  he 
was  in  this  condition,  nor  would  he  remedy  matters  when  he  was 
sober.  The  minister's  family,  consisting  of  his  wife,  two  little  girls, 
and  a  boy,  were  subjected  to  great  deprivations.  "  Our  fare  in  the  ship 
was  very  poor  and  scanty,  so  that  my  blessed  wife  and  children,  not 
eating  with  us  in  the  cabin,  had  a  worse  lot  than  the  sailors  them- 
selves." Even  when  they  were  ill  other  than  with  seasickness,  from 
which  they  did  not  long  suffer,  no  better  fare  was  provided  for  them, 
because  of  the  captain's  culpable  neglect  of  his  duties.  Indeed,  as  a 
result,  seven  weeks  after  landing,  the  worthy  lady  died  from  the  effects 
of  this  dreadful  experience.  These  facts  are  certainly  instructive :  if  a 
minister's  family  was  reduced  to  endure  such  treatment  on  board  of 
a  ship,  what  must  have  been  the  experience  of  ordinary  emigrants?3 

1 "  Correspondence  between  New  Netherlands  graphical  work  on  New  Netherland.    He  prepared 

and  Plymouth,"  in  "  New-York  Historical  Society  it  for  publication  in  a  periodical  devoted  to  eccle- 

Collections,"  Second  Series,  1 :  364  ;   Letter  from  siastical  history,  in  which  it  appeared  in  the  year 

Isaack  de  Rasieres,"  Ib.,  2 : 350  -  353.  1858.   The  original  letter,  of  which  a  fac-simile  of 

*  Buried  for  two  hundred  and  thirty  years  among  the  last  page  is  herewith  given,  is  now  in  the  pos- 

the  neglected  documents  of  the  Classis  of  Amster-  session  of  Dr.  George  H.   Moore,   of  the  Lenox 

dam,    its    ecclesiastical    judicatory,    and    finally  Library. 

among  the  papers  of  an  official  of  a  civil  court,  3  Fifty  years  later,  when  the  Labadists  Danckers 

it  was  discovered  by  the  learned  antiquary  Bodel-  and  Sluyter  visited  New- York,  matters  had  not 

Nyenhuis,  to  whom   Dr.    Asher  was  so  greatly  much  improved  in  this  direction, 
indebted  for  aid  in  the  compilation  of  his  biblio- 


168  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YOKK 

Hence  it  must  have  then  required  courage  to  undertake  the  settling  of 
colonies  in  distant  America,  the  test  of  endurance  beginning  even 
before  arriving.  On  land  everything  was  rude,  tentative,  in  short, 
primitive,  and  therefore  imperfect.  The  privations  were  necessarily 
numerous  and  distressing.  For  daily  food  there  was  little  variation 
from  a  diet  of  "  beans  and  gray  peas,"  unpalatable  and  not  very 
strengthening,  so  that  those  in -delicate  health  had  little  hope  of  gain- 
ing vigor.  There  was  a  scarcity  of  horses  and  cattle,  and  therefore 
much  land  which  might  otherwise  have  yielded  abundance  of  wheat 
for  bread  was  left  uncultivated.  Milk  was  not  to  be  obtained  from 
the  farmers  because  there  was  not  enough  for  their  own  use,  while 
butter  and  cheese  were  equally  unattainable  luxuries.  The  best  that 
could  be  done  was  to  purchase,  at  exorbitant  prices,  ship's  stores  as 
vessels  came  into  port.  Nevertheless,  the  little  colony,  with  all  its 
hardships,  was  very  industrious.  The  farmers  were  exerting  them- 
selves to  the  utmost  to  draw  from  the  long-neglected  soil  the  staples 
of  life,  but  their  cry  was  for  more  farm  laborers.  More  timber  was 
cut  than  the  vessels  could  carry  to  the  home-country.  Brick-baking 
and  potash-burning  were  tried,  but  without  success.  A  saw-mill  was 
constructed  to  take  its  place  by  the  side  of  the  rude  grist-mill  worked 
by  horse-power.  Preparations  were  also  made  for  the  manufacture  of 
salt  by  evaporation.  But  one  signal  achievement  of  this  earliest 
colonial  industry  was  accomplished  in  1630.  There  being  a  super- 
abundance of  timber,  as  stated  above,  it  occurred  to  two  Walloon 
ship-builders  to  utilize  it  in  the  colony  instead  of  sending  it  to 
Holland.  A  practical  exhibition  of  the  excellence  of  the  wood  and 
the  remarkable  length  of  the  beams  that  could  be  obtained  from  the 
trees  in  this  vicinity  would  be  given  if  these  were  constructed  into 
a  vessel  larger  than  any  that  then  floated  on  the  seas.  Director 
Minuit  was  speedily  won  over  to  the  scheme,  and  encouraged  it, 
pledging  the  funds  of  the  Company  for  its  execution.  Parties  of  men 
scoured  the  woods,  even  to  the  vicinity  of  Fort  Orange,  encamping  in 
the  forests  for  weeks  at  a  time,  cutting  timber  for  the  great  ship.1  As 
a  result,  there  was  launched  in  the  harbor  of  New- York  in  1630  a  ves- 
sel larger  than  any  that  had  heretofore  been  produced  in  the  ship-yards 
of  Holland  or  Zeeland ;  being  of  twelve  hundred  tons  burden  accord- 
ing to  some  authorities,  and  eight  hundred  according  to  others.  It 
was  proudly  christened  the  New  Netherland.  In  the  mean  time  the 
thirty  houses  first  built  along  the  North  Eiver  shore  must  have  in- 
creased in  number  and  improved  in  manner  of  construction.  In  1628, 
Wassenaer  informs  us  there  was  a  population  of  two  hundred  and 
seventy  souls ; '-  but  all  New  Netherland  was  then  concentrated  at  Fort 

1  See  document  reproduced  opposite  p.  162,  and  with  translation  on  p.  163. 
2  Wassenaer,  "  Documentary  History,"  3:  47  (8vo  Ed.). 


PETEK    MINTJIT    AND    WALTER    VAN    TWILLER  169 

Amsterdam.  Troubles  between  the  Indian  tribes  near  Fort  Orange, 
in  the  course  of  which  several  Dutch  settlers  had  lost  their  lives 
through  imprudent  and  unwarranted  interference,  had  induced  the 
careful  Minuit  to  order  all  the  families  residing  there  to  come  to 
Manhattan,  leaving  only  a  garrisou  of  men ;  while  for  another  reason 
not  quite  apparent,  but  perhaps  an  economical  one,  the  colonists  on 
the  Delaware  were  ordered  to  abandon  Fort 
Nassau,  and  likewise  to  make  their  homes  on 
this  island.1 

This  small  number  of  not  quite  three  hun- 
dred colonists  is  a  great  contrast  to  the  four 
thousand  people  on  the  banks  of  the  James 
River  in  1622,  and  seven  hundred  at  once 
arriving  under  Winthrop  at  Boston  in  1630. 
It  must  have  been  difficult  to  induce  adven- 
turers to  leave  Holland,  and  the  number  of 
religious  refugees  was  not  so  extensive  as  to  cause  a  constant 
emigration  to  New  Netherland.  It  was  therefore  determined,  in 
1629,  to  put  into  operation  a  scheme  which  had  been  tried  with 
success  in  Brazil,  now  passing  into  the  possession  of  the  West 
India  Company.  Discovered  and  explored  in  the  interest  of  Por- 
tugal and  in  1500-1501  by  Americus  Yespucius,  for  about  thirty 
years  thereafter,  Southey  informs  us,  the  country  was  apparently 
neglected.  "  It  had  then  become  of  sufficient  importance,"  he  con- 
tinues, "to  obtain  some  consideration  at  court,  and  in  order  to  forward 
its  colonization,  the  same  plan  was  adopted  which  had  succeeded  so 
well  in  Madeira  and  the  Azores,  that  of  dividing  it  into  hereditary 
Captaincies,  and  granting  them  to  such  persons  as  were  willing  to 
embark  adequate  means  in  the  adventure,  with  powers  of  jurisdiction 
both  civil  and  criminal,  so  extensive  as  to  be  in  fact  unlimited."2  In 
this  description  may  be  seen  the  model  for  the  Patrooriships  of  New 
Netherland.  In  1629  the  Assembly  of  the  XIX,  with  the  approbation 
of  the  States-General,  published  a  Charter  of  Privileges  and  Exemp- 
tions. It  addressed  itself  only  to  "  members  of  the  Company,"  even 
as  the  Captaincies  had  been  granted  only  to  favorites  at  the  Portu- 
guese Court,  but  the  restriction  in  the  former  case  was  a  more  reason- 
able one  than  the  latter.  "All  such"  of  the  Directors,  and  possibly 
also  of  the  shareholders,  would  "  be  acknowledged  Patroons  of  New 
Netherland "  who  should  "  within  the  space  of  four  years  undertake 
to  plant  a  colony  there  of  fifty  souls  upwards  of  fifteen  years  old." 
Population  was  therefore  wisely  made  the  sine  qua  non.  Should  that 
condition  fail  to  be  complied  with  within  the  allotted  time,  all  privi- 

iBrodhead,  "  History  of  New- York,"  1:  170,  183;  citing  Wassenaer. 
2  Robert  Southey,  "  History  of  Brazil,"  1 :  41  (Ed.  1822). 


170 


HISTORY    OF    NEW- YORK 


THK    FIRST    WAREHOUSE. 


leges  and  exemptions  and  grants  of  land  would  at  once  cease  and  be 
forfeit.  In  consideration  of  the  effort  to  plant  such  colony,  however, 
there  would  be  given  in  absolute  property  sixteen  miles  of  territory 
upon  one  side  of  any  river  in  New  Netherland,  or  eight  miles  on  both 
sides,  the  extent  back  from  the  stream  being  left  practically  unlimited. 
For  this  land,  title  must  be  obtained  from  the  aboriginal  possessors 
by  suitable  purchase.  When  thus  secured,  arid  occupied  by  settlers 
sent  thither  at  the  expense  of  the  Patroon,  all  privileges  of  hunting 
and  fishing  were  to  remain  in  his  hands,  to  be  granted  by  him  at  will. 
Should  cities  be  founded  within  territory  so  possessed,  the  Patroon 
would  have  "power  and  authority  to  establish  officers  and  magistrates 
there";  in  which  case  his  position  would  approximate  that  of  a  feudal 

lord  of  the  olden  times.  Within 
the  bounds  of  his  grant  he  might 
pursue  agriculture  to  the  furthest 
extent  of  his  ability;  all  that  the 
streams  would  yield  of  fish,  the  for- 
ests of  timber,  and  the  mountains  of 
minerals  were  to  be  his  own  with- 
out restriction.  But  the  products 
must  be  sent  to  the  Fatherland,  and 
almost  all  fruits  and  wares  must  be 
first  brought  to  Manhattan  and  there  reshipped.  Traffic  might  be 
engaged  in  from  Florida  to  Newfoundland,  "  provided  that  they  do 
again  return  with  all  such  goods  as  they  shall  get  in  trade  to  the  island 
of  Manhattes."  There  was  a  strict  prohibition  placed  on  manufactures 
of  any  kind,  for  fear,  it  is  to  be  presumed,  that  the  industry  of  Holland 
might  fail  to  have  a  market,  and  "  pitch,  tar,  weed-ashes,  wood,  grain, 
fish,  salt,  quarry  stone"  must  be  loaded  on  the  Company's  ships  only, 
at  a  fixed  rate  of  charges.  Lastly,  the  lucrative  trade  in  furs  must 
be  left  wholly  untouched  by  the  Patroons  and  their  colonists;  "beavers, 
otters,  minks,  and  all  sorts  of  peltry  the  Company  reserve  to  them- 
selves." On  the  other  hand,  again,  the  favor  of  the  Company  was  to 
be  extended  so  that  the  Patroons  and  their  settlers  "  shall  be  free  from 
customs,  taxes,  excise,  imposts,  or  any  other  contributions  for  the 
space  of  ten  years  " ;  and  they  were  to  be  protected  and  to  the  utmost 
defended  by  the  troops  and  navies  of  the  Company  "against  all  foreign 
and  inland  wars  and  powers."  A  final  article  engaged  the  Company 
"  to  finish  the  fort  on  the  island  of  Manhattes  without  delay,"  which 
shows  that  this  stronghold  was  still  incomplete  more  than  three  years 
after  Minuit's  arrival.1 

It  thus  appears  that  the  system  of  Patroonships  was  a  curious  and 

l  See  the  Charter  in  Moulton's  "New-York,"  pt.  2:389-398;  O'Callahan's  "New 
Netherland,"  1:112- 120. 


PETER    MINUIT    AND    WALTER    VAN    TWILLER  171 

confusing  mixture  of  large  privileges  and  small  restrictions.  The 
extent  of  the  liberties  enjoyed  in  many  directions  would  only  make 
the  yoke  of  the  prohibitions  the  more  galling ;  and  here  lay  the  real 
difficulty  with  the  scheme,  furnishing  cause  for  endless  contentions 
and  eventual  failure.  Some  writers  trace  this  result,  as  well  as  the 
difficulties  that  grew  out  of  the  Patroonships,  to  the  fact  that  the  system 
was  an  attempt  to  ingraft  European  feudalism  upon  American  soil. 
This,  however,  would  apply  more  correctly  to  the  colonization  of 
Maryland,  of  which  Bancroft  thus  truly  says:  "To  the  proprietary 
was  given  the  power  of  creating  manors  and  courts  baron,  and  of 
establishing  a  colonial  aristocracy  on  the  system  of  sub-infeudation. 
But  feudal  institutions  could  not  be  perpetuated  in  the  lands  of  their 
origin,  far  less  renew  their  youth  in  America.  Sooner  might  the 
oldest  oaks  in  Windsor  forest  be  transplanted  across  the  Atlantic  than 
antiquated  social  forms." l  If  it  were  intended  to  tempt  the  capitalists 
of  Holland  with  the  attraction  of  feudal  authority,  it  must  be  said  that 
very  few  availed  themselves  of  the  opportunity.  The  attractions  of 
the  system  for  men  of  means,  but  without  pedigrees  and  without  pat- 
rimonial estates,  are  descanted  on  by  Brodhead.  But  less  than  a  score 
of  such  persons  engaged  in  the  colonizing  enterprise.  The  real  temp- 
tation was  commercial  advantage,  and  the  rock  upon  which  the  whole 
establishment  suffered  shipwreck  was  trade,  too  eagerly  indulged  in 
by  the  Patroons,  and 
too  stringently  prohib- 
ited  by  the  Company, 
The  Directors  who  hast- 

ily  procured  for  them-  V       /y  ~ 

selves      territories      in  ^  r 

America  before  they  quite  knew  what  the  provisions  of  the  charter 
were  to  be  were  more  than  disappointed  when  the  true  state  of  their 
case  became  known;  and,  as  one  of  the  later  Patroons  himself  asserted, 
the  conditions  themselves  instead  of  attracting  rather  discouraged 
people  from  becoming  Patroons.2 

It  is  only  in  their  bearing  upon  affairs  in  general,  involving  also  the 
fortunes  of  Fort  Amsterdam,  that  in  a  history  of  New- York  City  it 
becomes  necessary  to  include  a  consideration  of  the  Patroonships,  for 
by  a  distinct  proviso  of  the  charter,  Manhattan  Island  was  entirely 
exempted  from  this  experiment  in  colonization,  and  only  one  of  them 
came  within  close  proximity  to  it.  The  first  to  avail  themselves  of 
its  privileges  were  two  merchants  of  Amsterdam  and  Directors  of 
the  Company,  Samuel  Bloemaert  and  Samuel  Godyn.  Before  the 
States-General  had  seen  the  document,  even  before  it  had  received 

1  Bancroft,  "History  of  the  United  States,"  1 :  158  (Ed.  1883). 

2  "  Vertoogh,"  in  N.  Y.  Hist.  Soc.  Col.,  Second  Series,  2 :  289. 


172  HISTORY     OF    NEW-YORK 

the  final  revision  and  approval  of  the  Assembly  of  the  XIX,  these 
men  had  sent  agents  to  America  to  select  lands  and  to  buy  them 
from  the  Indians.  When,  therefore,  in  1630,  the  sanction  of  the  re- 
publican Congress  was  obtained,  they  were  ready  at  once  to  appear 
before  the  Colonial  Government  with  evidences  of  purchase,  and  ob- 
tained a  ratification  of  their  grant.1  Their  territories  extended  thirty- 
two  miles  along  the  Delaware  River  on  the  southwest  bank,  and  six- 
teen miles  on  the  northeast  shore,  both  tracts  having  been  bought 
within  the  year.  From  the  two  documents  in  fac-simile,  it  is  learned 
that  earnest  efforts  had  been  made  also  to  obtain  lands  around  Fort 
Orange  for  Kiliaen  Van  Rensselaer,  a  pearl  merchant  of  Amsterdam, 
and  a  director,  through  the  officers  in  charge  there,  and  agents  were 
sent  among  the  Indians  to  persuade  the  reluctant  ones  to  part  with 
their  broad  acres.  As  a  result,  five  or  six  Indian  chiefs  owning  prop- 
erty along  the  Hudson  extending  several  miles  both  to  the  north  and 
south  of  the  fort,  having  first  made  a  contract,  appeared  afterwards 
before  the  Director  and  Council  at  Fort  Amsterdam,  and  formally 
ceded  their  lands.2  This  was  the  beginning  of  the  Colony  of  Rens- 
selaerswyck,  the  only  one  among  the  Patroonships  that  proved  to  be  a 
success.  Ere  this  same  year  (1630)  was  over,  a  third  proprietary 
appeared  in  the  person  of  Michael  Paauw,  also  a  director,  some  of 
whose  relatives  had  been  Burgomasters  of  Amsterdam.  As  he  was 
himself  Lord  or  Baron  of  Achtienhoven,  a  place  in  South  Holland,  it 
could  not  have  been  the  opportunity  of  becoming  a  feudal  lord^hat 
attracted  him.  His  territory  lay  near  Manhattan  Island,  including 
at  first  Hoboken-Hackmg,  the  name  indicating  a  site  familiar  to  res- 
idents of  New- York.  But  in  rapid  succession  were  added  Staten 
Island  and  an  intervening  space  between  that^  and  Hoboken  called 
Ahasimus,  now  the  site  of  Jersey  City.  Grodyn  and  Bloemaert  having 
given  to  their  patent  the  name  of  "  Swanendael,"  or  Swan's  Valley, 
Paauw  bestowed  upon  his  the  more  euphonious  title  of  Pavonia,  by 
translating  into  Latin  his  own  name,  which  is  the  Dutch  for  peacock. 
Thus  before  a  year  had  passed  all  the  Patroonships  that  were  created 
by  the  original  charter  had  already  been  secured.  The  first  difficulties 
naturally  sprang  out  of  this  somewhat  undue  if  not  unseemly  haste. 
There  appeared  to  be  nothing  left  for  others,  except  in  unprotected 
regions  far  from  either  of  the  three  forts.  The  Directors  had  evidently 
taken  advantage  of  their  position  in  the  Chamber  of  Amsterdam  to 
anticipate  all  competitors  from  the  other  chambers.  Naturally  jeal- 
ousies and  unpleasant  accusations  arose  between  the  members  of  the 
West  India  Company,  which  did  not  greatly  advance  the  interests  of 
New  Netherland.  The  first  compromise  growing  out  of  these  troubles 

l  Doc.  rel.  Col.  Hist.  N.  Y.,  1: 43 ;  the  paper  is  dated  July  15,  1630. 
2  See  translations  of  the  fac-simile  documents,  on  pp.  163,  164. 


PETEK    MINUIT    AND     WALTER    VAN     TWILLER 


173 


was  in  the  form  of  a  copartnership  in  colonizing.  Several  merchants 
were  admitted  to  a  share  of  each  of  the  colonies  on  the  Delaware  and 
at  Fort  Orange,  the  historian  De  Laet  becoming  one  of  the  proprietors 
in  both  territories.  It  is  worthy  of  notice  also  that  while  the  chief 
proprietors  of  Swanendael  became  copartners  for  Rensselaerswyck, 
Van  Rensselaer  also  became  a  copartner  for  Godyn  and  Bloemaert's 
patent.  Besides  De  Laet,  another  name 
of  importance  appears  (among  the  co- 
partners for  Swanendael  only),  that  of 
David  Pietersen  De  Vries,  author  of  an 
exceedingly  rare  volume  of  which  the 
title  appears  on  a  subsequent  page.1 

When  the  Patroons  fairly  began  to 
•comply  with  the  conditions  imposed  on 
them,  and  sent  colonizing  parties  to 
occupy  the  land  confirmed  to  them, 
the  trade  in  furs,  the  forbidden  fruit, 
proved  most  attractive,  while  agricul- 
ture, which  was  the  main  object  of  the 
establishment  of  the  Patroonships,  was 
comparatively  neglected,  because  its 
returns  were  slow  and  small  compared 
with  those  of  the  sale  of  peltries.  A 
conflict  with  the  Directors  of  the  West  India  Company  was  there- 
fore inevitable,  and  as  a  result  the  Assembly  of  the  XIX  seriously 
amended  the  charter  of  1629,  rescinding  some  of  the  most  important 
exemptions.  Van  Rensselaer  and  the  others  thereupon  appeared  with 
a  paper  of  complaints  before  the  States-General,  claiming  that  it  was 
entirely  illegal  for  the  Company  to  rescind  what  they  had  so  recently 
granted,  and  that  on  the  strength  of  the  privileges  promised  the  pe- 
titioners had  fitted  out  expensive  expeditions.  It  was  urged,  too,  that 
the  Swanendael  colony  had  been  exterminated  by  the  Indians,  because 
the  Company,  contrary  to  its  engagement,  had  no  sufficient  force  in 
the  vicinity,  Fort  Nassau  having  been  abandoned.2  The  principal  re- 
sult of  this  controversy  seems  to  have  been  that  the  States-General 
examined  the  nature  of  these  grants  of  land,  leading  them  to  conclude 
that  they  were  excessive  and  burdened  with  other  objectionable  fea- 
tures. As  Director  Minuit  had  countenanced  and  confirmed  them, 
they  further  exercised  their  stipulated  authority  over  the  Governors  in 
the  service  of  the  Company,  by  ordering  his  recall — a  most  unjust  act, 


l  An  edition  of  this  work  in  quarto,  limited  to 
250  copies,  was  issued  in  1853,  for  private  circu- 
lation, by  James  Lenox.  A  presentation  copy  is 
now  before  the  writer.  It  was  translated  by 
Henry  C.  Murphy,  and  is  illustrated  by  a  fac- 


simile of  the  ancient  portrait  of  De  Vries,   of 
which  the  picture  is  a  reproduction,   while  the 
title-page  (p.  178)  is  a  fac-simile  of  the  typogra- 
phy of  the  original. 
2  Doc.  rel.  Col.  Hist.  N.  Y.,  1 : 83-88. 


174  HI8TOEY    OF    NEW-YORK 

since  the  Director-General  had  no  choice  but  to  follow  the  provisions 
of  a  charter  issued  by  his  immediate  principals  and  sanctioned  by  the 
States-General  themselves.  But  perhaps  there  had  been  a  too  liberal 
interpretation  of  the  privileges  to  be  extended.  Secretary  de  Rasieres 
had  already  been  dismissed  a  few  years  before,  having  fallen  into  dis- 
grace on  account  of  these  same  factions,  as  Governor  Bradford  writes,1 
and  now,  early  in  the  year  1632,  Director  Minuit,  accompaned  by  the 
Schout-fiscal,  Lampe,  embarked  for  Holland  in  the  ship  "  Eendracht," 
or  Union,  and  the  administration  of  the  first  Director-General  came 
to  an  end. 

The  connection  of  Peter  Minuit  with  the  history  of  American  col- 
onization did  not  cease  with  his  Directorship  of  New  Netherland. 
Among  the  ambitious  views  entertained  by  Gustavus  Adolphus  of 
Sweden  was  included  a  design  of  establishing  a  colonial  empire  in 
North  America.  When  about  the  year  1624  William  Usselinx  left 
Holland,  despairing  of  success  in  inducing  the  Dutch  merchants  and 
statesmen  to  adopt  his  plans  of  West  India  trade,  he  proceeded  to 
Sweden  and  succeeded  in  interesting  the  illustrious  soldier  in  his 
schemes.  Gustavus  granted  a  charter  to  a  "  New  South  Company," 
which  was  modeled  after  the  Dutch  West  India  Company,  and  was 
to  include  participants  both  in  Sweden  and  Germany.  But  the 
Protestant  king's  active  part  in  the  Thirty  Years'  War  prevented 
Swedish  operations  in  American  waters.  After  his  death  in  the  battle 
of  Liitzen  in  1632,  however,  Chancellor  Oxenstiern,  under  whom  Swe- 
den maintained  the  exalted  position  won  by  the  "  Lion  of  the  North," 
prosecuted  the  King's  ideas  with  regard  to  American  trade  and  coloni- 
zation, and  under  his  auspices  an  expedition  was  sent  out  early  in  the 
year  1638  to  establish  a  colony  on  the  Delaware  River.  It  was  placed 
under  the  direction  of  Peter  Minuit.  A  large  tract  of  land  was  pur- 
chased from  the  Indians  on  the  west  side  of  the  river,  and  defensive 
works  at  once  begun,  which  were  eventually  designated  by  the  name 
of  Fort  Christina.  Having  inaugurated  this  settlement  and  established 
an  active  trade  in  furs  in  defiance  of  Director  Kieft's  formal  protests, 
Minuit  returned  to  Europe,  according  to  some  authorities,  while  he  is 
represented  by  others  as  "dying  at  his  post"  at  Fort  Christina,  in  1641.2 

Considering  that  the  troubles  arising  out  of  the  undue  aggressive- 
ness of  the  Patroons  were  the  cause  of  the  removal  of  Peter  Minuit, 
it  appears  strange  that  his  successor  should  have  been  nearly  allied, 
both  by  blood  and  marriage,  to  Patroon  Van  Rensselaer,  the  most 
energetic  and  persistent  of  them  all  in  pressing  his  privileges.  Prob- 
ably the  interference  of  the  States-General  in  dismissing  their  chief 
officer  in  New  Netherland  produced  a  reaction  in  the  counsels  of  the 

i  N.  Y.  Hist.  Soc.  Col.,  Second  Series,  1 :  364. 
2  O'Callahan,  New  Netherland,  1 : 190,  191 ;  Brodhead,  New-York,  1  :  321. 


PETEE    MINUIT    AND    WALTEK    VAN    TWTLLEE  175 

West  India   Company,  and  placed  the  influence   of  the  Patroons 

once  more  in  the  ascendant.    Thus  was  elevated  to  the  position  of 

Director-General   of    their  North  American   Province,  Walter  Van 

T wilier,  one  of  the  clerks  in  the 

Company's   offices  on  the  Haarlem        /^f  JPjtt.      ( 

street  in  Amsterdam.    He  is  usu-     /  J/KW^ 

ally  described  as  born  at  Nieuwer- 

kerk,  a  village  near  Amsterdam.    Some  call  him  a  cousin,  others  a 

nephew  of  Kiliaen  Van  Eensselaer,  but  this  confusion  doubtless  arises 

from  the  fact  that  in  Dutch  one  word  stands  for  both.    Van  Rens- 

selaer's  sister  Maria  married  one  Rykert  Van  Twiller,  and  Walter 

may  have  been  their  son.     Again,  Johannes  Van  Rensselaer,  who 

succeeded  his  father  as  Patroon,  married  his  cousin  Elizabeth  Van 

Twiller,  the  sister  of  the  Director-General,  on  the  above  theory.     So 

that  the  latter  was  doubly  related  to  the  Van  Rensselaer  family.1 

It  seems  that  Walter  Van  Twiller  had  been  in  New  Netherland 
some  years  before  his  appointment  to  office.  He  was  sent  as  agent  to 
select  a  territory  for  his  relative's  Patroonship,  and  for  this  purpose  is 
supposed  to  have  been  here  in  1629.  It  has  also  been  stated  that  he  re- 
mained for  about  a  year,  and  was  ordered  to  act  as  a  kind  of  spy  upon 
the  Colonial  Government,  it  being  due  to  his  information  that  cause  for 
dismissal  was  found  against  Minuito  But  this  conflicts  again  with  the 
usually  received  opinion  that  precisely  for  serving  too  well  the  interests 
of  Van  Twiller's  principals  Minuit  fell  into  disgrace.  It  is  unfortunate 
that  there  are  not  in  existence  a  greater  number  of  official  documents 
covering  this  period  to  elucidate  these  many  points  of  obscurity,  in  the 
determination  of  which  we  are  now  reduced  chiefly  to  conjecture.2 

The  undoubted  connection  of  Walter  Van  Twiller  with  the  history 
of  New  Netherland  and  of  Manhattan  Island  begins  with  his  arrival  in 
the  ship  the  Salt-Mountain,  in  April,  1633,  more  than  a  twelve-month 
after  the  departure  of  Peter  Minuit.  He  was  accompanied  by  a  force 
of  one  hundred  and  four  soldiers.  His  Council  of  four  was  composed 
of  Captain  John  Jansen  Hesse,  Martin  Gerritsen,  Andrew  Hudde,  and 
Jacques  Bentyn.  John  Van  Remund,  who  had  succeeded  De  Rasieres 
as  Secretary  under  Minuit.  was  _  i 

_f  ^^i  ^^^^f  *^\ 

retained  in  this  office.  But  while  /ch,        a,  •  S~)        /7*^0       (L 
n    -D     •-        i,    j    i  *  -i   l/y^VwCf/A   \}64(/J t<</?l*r(rtoy& 

De  Rasieres  had  also  performed  ^-S  vVx 

the  functions  of  a  "  Book-keeper 

of  Wages,"  this  part  of  the  Secretary's  duties  was  now  assigned  to  a 
separate  person,  and  Cornelius  Van  Tienhoven  was  invested  with 
the  office.    Conrad  Notelman  was  appointed  Schout,  or  Sheriff. 
Within  the   same  month  of  the   new  Director-General's  coming 

i  O'Callahan,  New  Netherland,  1 :  122,  note. 
2Moulton,  New-York,  pt.  2 :  400  and  427,  "  General  Note  for  1632-1633." 


176  HISTOBY    OF    NEW-YORK 

occurred  two  events  of  note.  One  was  the  arrival  of  Captain  De  Vries, 
on  April  16th.  He  was  now  an  active  partner  in  the  Patroonship  of 
Swanendael  on  the  Delaware,  and  thus  in  close  alliance  with  a  number 
of  the  Directors  of  the  West  India  Company ;  but  the  beginning  of  his 
relations  with  that  Company  had  been  neither  pleasant  nor  profitable. 
As  far  back  as  1624  there  was  lodged  a  complaint  before  the  States- 
General  against  the  West  India  Company  on  the  part  of  a  sea-captain 
and  part  owner  of  a  vessel  lying  in  the  port  of  Hoorn  and  bound  for 
New  France.  The  West  India  Company  had  then  newly  entered 
upon  its  career  of  enterprise,  and  it  imagined  that  here  was  an 
infringement  of  its  charter  privileges.  Accordingly  the  captain  was 
arrested  at  the  instance  of  the  Company  by  the  Magistrates  of  Hoorn. 
But  this  resolute  person  was  not  to  be  so  summarily  disposed  of.  He 
at  once  served  an  attachment  on  the  agents  of  the  Company,  who 
were  thereby  compelled  to  send  for  instructions  to  the  Assembly  of 
the  XIX.  The  captain  went  beyond  this  body  to  a  still  higher  author- 
ity, and  sent  a  petition  for  redress  to  the  States-General,  the  result 
being  that  the  States-General  sent  a  communication  to  the  West  India 
people,  clearly  showing  that  the  vessel  in  question  was  not  interfer- 
ing with  their  rights,  inasmuch  as  the  fisheries  of  Canada  were  dis- 
tinctly under  the  jurisdiction  of  France,  and  that  it  was  owned  or 
chartered  by  French  merchants ;  and  at  the  same  time  their  High 
Mightinesses  took  occasion  to  rebuke  the  Company  for  risking  at  the 
very  commencement  of  its  operations  a  quarrel  with  a  friendly  power. 
This  formidable  sea-captain  was  David  Pieters,  or  David  Pietersen 
De  Vries.  He  had  gained  a  victory  over  the  great  West  India  Com- 
pany, but  the  inevitable  delay  in  sailing  was  fatal  to  the  projected  enter- 
prise, and  it  was  necessarily  abandoned,  De  Vries  losing  a  large  sum 
of  money.1  When  the  Patroons  consented  to  receive  partners  in  the 
management  and  profits  of  colonies  in  America,  the  captain,  instead 
of  contributing  capital,  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  patentees  of 
Swanendael  his  skill  and  experience  as  a  mariner  and  explorer.  In 
February,  1632,  he  sailed  with  two  ships  to  plant  a  colony  on  the 
Delaware,  to  succeed  the  one  which  the  copartners  had  sent  in  1630, 
but  which  had  been  massacred  the  preceding  year.  He  succeeded  in 
conciliating  the  Indians,  but  no  one  ventured  to  settle  in  the  vicin- 
ity of  the  doomed  plantation,  and  the  whale-fishery  also  furnishing 
but  an  unsatisfactory  return,  De  Vries  sailed  down  the  coast,  paid 
a  brief  visit  to  Sir  John  Harvey,  Governor  of  Virginia,  at  Jamestown, 
and  on  April  16, 1633,  arrived  in  New- York  Bay,  to  make  the  acquain- 
tance of  the  new  Director-General. 

Two  days  later,  as  De  Vries  was  at  dinner  with  Van  Twiller,  an 
English  ship  passed  in  between  the  Narrows  and  came  to  anchor  be- 

i  Doc.  rel.  Col.  Hist.  N.  Y.,  1 :  31,  32;  De  Vries,  "Voyages,"  pp.  11-13. 


PETER    MINUIT    AND    WALTER    VAN    TWILLER 


177 


fore  the  fort.  A  boat  put  off  for  the  shore,  and  the  vessel's  errand  was 
soon  told.  Her  name  was  the  William,  sent  out  by  a  company  of  Lon- 
don merchants  to  carry  on  a  trade  in  furs  upon  the  "  Hudson's  River." 
There  was  significance,  and  indeed  defiance,  in  that  very  name; 
therein  lay  hid  a  claim,  which  was  also  unsparingly  asserted  in  so 
many  words,  that  Hudson's  nationality  gave  to  England  all  the  rights 

VOL.  I.  — 12. 


178  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YOKK 

derived  from  his  discovery.  The  person  sent  to  communicate  this 
mission  and  to  assert  these  rights,  in  the  present  instance,  was  none 
other  than  Jacob  Eelkens.  Honorably  identified  as  he  had  been  with 
the  beginning  of  the  history  of  New  Netherland,  he  appears  now  in  a 
less  favorable  light.  Shortly  before  the  arrival  of  the  ship  New  Neth- 
erland,  in  1623,  with  the  first  Walloon  families,  Eelkens  had  seized  the 
person  of  Seguin,  or  Sequin,  an  Indian  chief,  on  one  of  his  trading 
expeditions,  in  the  course  of  which  he  had  penetrated  to  the  vicinity 
of  the  Connecticut.  He  demanded  an  exorbitant  ransom  of  over  a 
hundred  fathoms  of  wampum  for  the  release  of  Seguin.  As  a  conse- 
quence, the  Indians  of  that  region  became  suspicious  of  the  Dutch, 
a  long  time  intervened  before  confidence  was  restored,  and  the  fur 
trade  suffered  greatly.  Hence  Eelkens,  who  had  so  long  commanded 
at  Fort  Nassau,  was  dismissed  from  the  service  of  the  West  India 
Company  before  Fort  Orange  was  substituted  for  the  former.  The 
English,  coveting  a  foothold  in  the  territories  about  the  Hudson,  were 
not  slow  to  avail  themselves  of  the  undoubted  capacity  and  experience 
possessed  by  the  disgraced  Indian  trader,  while  they  rightly  counted 

on  his  disaffection  towards  his  previous 

SHORT    HISTORICAL  .  ,     . 

AMD  employers  as  an  important  element  in 

Journal  notes  securing  their  ends.    He  stoutly  main- 

Of  several  Voyages  made  in  the  four      foinpH   thp  vitrhf  nf   thp  William  tn  r>rn 

parts  of  the  World,  namely,  EUROPE,  rigDt 

AF.UCA,  ASIA,  and  AMERICA,  cecd  up  the  river,  and  quoted  the  ideas 

DAVID    PIETERSZ      °^   °is  new  masters  in  regard  to  the 

de  VHIES,  ordnance-Mastei  of  the  Most       English  title  and  proprietorship  based 

Noble  Lords,  the  Committed  Council  of  the  e  r 

state,  of  west  Fr.esiand  and  the  on  Hudson's  exploration.    VanTwiller 

North  Quarter 

tol)creinarc&e0cribebtDl)at Battles     ™^  as  much  determination  repudiated 
be  ijoa  bob  by  toater;  <£acb  Countrg  its*      those  claims,  and  refused  permission  to 

s,  8iro9,  kino  of  fishes  anb  ,       \\-M-  i       mi 

e  ifltn.-tounterfeiub  to  tbe  William  to  proceed.    The  river  was 

-;r^nt±c,fl.nbHiocte  not    the    "Hudson's    River,"   but    the 

"  Mauritius";  all  the  surrounding  re- 
gions owed  allegiance  to  no  other  poten- 
tate than  their  High  Mightinesses  and 
the  Prince  of  Orange  as  their  Stad- 
holder.  In  practical  support  of  that 
declaration  the  Commander-in-chief  of 
Fort  Amsterdam  ordered  the  Orange 
colors,  or  the  Orange,  White,  and  Blue  of  the  West  India  Company,  to 
be  unfurled  from  the  flagstaff  of  the  fort  and  three  shots  to  be  fired  in 
honor  of  the  prince.  Eelkens  was  not  at  all  overawed  by  this  display  of 
authority ;  returning  to  his  ship,  the  English  ensign  was  run  to  the 
masthead,  and  three  shots  in  defiance  of  Van  Twiller  and  in  honor 
of  King  Charles  boomed  over  the  water ;  while  at  the  same  time  the 
William  weighed  her  anchor  and  sailed  rapidly  up  the  river. 


PETER    MINUIT    AND    WALTER    VAN    TWILLER  179 

Were  it  not  that  the  truthful  De  Vries  has  recorded  the  incident 
that  follows,  and  of  which  he  was  himself  a  witness,  it  would  be 
impossible  to  give  it  credence.  Visions  of  Walter  the  Doubter 
enveloped  in  clouds  of  tobacco-smoke,  and  weighing  in  either  hand 
the  books  containing  disputed  accounts  in  order  to  properly  balance 
them,  seem  to  rise  up  before  us,  and  Irving's  ludicrous  caricature 
almost  commends  itself  as  the  sober  truth.  Van  Twiller's  rage  at 
seeing  Eelkens  and  the  William  so  insolently  defying  his  authority 
was  unbounded.  He  therefore  called  upon  all  loyal  denizens  of  Fort 
Amsterdam  to  assemble  before  the  walls  of  the  fort  on  the  river  bank. 
Then  ordering  a  cask  of  wine  to  be  brought,  he  exhorted  all  those 
who  loved  the  Prince  and  the  Fatherland  to  drain  a  bumper  to  their 
glory.  An  appeal  of  this  character  to  patriotism  was  not  easily  lost 
upon  the  large  assemblage,  and  with  their  eyes  upon  the  distant  ship 
they  enthusiastically  drank  to  its  confusion  and  to  the  success  of  the 
Prince  of  Orange.  But  this  having  no  appreciable  effect  upon  the 
William,  De  Vries1  suggested  to  the  Director-General  a  more  practi- 
cal measure  of  restraint.  The  man-of-war  which  had  conveyed  Van 
Twiller  to  his  seat  of  government  was  as  yet  in  port,  and  a  force  of 
one  hundred  soldiers  was  at  his  command.  Why  not  despatch  the 
Salt-Mountain  upon  the  errand  of  arrest?  This  obvious  expedient 
dawned  but  slowly  upon  the  dull  mind  of  the  Commander-in-chief,  for 
it  was  not  till  several  daj7s  afterwards  that  an  expedition  was  organ- 
ized to  carry  out  the  project.  This,  however,  did  not  include  the  man- 
of-war  ;  "  a  pinnace,  a  caravel,  and  a  hoy,"  conveying  a  part  of  the 
troops,  were  sent  up  the  river  to  arrest  Eelkens  and  bring  back  the 
English  ship.2  The  former  commissary  had  already  established  him- 
self upon  an  island  in  the  river  near  Fort  Orange,  and  was  trading 
successfully  with  the  Indians.  His  previous  intercourse  with  them 
was  remembered,  and  his  facility  in  dealing  with  them  was  now  of 
great  service  to  his  English  employers.  The  settlers  at  Fort  Orange 
sought  to  interfere  with  his  transactions,  but  they  did  so  by  beating 
the  Indians  who  came  to  trade,  instead  of  attacking  Eelkens  and  his 
party.  A  large  quantity  of  furs  had  already  been  collected  when  the 
soldiers  arrived  from  Fort  Amsterdam.  They  soon  compelled  Eelkens 
to  desist,  forced  the  English  sailors  to  carry  the  peltries  on  board  the 
William,  arid  convoyed  the  latter  to  Manhattan  Island.  Here  Eelkens 
was  made  to  give  up  her  cargo,  and,  with  his  crew,  was  sent  back 
empty-handed  to  England:1 

l  Be  Vries  told  Van  Twiller  that  he  would  have  to  the  Dutch  East  Indian  Islands,  and  the  en- 
made  Eelkens  obey  "by  the  persuasion  of  some  croachments  of  the  English  there  had  caused  them 
iron  beans  sent  him  from  our  guns,  and  would  not  serious  trouble, 
have  allowed  him  to  go  up  the  river.    I  told  him,"  2  De  Vries,  Voyages,  pp.  57-59. 
he  adds,  "that  we  did  not  put  up  with  these  things  3  O'Callahan,  NewNetherland,  1 : 143-146;  Brod- 
in  the  East  Indies.    There  we  taught  them  how  head,  New- York,  1  :  229-231.    Doc.  rel.  Col.  Hist, 
to  behave !"    De  Vries  had  made  several  voyages  N.  Y.,  1  :  72-81. 


180 


HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 


This  incident  only  served  to  open  afresh  the  dispute  as  to  the  title 
to  New  Netherland.  The  owners  of  the  William  complained  to  the 
English  Government  of  the  treatment  she  had  received,  and  a  claim 
for  damages  was  transmitted  to  Holland  by  the  Dutch  ambassadors, 
and  referred  by  the  States-General  to  the  West  India  Company.  The 
latter  defended  the  title  of  the  Republic  and  refuted  by  careful  argu- 
ment that  of  the  English,  the 
question  of  damages  depending 
upon  this  alone.  Yet  the  Com- 
pany had  ably  performed  this 
same  fruitless  task  scarcely  more 
than  a  year  before,  when  the 
English  had,  on  the  strength  of 
their  claim  to  New  Netherland, 
ventured  upon  a  much  more  se- 
rious violation  of  international 
comity  than  that  of  which  they 
now  complained  against  the 
Dutch.  The  ship  Union,  con- 
veying Director  Minuit  to  Hol- 
land, was  driven  by  stress  of 
weather  to  seek  refuge  in  the 
harbor  of  Plymouth.  She  was 
at  once  seized  upon  by  the  Eng- 
lish authorities  as  coming  from 
a  region  covered  by  grants  of 
the  crown  to  English  subjects. 

Minuit  hastened  to  London  to  inform  the  Dutch  ambassadors  of 
the  outrage,  and  these  appealed  for  redress  directly  to  the  King. 
Little  sympathy  was  to  be  expected  in  such  a  quarter ;  insisting 
upon  royal  prerogative  to  his  own  ruin  in  England,  Charles  I. 
was  not  inclined  to  yield  any  part  of  his  sovereignty  over  Amer- 
ica. The  matter  was  referred  for  decision  to  the  Privy  Council, 
with  the  result  that  the  ministers  but  reiterated  and  emphasized  a 
claim  so  frequently  advanced  before.  But  in  anticipation  of  this  the 
Dutch  ambassadors  had  urged  upon  the  States-General  the  necessity 
of  a  clear  statement  of  the  Dutch  title,  which  was  accordingly  pre- 
pared by  the  West  India  Company.  This  paper  showed  that  there  was 
no  settlement  by  the  English,  nor  any  kind  of  occupation  near  the 
territories  claimed,  till  1620 ;  while  the  Dutch  had  been  trading  with- 
out interruption  from  1610  to  the  present  year,  and  had  built  forts 
there.  Again,  coming  to  the  question  of  grants,  there  had  always 
been  an  extensive  region  between  38°  and  41°  north  latitude,  which 
had  been  distinctly  left  open,  and  New  Netherland  lay  within  these 


PETER    MINUIT    AND    WALTER    VAN    TWILLER  181 

geographical  limits.  But  lastly,  and  more  conclusive  than  all,  they 
advanced  the  argument  "  that  inasmuch  as  the  inhabitants  of  those 
countries  [the  Indians]  are  freemen,  and  neither  his  Britannic  Majes- 
ty's nor  your  High  Mightinesses'  subjects,  they  are  free  to  trade  with 
whomsoever  they  please."  They  were  for  this  reason  also  perfectly  at 
liberty  to  sell  their  land  as  they  had  done  to  the  Dutch,  and  to  con- 
vey title  thereto  by  such  sale.  Further  it  was  contended  "  that  his 
Majesty  may  likewise  in  all  justice  grant  his  subjects  by  charter  the 
right  to  trade  with  any  people,  to  the  exclusion  of  all  others,  his  sub- 
jects, as  your  High  Mightinesses  have  a  right  to  do  by  yours.  But 
that  it  is  directly  contrary  to  all  right  and  reason  for  one  potentate  to 
prevent  the  subjects  of  another  to  trade  in  countries  whereof  his 
people  have  not  taken,  nor  obtained  actual  possession  from  the  right 
owners,  either  by  contract  or  purchase." l  It  was  contending,  how- 
ever, with  men  who  had  decided  to  press  their  title  against  the  Hol- 
landers. The  Union  was  indeed  released,  because  Charles  wished  to 
provoke  no  foreign  quarrels  in  the  midst  of  his  parliamentary  conten- 
tions. But  it  was  done  unwillingly,  and  with  the  deliberate  menace 
that  the  act  of  restoration  was  no  warrant  against  similar  interference 
in  the  future.  And  therefore  the  case  of  the  William  was  vigorously 
pressed  as  a  complaint  against  the  Dutch.  In  addition  to  repeating 
former  arguments,  the  West  India  Company  sought  to  arrive  at  a 
practical  and  final  solution  of  the  question  by  the  appointment  of  a 
commission  to  fix  upon  the  exact  boundaries  between  New  England 
and  New  Netherland.  In  the  expectation  that  this  would  be  accom- 
plished, they  directed  Van  Twiller  to  buy  large  tracts  of  land  on  the 
Connecticut,  for  although  this  river  had  been  discovered  by  a  Dutch- 
man, it  was  deemed  safer  now  to  fortify  the  title  of  discovery  by  one 
of  purchase.  Therefore,  in  compliance  with  the  Company's  orders,  he 
sent  an  agent  to  the  Connecticut  River,  in  the  course  of  the  summer  of 
1633,  to  arrange  a  purchase  of  land  from  the  Indian  owners.  A  large 
tract  situated  about  sixty  miles  from  Long  Island  Sound,  including 
the  site  of  the  present  city  of  Hartford,  was  thus  secured,  and  another 
at  its  mouth,  called  Kieviet's  Hoeck  by  the  Dutch  and  Saybrook  Point 
by  the  English.  A  redoubt,  to  which  was  given  the  name  of  "  Good 
Hope,"  was  built  near  the  site  of  Hartford,  arid  the  arms  of  the  States- 
General  affixed  to  a  tree  at  Kieviet's  Hoeck.  But  it  seemed  as  if 
these  honorable  measures  to  secure  formal  possession  only  pro- 
voked the  English  colonists  instead  of  acting  as  a  restraint  upon 
their  encroachments. 

From  the  relations  so  pleasantly  established  under  Director  Minuit, 
and  on  account  of  the  debt  of  gratitude  which  they  acknowledged 
they  owed  to  Holland,  it  is  surprising  to  find  the  New  Plymouth  peo- 

l  Doc.  rel.  Col.  Hist.  N.  Y.,  1:52. 


182 


HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 


pie  among  the  leaders  in  these  aggressions  upon  Dutch  territory  in 
America,  A  small  vessel  of  theirs  having  returned  from  a  trading 
voyage  to  Manhattan  shortly  after  the  Connecticut  purchases  had 
been  made,  it  was  learned  what  had  taken  place.  Governor  Winslow 
and  William  Bradford  at  once  proceeded  to  Boston  to  see  what  the 
two  Colonies  combined  could  do  to  circumvent  the  Dutch,  proposing 
among  other  things  to  erect  a  trading-house  upon  the  very  land  which 
the  latter  had  purchased ;  but  Governor  Winthrop  refused  to  engage 

in  the  scheme.  He  felt  uncertain 
whether  the  patent  of  Massachu- 
setts permitted  an  extension  of  trade 
to  the  Connecticut,  and  he  knew 
that  the  territory  had  been  conveyed 
by  royal  grant  to  the  Earl  of  War- 
wick. In  view  of  this,  while  taking 
no  active  part  against  Van  Twiller, 
he  addressed  a  letter  to  him.  "  The 
King  of  England,"  the  Puritan  gov- 
ernor wrote,  "  had  granted  the  river 
and  country  of  Connecticut  to  his 
own  subjects."  A  courteous  reply 
was  returned  on  the  part  of  the 
Director,  bidding  the  English  colon- 
ists to  forbear  entering  into  disputes 
about  territory,  before  the  British  and 
the  Dutch  Governments  should  arrive  at  some  understanding  regarding 
boundaries;  and  though  no  Puritan  himself, he  inculcated  the  Christian 
duty  of  living  together  "  as  good  neighbors  in  these  heathenish  coun- 
tries." The  commentary  of  the  Pilgrims  of  New  Plymouth  upon  this  ex- 
hortation was  an  immediate  preparation  for  occupying  the  Dutch  terri- 
tories. A  house  was  constructed  and  placed  in  sections  upon  a  large 
boat,  and  a  number  of  men  under  the  command  of  William  Holmes 
were  ordered  to  convey  the  boat  to  a  position  above  Fort  Good  Hope. 
As  the  expedition  passed  the  fort  they  were  challenged  by  the  Dutch 
garrison,  and  the  two  pieces  of  ordnance  upon  the  walls  were  leveled 
against  the  intruders.  The  English  kept  on  their  way,  however,  and 
the  threat  was  not  fulfilled,  as  it  was  forbidden  to  the  West  Indian 
Company  to  employ  its  forces  against  the  representatives  of  a  nation 
with  whom  the  Eepublic  was  at  peace.  Van  Twiller,  however,  when 
he  learned  of  the  circumstance  addressed  a  formal  protest  to  Holmes, 
which  was  as  little  heeded  as  the  challenge  from  the  fort,  The  house 
was  placed  some  miles  above  Good  Hope,  and  thus  was  founded  the 
town  of  Windsor,  in  Connecticut.1  The  example  of  the  Plymouth 

i  Brodhead,  New-York,  1 :  241. 


PETER    MINUIT    AND    WALTER    VAN    TWILLER  183 

colonists  was  not  lost  upon  those  of  Massachusetts,  in  spite  of  Gov- 
ernor Winthrop's  previous  self-restraint.  An  exploring  party  having 
reported  upon  the  excellence  of  the  territory  about  the  Connecticut, 
families  from  Watertown,  Roxbury,  Dorchester,  and  Newtown,  ex- 
horted to  the  enterprise  by  sermons  of  their  clergy,  crossed  the  inter- 
vening wilderness  and  settled  on  the  banks  of  the  river.  Later,  John 
Winthrop,  the  governor's  son,  led  a  party  to  the  mouth  of  the  Connec- 
ticut, tore  down  the  arms  of  the  States-General  at  Kieviet's  Hoeck, 
and  founded  Saybrook.  Van  Twiller  was  in  a  difficult  situation ;  he 
could  not  use  force  against  Englishmen  without  danger  of  compromis- 
ing the  West  India  Company ;  yet  these  people  were  taking  advantage 
of  his  helplessness,  justifying  their  conduct  on  the  ground  of  illegal 
grants  by  a  monarch  who  in  other  respects  was  already  discrowned 
in  their  eyes,  deserving  no  obedience.  The  Director  appealed  to  the 
Assembly  of  the  XIX,  and  advised  them  to  obtain  permission  from  the 
States-General  to  employ  their  troops  and  ships  against  the  English, 
but  such  permission  was  never  transmitted  to  him,  and  doubtless  was 
not  even  applied  for.  In  view  of  all  these  circumstances,  therefore,  one 
act  of  Van  Twiller's  stands  out  in  strong  contrast  to  whatever  features 
of  a  less  favorable  kind  may  be  discovered  in  his  character.  When,  a 
few  years  later,  the  colony  at  Saybrook  was  massacred  by  the  Pequods, 
and  two  English  girls  were  carried  away  captives,  the  Director  at  once 
sent  an  expedition  to  recover  them.  By  the  promptness  and  address 
of  the  Dutch  the  captives  were  restored  to  their  mourning  countrymen.1 

Upon  the  side  of  the  South  River,  or  Delaware,  Director  Van  Twil- 
ler was  also  annoyed  by  English  aggression.  A  party  from  Virginia 
under  George  Holmes  took  possession  of  the  abandoned  Fort  Nassau. 
But  one  of  their  number,  Thomas  Hall,  an  indentured  servant  of 
Holmes,  took  the  opportunity  to  escape,  and,  finding  his  way  to  Fort 
Amsterdam,  conveyed  the  news  of  this  encroachment  to  the  Colonial 
Government.  Van  Twiller  sent  an  armed  boat  to  the  spot,  with  a 
number  of  soldiers,  who,  meeting  with  no  resistance,  captured  the 
whole  party  and  brought  them  to  Manhattan  Island.  Without  further 
punishment  the  Director  sent  them  back  to  Virginia  in  charge  of  De 
Vries,  who  had  come  on  a  second  visit  to  New  Netherland.  But  the 
names  of  George  Holmes  and  Thomas  Hall  are  found  afterwards 
among  the  settlers  on  Manhattan,  and  they  were,  perhaps,  with  Augus- 
tine Herrman,  the  first  to  introduce  there  the  cultivation  of  tobacco. 

Thus,  without  omitting  important  details,  a  brief  sketch  has  been 
given  of  the  troubles  with  the  English.  As  in  the  case  of  the  Patroon- 
ships,  this  part  of  the  subject  takes  us  in  reality  away  from  the  im- 
mediate vicinity  of  New- York  City,  and  does  not  properly  belong  to 
its  history.  But  the  question  as  to  the  Dutch  title  is  one  of  impor- 

1  Brodhead,  New-York,  1 :  270,  271. 


184  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

tance  here  as  elsewhere  in  New  Netherland.  Lawsuits  involving  im- 
portant financial  and  real-estate  interests  dependent  upon  that  very 
question  have  been  conducted  within  recent  years,  and  may  yet  arise. 
The  West  India  Company  was  frequently  called  on  to  enter  into  a 
defense  of  that  title,  and  with  equal  persistence  the  English  states- 
men denied  it.  And  still  historians  honestly  differ  on  the  subject  and 
are  apt  to  advance  views  colored  by  their  predilections.  It  is  indubi- 
table that  patents  from  the  hand  of  English  kings  covered,  or  almost 
covered,  the  territory  intervening  between  their  northern  and  southern 
colonies.  But  simple  discovery  or  mere  grants  could  not  give  title  to 
a  territory  without  occupation.  What  Queen  Elizabeth  maintained 
against  Spanish  claims  :  "  Praescriptio  sine  possessione  haud  valeat," 
might  have  been  urged  with  equal  force  by  the  Dutch  against  her 
successors.  Prescription  without  occupation  gave  no  valid  claim. 
According  to  Vattel,  a  title  given  by  discovery  is  "  commonly  respec- 
ted, provided  it  was  soon  after  followed  by  a  real  possession."  Be- 
sides, in  the  patents  both  of  James  I.  and  Charles  L,  there  was  a 
distinct  proviso  which  ought  to  have  forever  debarred  their  subjects 
from  urging  a  claim  to  New  Netherland.  The  New  England  charter 
of  1620  "  contained  an  exception  in  favor  of  the  possession  of  any 
Christian  prince  or  state.  The  Hollanders  in  1620  had  the  posses- 
sion. " l  Again  the  charter  of  1629,  incorporating  the  "  governor  and 
company  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  in  New  England,"  the  original  of 
which  is  preserved  in  the  State  House  at  Boston,  contains  this  clause: 
"  Provided,  always,  that  if  the  said  lands,  etc.,  were,  at  the  time  of  the 
granting  of  the  said  former  letters  patent,  dated  the  third  day  of 
November,  in  the  eighteenth  year  of  our  said  dear  father's  reign  afore- 
said (1620),  actually  possessed  or  inhabited  by  any  other  Christian 
prince  or  state,  that  then  this  present  grant  shall  not  extend  to  any 
such  parts  or  parcels  thereof,  so  formerly  inhabited."2  Why,  then, 
should  there  have  been  any  question  as  to  the  title  of  the  Dutch  to 
New  Netherland?  Reason,  right,  and  express  provision  supported 
them ;  the  law  of  common  sense,  of  specific  charters,  and  of  inter- 
national usage  were  all  on  their  side.  English  statesmen,  and  church- 
men such  as  Archbishop  Laud,  might  blind  themselves  to  questions 
of  right  or  wrong  in  the  pursuit  of  their  ends,  but  such  moral  dialec- 
ticians as  Calvinistic  Puritans  should  have  been  more  careful  to  avoid 
doing  injustice  to  a  neighbor.  It  is  easy  to  appreciate  the  indignation 
of  a  Dutch  historian  of  the  present  century,  when  he  writes:  "It 
might  have  been  expected  that,  in  recognition  of  the  Dutch  hospital- 
ity which  they  had  enjoyed  in  Leyden,  Amsterdam,  and  other  cities 
in  Holland  and  Zeeland,  during  so  long  a  period,  they  would  have 
left  the  Dutch  colonies  in  undisturbed  possession.  It  is  almost  incred- 

l  Moulton,  New- York,  pt.  2  :  386.  2  Brodhead,  New- York,  1 : 189,  note. 


PETEE    MINUIT    AND    WALTEE    VAN    TWILLEE  185 

ible  that  people  so  scrupulous  in  matters  of  conscience  could  have 
been  so  ungenerous  towards  their  Dutch  neighbors  and  brethren  in 
the  faith  and  paid  so  little  regard  to  their  previous  occupation." l 

In  the  year  1622  the  colony  on  the  James  River  was  devastated  by 
an  Indian  massacre  and  an  Indian  war;  in  1636  the  Pequods  fell 
upon  the  English  settlers  along  the  Connecticut,  and  a  destructive 
war  was  waged  against  them  by  the  Puritans.  An  Indian  war  was 
therefore  a  thing  to  be  looked  for  in  New  Netherland.  The  treaty  of 
Tawassgunshee  stood  as  a  perpetual  and  irrefragable  barrier  against 
such  a  calamity  in  the  section  along  the  upper  Hudson.  By  an  ill- 
judged  interference  with  a  dispute  between  the  Mohawks  and  the 
Mohicans  a  few  Dutchmen  under  Kriekenbeeck  had  indeed  lost  their 
lives  there,  but  it  reflected  no  dishonor  whatever  upon  the  Mohawks, 
who  were  a  party  to  the  peace  of  1618.  The  Indians  near  the  mouth 
of  the  Hudson,  however,  took  no  part  in  the  co.uncil  on  the  Tawasen- 
tha :  indeed  they  were  distinctly  hostile  to  the  nations  who  had  en- 
tered into  it.  And  the  war  that  seemed  inevitable  at  length  began, 
in  all  the  horrors  that  characterized  it  in  other  portions  of  the  coun- 
try, under  the  administration  of  Director  Kieft.  But  the  originating 
cause  dated  back  sixteen  years,  and  is  to  be  traced  to  an  incident  that 
took  place  almost  immediately  after  Peter  Minuit's  arrival,  while  oc- 
casional and  isolated  cases  of  trouble  with  the  Indians  marked  also 
the  period  of  Van  Twiller's  incumbency. 

In  1626,  when  the  fort  was  being  constructed,  and  the  farm-laborers 
were  set  at  work  upon  the  virgin  soil,  three  men  in  the  employ  of 
Director  Minuit  —  all,  according  to  some  writers,  negroes  —  were  one 
day  plowing  and  clearing  the  land  bordering  on  the  pond  or  stream 
called  the.  "  Kolk,"  or  Collect.2  While  they  were  thus  busy  an  Indian, 
accompanied  by  his  nephew,  about  twelve  years  of  age,  came  to  this 
secluded  spot,  carrying  some  beaver-skins  to  the  fort.  The  cupidity 
of  the  laborers  was  excited  by  the  sight  of  the  valuable  peltry,  and 
they  forthwith  set  upon  the  defenseless  natives.  The  boy  escaped, 
but  his  companion  was  slain.  No  punishment  was  meted  out  to  the 
murderers,  for  it  is  doubtful  if  the  outrage  ever  came  to  the  knowledge 
of  the  colonial  authorities.  But  the  nephew  of  the  murdered  man, 
true  to  his  Indian  nature  and  traditions,  vowed  vengeance,  and  fulfilled 
his  vow  sixteen  years  later  by  a  murder  which  became  the  signal  for 
a  general  Indian  War.  It  was  also  during  Minuit's  term  that  the 

1  Lambrechtsen,  "Korte  Beschry  ving  van  Nieuw  (Chalk  Point)  the  same  peculiarity  would  obtain  as 
Nederland,"  p.  43  (Ed.  1818).  to  the  pronunciation ;  and  the  Dutch  fi  would  pho- 

2  "  Kolk,"  in  Dutch  means  a  whirlpool ;  illiter-  netically  be  exactly  reproduced  by  6.     This  pond 
ate  persons  would  pronounce  it  as  if  spelled  "  Kol-  was  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  depression  which 
lek,''  even  as  to-day  they  say  "Delleft"  for  Delft,  is  to  be  seen  to-day  in  Center  Street  below  Reade 
This  would  explain  the  Anglicizing  of  the  name  and  Duane  Streets,  and  near  the  Tombs  Prison, 
to  Collect.     If  the  name  were  derived  from  the  whose  damp  quarters  still  testify  to  the  presence 
shells  on  the  banks  of  the  stream,  "  Kalk-hoeck,"  of  the  waters  beneath  the  soil. 


186  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

massacre  occurred  at  Swanendael,  to  which  reference  has  been  made. 
Just  as  De  Vries  was  leaving  Holland  in  order  to  conduct  a  second 
party  of  settlers  to  that  colony,  the  news  came  that  the  first  colonists 
had  all  been  murdered  by  the  Indians.  When  he  reached  the  scene  of 
this  calamity  the  details  of  it  were  told  him  by  a  friendly  native.  Gillis 
Hoosset,  a  name  to  be  found  in  the  original  document  conveying  the 
tract  of  land  near  Fort  Orange  to  Van  Eensselaer,  and  who  was  instru- 
mental in  inducing  the  aboriginal  owners  to  part  with  their  property, 
had  been  placed  in  charge  of  affairs  at  Swanendael  on  the  Delaware. 
As  an  evidence  of  proprietorship  the  arms  of  the  States-General,  dis- 
played on  a  piece  of  tin,  were  affixed  to  a  tree.  The  shining  metal 
attracted  the  attention  of  the  Indians,  and  one  of  them  made  bold  to 
take  down  the  tin  plate,  and  converted  it  into  a  tobacco  pipe.  Hoos- 
set, conveying  by  means  of  signs  the  impropriety  of  this  act,  was 
understood  by  the  natives  to  express  a  much  more  violent  resentment 
than  he  really  felt ;  they  imagined  that  he  was  not  to  be  pacified  except 
by  the  death  of  the  offender.  But  his  execution  roused  the  vengeance 
of  the  tribe  to  which  he  belonged,  and  it  was  visited  upon  the  strangers 
who  were  supposed  to  have  demanded  the  sacrifice  of  their  relative. 
While  the  colonists  to  the  number  of  thirty  were  at  work  in  the  fields 
and  woods  at  some  distance  from  one  another,  the  Indians  fell  upon 
and  despatched  them  all.  Another  party  surprised  Hoosset  and  a 
sick  man  who  had  remained  in  the  house,  and  killed  them  also.  De 
Vries  upon  his  arrival  refrained  from  measures  of  retaliation,  inasmuch 
as  there  had  been  so  much  misunderstanding  in  the  unhappy  case  and 
the  blame  was  hard  to  fix;1  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  his  moderation 
gained  him  that  esteem  and  confidence  among  the  Indians  which  was 
of  such  great  service  to  the  colonists  during  the  subsequent  Indian 
Wars  under  Director  Kief  t.  Whether  there  still  lingered  some  resent- 
ment in  the  breasts  of  the  savages  on  account  of  these  occurrences,  it 
is  difficult  to  say.  But  it  would  seem  that  something  of  this  kind 
might  be  true,  because  a  war  with  the  Earitans  broke  out  in  1633, 
which  can  be  referred  to  no  satisfactory  cause  by  any  authority  on 
the  subject.  It  continued  for  nearly  a  year,  and  was  then  brought  to 
a  close  by  an  advantageous  peace,  which  reflected  much  credit  on  Van 
Twiller's  government.2  As  if  the  Director  had  not  trouble  enough 
with  the  English  on  the  Connecticut,  a  brief  war  was  precipitated  with 
the  Pequods  there.  An  English  sea-captain  named  Stone,  whom  we 
meet  with  in  De  Vries'  accounts  of  his  voyages  to  America,  and  to 
whom  he  sustained  very  friendly  relations,  in  sailing  up  the  river  was 
attacked  and  murdered  by  the  Pequods.  Soon  after  this  they  likewise 
made  a  murderous  assault  upon  some  Indians  who  had  come  to  trade 

l  De  Vries,  Voyages,  pp.  33,  34. 
2O'Callahan,  New  Netherland,  1:  157,  167;  Brodhead,  New- York,  1:  245. 


PETER    MINUIT    AND    WALTEK    VAN    TWILLEK 


187 


with  the  Dutch  at  Fort  Good  Hope.  The  Commander  of  the  fort,  who 
is  sometimes  charged  with  pusillanimity  in  his  dealings  with  the 
English,  whom  he  was  forbidden  by  the  terms  of  the  West  India  Com- 
pany's charter  from  attacking,  very  promptly  proceeded  to  punish  the 
turbulent  Indians.  He  succeeded  in  capturing  the  Pequod  chief  at 
whose  instance  the  recent  outrages  had  been  committed,  and  felt  justi- 
fied in  putting  him  to  death.  A  war  was  the  result,  in  which  the 
savages  sought  to  engage  the  English  of  Massachusetts  Bay  on  their 
side,  by  offering  to  convey  certain  lands  on  the  Connecticut  in  con- 
sideration for  a  friendly  alliance.  It  is  not  pleasant  to  be  compelled 
to  record  the  fact  that  the  Puritans  yielded  to  the  temptation.  With- 
out distinctly  promising  aid  in  war,  they  treated  for  large  territories 
on  the  boundary  river,  as  if  oblivious  to  the  fact  that  the  Dutch  had 
brought  the  conflict  upon 
themselves  partly  in  gen- 
erous retaliation  for  the 
murder  of  an  Englishman.1 
On  Manhattan  Island  it- 
self the  colonists  were  not 
disturbed  by  any  violent 
conduct  on  the  part  of  the 
aborigines.  The  relations 
were  as  yet  friendly,  for 
no  one  knew  what  hatred 
was  slumbering  in  the 
breast  of  the  young  Ind- 
ian of  the  Weckquaesgeck 
tribe,  who  was  meditating 
revenge  for  the  murder  of 
his  kinsman.  Yet  it  can- 
not be  said  that  the  new- 
comers had  any  reason  to 
be  very  favorably  im- 
pressed with  their  savage 
neighbors.  They  found 
them  to  be  exceedingly  troublesome  owing  to  their  habitual  thiev- 
ishness.  As  with  the  Spartans  of  old,  it  was  deemed  by  them  rather 
honorable  than  otherwise  to  be  adepts  at  theft.  All  endeavors  to  im- 
prove their  condition  either  in  body,  mind,  or  soul  were  met  by  a  stolid 
indifference  and  a  real  or  assumed  stupidity  that  were  perfectly  impene- 
trable. They  were  "strangers  to  all  decency,  yea,  uncivil  and  stupid  as 
posts."  This  is  the  record  of  an  eye-witness,  with  no  theories  of  Indian 
depravity  to  uphold,  who  was  deeply  solicitous  for  their  good  and 

1  Winthrop,  "History  of  New  England,"  1 :  148,  386  (ed.  1825) :  Brodhead,  New- York,  1 :  242. 


188  HISTORY     OF    NEW-YORK 

labored  to  instruct  them  in  heavenly  things.  He  found  it  of  no  avail, 
however,  and  at  last  confined  his  attention  principally  to  the  children. 
Yet  he  saw  that  these  could  only  be  permanently  benefited  by  sepa- 
ration from  their  parents  and  other  savage  associates — a  thing  which 
proved  impracticable  by  reason  of  the  chief  redeeming  trait  of  the 
Indian  nature,  an  extreme  fondness  for  their  children.  "  The  parents 
are  never  contented,  but  take  them  away  stealthily  or  induce  them  to 
run  away  themselves."  Nor  was  there  much  chance  of  progress  in 
the  cordiality  or  thoroughness  of  the  intercourse  between  the  Euro- 
pean settlers  and  the  Indians,  for  the  latter  studiously  prevented  the 
Dutch  from  learning  their  language.  This  was- difficult  enough  in 
itself,  but  the  intelligent  observer  whose  words  are  quoted  was  of  the 
opinion  "  that  they  rather  design  to  conceal  their  language  from  us 
than  to  properly  communicate  it,  except  in  things  which  happen  in 
daily  trade;  saying  it  is  sufficient  for  us  to  understand  them  in 
those ;  and  then  they  speak  only  half  their  reasons,  with  shortened 
words;  so  that  even  those  who  can  best  of  all  speak  with  the  In- 
dians, and  get  along  well  in  trade,  are  nevertheless  wholly  in  the 
dark  and  bewildered  when  they  hear  the  Indians  speaking  with 
each  other."1  Such  a  course  did  not  promise' well  for  an  increase 
of  friendliness,  and  would  only  embitter  whatever  causes  of  mutual 
dissatisfaction  might  arise  between  the  races  brought  into  such 
close  proximity.  The  forebodings  of  war  were  present  even  in  the 
period  of  peace. 

The  tide  in  the  affairs  of  the  West  India  Company  was  still  leading 
on  to  fortune  when  Director  Van  Twiller  was  sent  to  govern  in  its 
name  in  New  Netherland,  and  hence  he  was  given  unlimited  authority 
in  the  matter  of  public  improvements.  Fort  Amsterdam  not  having 
been  completed  up  to  the  time  of  his  arrival,  the  work  was  now 
pushed  with  vigor,  so  that  in  1635  the  structure  was  finished.  It 
formed  a  quadrangle  about  three  hundred  feet  long  by  two  hundred 
and  fifty  wide,  and  occupied  the  ground  bounded  by  the  present 
Bowling  Green,  and  Whitehall,  Stone,  and  State  streets.  Though  it  is 
recorded  that  "mountain-stone,"  i.  e.,  quarry  stone,  was  used  in  the 
construction  of  the  walls,  it  is  more  than  likely  that  this  referred 
only  to  the  four  angles,  which  were  salient,  while  the  intermediate 
curtains  were*  banks  of  earth.  A  barracks  for  the  newly  arrived  soldiers 
was  built  within  the  walls,  on  the  west  side,  while  on  the  opposite  or 
east  arose  the  Governor's  mansion,  and  next  to  this,  to  the  south,  the 
church  was  erected  in  Kieft's  time.  The  principal  gate  faced  to  the 
north,  opening  upon  the  Bowling  Green,  and  was  guarded  by  a  small 
redoubt  called  a  horn,  which  may  therefore  have  stood  upon  the  very 
spot  of  the  present  circular  park.  The  expenses  of  completion,  aside 

1  Letter  of  Rev.  Jonas  Michaelius.  Doc.  rel.  Col.  Hist.  N.  Y.  2 :  766,  767.     (Appendix.) 


PETER    MINUIT    AND    WALTER    VAN    TWILLER  189 

from  what  the  structure  may  have  cost  before,  are  placed  at  over 
four  thousand  guilders. 

A  more  modest  expenditure,  with  results  correspondingly  humble, 
was  made  for  the  erection  of  a  place  of  worship.  In  the  same  ship  with 
Director  Van  T wilier  arrived  the  Rev.  Everardus  Bogardus,1  who,  until 
the  discovery  of  the  Mi-  s~\ 

chaelius   letter   in   1858,  (.^  — ^          -.  c-,    , 

was  believed  to  have  been  j  *       I/ ,    *, !j  $$-2        P        /  ' 

the  first  clergyman  set-  L^/^X^i*^ 

//    A  f)       J 

tied  on  Manhattan  Island.  (J^C(  nasj'wr— 

We  now  know  that  he  was  preceded  by  a  period  of  five  years  by  the 
author  of  that  interesting  document.  Yet,  even  before  the  arrival  of 
Michaelius,  there  had  come  over  from  the  fatherland  in  the  ship  with 
Minuit  two  persons  of  a  semi-clerical  character,  Sebastian  Jansen 
Krol,  or  Crol,  and  John  Huyghen,  who,  as  lay  readers,  were  to  supply 
the  place  of  a  regular  pastor  temporarily.  These,  in  the  Dutch  eccle- 
siastical system,  were  called  "  Krankenbezoeckers,"  or  Visitors  (not 
Consolers)  of  the  Sick.  In  the  loft  above  the  horsemill  they  led  the 
singing  of  the  congregation,  read  the  creed,  the  Scriptures,  and  per- 
haps occasionally  a  printed  homily.  When  Michaelius  came  in  1628, 
the  horsemill  still  remained  in  requisition,  but  now  something  like 
regular  church  government  began.  Sebastian  Crol  had  been  trans- 
ferred to  Fort  Orange,  to  act  as  Commissary,2  but  John  Huyghen  re- 
mained and  was  made  Elder,  while  the  Director  himself,  who  had 
been  a  deacon  in  Wesel,  was  promoted  to  the  Eldership.  The  first 
"Consistory"3  being  thus  constituted,  it  was  possible  to  hold  a 
Communion-service,  at  which  fifty  persons  partook  of  the  sacrament. 
Domine  Michaelius  preached  to  the  people,  the  majority  of  whom  were 
Walloons  and  French  refugees,  in  the  Dutch  language,  "  which  few 
among  them  could  not  understand,"  he  writes;4  yet  as  an  amiable  con- 
cession to  those  few,  knowing  how  much  more  precious  religious  truth 
is  when  expressed  in  the  mother-tongue,  he  preached  occasionally  in 
French,  with  a  written  sermon  before  him  as  he  was  unable  to  ex- 

i  In  the  same  ship  with  Domine  Bogardus  came  was  attended  to  every  half  year  instead  of  every 

also  the  first  schoolmaster,    Adam   Roelandsen.  Monday.    Roelandsen  may  have  superintended  or 

Some  writers  make  merry  over  the  fact  that,  failing  owned  such  an  establishment,   and  could  have 

in  his  vocation,  "he  took  in  washing."    Whether  managed  this  with  a  sufficient  number  of  hands 

he  failed  in  his  calling  as  teacher  we  do  not  know,  at  the  same  time  that  he  attended  to  the  duties  of 

but  that  he  took  in  washing  was  no  necessary  in-  a  teacher. 

dication  of  this,  nor  was  it  an  incongruous  or  un-  2  His  name  accordingly  stands  first  on  the  doc- 
manly  vocation  among  the  Dutch.  The  custom  ument  containing  the  Van  Rensselaer  contract, 
then,  as  now,  was  to  accumulate  articles  in  house-  the  fac-simileof  which  appears  on  a  previous  page, 
hold  use  for  six  months  or  more,  and  then  send  to  3  The  name  to  this  day  given  to  the  Board  of 
the  laundries,  or  "  Bleeckeryen "  (bleacheries),  Elders  and  Deacons  of  the  Reformed  (Dutch) 
which  were  conducted  entirely  by  men,  and  were  Church  in  America,  the  lineal  descendants  from 
very  extensive  establishments.  The  great  stores  this  primitive  organization. 

of  linen  that  went  as  a  dowry  with  every  daughter  *  Mr.  Murphy  has  made  a  singular  mistake  in 

of  a  well-to-do  family  are  explained  by  this  prev-  translating  this  passage.     He  puts  it:    "of  which 

alent  usage,  for  such  were  necessary  if  the  wash  they  understand  very  little." 


190 


HISTORY    OF    NEW-YOKK 


temporize  in  a  foreign  language.  It  is  not  known  how  long  Michaelius 
had  been  gone  when  Bogardus  came;  but  the  same  rude  loft  served 
for  the  latter's  ministrations  in  the  beginning.  Before  the  year  1633 
was  past,  however,  a  separate  church  building  had  been  erected,  and 
also  a  parsonage.  The  church  was  a  very  plain  structure,  which  De 
Vries  characterized  nine  years  later  as  "  a  mean  barn,"  compared  with 
the  churches  he  had  seen  in  New  England.1  It  stood  in  Broad  street, 
at  the  junction  of  Pearl  and  Bridge  —  and  the  space  of  an  ordinary 
lot  separating  the  two  streets  it  is  easy  to  identify  the  exact  location; 
the  parsonage  being  at  some  distance  from  it,  and  situated  on  White- 
hall street,  near  Bridge,  facing  the  eastern  wall  of  the  fort.  Although 
a  more  worthy  successor  to  the  first  church  edifice  was  built  within 

the  fort  in  1642,  the  "  Old  Church  » 
was  not  sold  till  1656,  and  it  was 
used  for  business  purposes  for  a 
century  later.2 

Meanwhile  diligent  attention  had 
been  given  to  the  development  of 
the  resources  of  Manhattan  Island. 
Very  soon  after  its  purchase  a  large 
portion  was  systematically  marked 
off  into  six  separate  farms,  or 
bouweries,3  which  were  called  the 
Company's  and  designated  by 
numbers.  Numbers  one,  three, 
and  five  lay  on  the  west  side,  and 
two,  four,  and  six  on  the  east 
side.  A  tract  of  land  extending 
to  Wall  street  was  known  as  the 
Company's  garden;  beyond  this 
stretched  farm  number  one,  as 
far  as  Hudson  street.  Number  two  was  situated  east  of  Broad- 
way, number  three  occupied  the  site  of  the  subsequent  village  of 
Greenwich,  while  number  four  included  the  "'plain  of  Manhattan," 
later  the  Commons  and  the  City  Hall  Park.  Minuit  had  made  some 
experiments  in  agriculture,  notably  with  canary  seed,  a  sample  of  which 
was  sent  to  Holland  in  the  Arms  of  Amsterdam.  But  with  Van  Twiller 
began  the  cultivation  of  tobacco,  which  proved  a  great  success,  so  that 
the  New  Netherland  product  was  much  sought  after  in  Holland  and  ob- 
tained as  satisfactory  prices  as  that  from  Virginia.  It  was  the  introduc- 
tion of  this  culture  by  George  Holmes  which  so  far  atoned  for  his 


A    DUTCH    WINDMILL. 


l  Voyages,  N.  Y.  Hist.  Soc.  Col.,  Second  Series, 
3,  pt.  1 : 101. 

2O'Callahan,  New  Netherland,  1:155,  note; 
Brodhead,  New-York,  1  :  243 ;  Valentine,  "  His- 


tory of  the  City  of  New- York,"  p.  29.     To-day  a 
liquor  saloon  occupies  this  historic  spot. 

3  This  ancient  name  for  a  farm  in  Dutch  liter- 
ally signifies  "  cultivated  ground." 


PETER    MINUIT    AND    WALTER    VAJN    TWILLER  191 

leading  a  party  to  encroach  on  the  Delaware,  that  in  consideration  of 
their  valuable  experience  he  and  his  runaway  servant,  Thomas  Hall, 
were  given  grants  of  land  on  Manhattan,  and  both  became  reputable 
freeholders  occupying  prominent  places  in  early  colonial  history. 
The  increasing  products  of  the  soil  necessitated  the  erection  of  mills. 
Minuit's  horsemill  was  supplemented  by  wind-mills  during  his  time, 
especially  for  sawing  purposes,  when  he  was  building  his  great  ship. 
A  sawmill  was  erected  on  Nooten  or  Governor's  Island  by  Van  T wil- 
ier ;  a  mill  stood  on  the  southeast  bastion  of  the  fort,  and  one  on  the 
high  ground  of  farm  number  one,  just  above  the  rise  which  lifts  Broad- 
way above  the  level  of  Bowling  Green.1  Trade  also  made  consider- 
able strides  during  the  earlier  years  of  Van  Twiller's  term ;  the  Patroon 
charter  was  modified  so  that  the  fur  trade  was  less  jealously  restricted. 
As  a  consequence  official  records  show  that  while  in  1633  there  were 
exported  8,800  beaver-skins  and  1383  otter-skins,  yielding  91,375 
florins  ($36,550),  the  exports  in  1635  reached  the  large  number  of  14,- 
891  beavers  and  1413  otters,  selling  for  134,925  florins  ($53,770).2 
And  Manhattan  Island,  or  Fort  Amsterdam,  received  a  great  advan- 
tage from  this  trade,  for  it  was  made  the  beneficiary  of  a  system  that 
was  simply  a  revival  of  a  custom  of  feudalism,  namely,  the  privilege 
of  "  staple-right."  When  Count  Dirk  seated  himself  at  Dordrecht, 
and  thus  initiated  the  history  of  Holland,  he  exacted  the  payment  of 
a  toll  from  all  vessels  going  past  his  town,  up  or  down  the  numerous 
branches  of  the  Maas  at  whose  confluence  Dordrecht  was  situated. 
Those  who  refused,  or  were  unable  to  pay  this,  were  compelled  to  dis- 
charge their  cargoes,  piling  them  in  heaps  ("  stapelen  ")  upon  the  shore 
in  order  to  dispose  of  them  by  sale.  The  latter  proving  often  more 
convenient  or  profitable,  the  traders  along  the  river  learned  to  con- 
gregate at  Dordrecht  as  a  market,  and  the  commercial  prosperity  of 
the  Count's  capital  became  assured.  This  "  stapel-recht,"  or  staple- 
right,  was  now  extended  to  Manhattan  Island,  the  trade  carried  on  in 
all  the  surrounding  regions,  and  along  the  coast  from  Florida  to  New- 
foundland, being  thus  made  to  contribute  towards  the  advancement 
of  the  prosperity  of  the  Company's  Colony  around  Fort  Amsterdam. 
Yet  in  spite  of  this  and  other  devices,  and  undoubted  commercial 
activity,  giving  a  semblance  of  prosperity,  the  expectations  of  the 
West  India  Company  with  regard  to  their  American  province  were 
disappointed.  The  blame  was  thrown  mainly  on  its  climate,  which 
was,  indeed,  rather  inconsistent.  For  although  situated  in  a  latitude 
which  would  warrant  a  temperature  such  as  made  France  and  Spain 
the  home  of  the  luxurious  vine,  and  of  fruits  such  as  the  peach  and 
apricot  and  orange,  there  was  not  the  remotest  reproduction  of  such 

i  Moulton,  New-York,  pp.  427,  428,  "General  note  for  1632-1633." 
2  De  Laet,  "  West  Indische  CompaRnie,"  appendix,  p.  29. 


192 


HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 


conditions  in  New  Netherland.  It.  was  even  colder  there  at  times 
than  on  the  bleak  plains  of  the  United  Provinces  themselves.  "  For 
this  reason  then,"  the  Assembly  of  XIX  assured  the  States-General 
in  June,  1633,  "  the  people  conveyed  thither  by  us  have  as  yet  been 
able  to  discover  only  scanty  means  of  subsistence,  and  have  been  no 
advantage  but  a  drawback  to  the  Company.  The  trade  there  in 
peltries  is  indeed  very  profitable,  but  one  year  with  another  only  fifty 
thousand  guilders  [$20,000]  at  most  can  be  brought  home."  l  A  paltry 

sum  this,  by  the  side  of  the  five 
millions  of  dollars  which  Admiral 
Heyn  "brought  home"  as  the 
result  of  a  few  months'  cruise! 

Four  years  of  Van  Twiller's 
administration  had  not  given  the 
Company  any  reason  to  change 
their  opinion  regarding  the  un- 
profitableness of  New  Netherlancl 
as  a  commercial  venture.  And 
although  this  was  a  shorter  term 
than  that  of  any  of  the  other 
Directors,  it  was  resolved,  in  1637, 
to  recall  him.  There  appeared  to 
be  good  cause  for  adopting  this 


THE    CHURCH    AT    PLATLANDS. 


measure,  for  he  had  not  developed 
very  acceptable  characteristics  as  the  governor  of  a  Province.  About 
a  year  after  Van  Twiller's  arrival  there  occurred  a  quarrel  between 
him  and  Domine  Bogardus.  In  the  early  days  of  the  colony,  when  but 
few  men  of  standing  or  education  could  be  found  willing  to  cross  the 
Atlantic,  the  clergyman,  it  would  seem,  was  given  a  share  in  the 
counsels  of  the  Colonial  Government.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that 
Michaelius  was  thus  situated,  and  with  the  Director  an  Elder  in  his 
church,  and  a  person  entirely  fitted  for  such  a  position,  there  was  per- 
fect harmony.  Unfortunately  both  minister  and  Director  were  of  quite 
different  temperaments  under  the  next  administration.  From  some 
cause,  probably  originating  in  the  Council,  a  contention  arose,  and  in 
the  course  of  it  exceedingly  bitter  language  was  exchanged.  From 
all  that  appears  in  the  conduct  of  Domine  Bogardus  subsequently,  he 
was  a  person  of  a  violent  temper,  and  enemies  accused  him  of  too 
great  fondness  for  wine.  In  this  respect  Van  T wilier  was  more  than 
his  match,  and  it  seems  to  be  no  injustice  to  him  to  conclude  that  his 
morality  was  none  of  the  purest.  So  fierce  became  the  unhappy  con- 
troversy between  these  prominent  persons,  that  it  was  made  a  basis 
of  complaint  against  the  Director  in  Holland.  Other  evidences  of 

l  Doc.  rel.  Col.  Hist.  N.  Y.,  1 :  65. 


PETER    MINUIT     AND    WALTER    VAN    TWILLER  193 

personal  unfitness  for  his  position  accumulated  as  time  went  on.  The 
pages  of  De  Vries'  volume  contain  many  accounts  of  drunken  quarrels, 
originating  in  orgies  which  the  Director  either  himself  promoted,  or 
in  which  at  least  he  took  part.  It  was  inevitable  that  his  administra- 
tion of  the  colony's  affairs  should  be  unfavorably  affected,  much  to 
the  injury  of  the  interests  of  the  West  India  Company.  And  to  make 
matters  still  worse,  while  the  Company's  farms  yielded  no  satisfac- 
tory returns,  on  the  other  hand 
those  which  had  come  into  the 
possession  of  Van  Twiller  and 
his  partners  were  signally  pros- 
perous. These  men,  evidently  profiting  by  their  advantageous  situa- 
tion as  the  agents  of  the  Company,  had  liberally  provided  themselves 
with  extensive  grants  of  land  in  the  vicinity  of  Manhattan  Island. 
The  Director  secured  for  himself  the  island  of  Pagganck,  or  Nut 
Island,  since  called  Governor's  from  this  very  circumstance ;  while 
several  islands  in  the  Hell-gate,  now  East  River,  were  also  added  to 
his  estates.  In  1636  Van  Twiller,  with  Andrew  Hudde,  one  of  the 
Council,  Wolfert  Gerritsen,  probably  a  brother  or  other  near  relative 
of  Councilor  Martin  Gerritsen,  and  Jacob  Van  Corlaer,  or  Curler,  the 
trumpeter,  obtained  possession  of  a  tract  of  fifteen  thousand  acres  in 
extent,  including  the  present  town  of  Flatlands  on  Long  Island.  It 
was  soon  after  called  New  Amersfoort  by  another  settler,  who  had  come 
from  that  historic  town  situated  in  the  province  of  Utrecht  and  dis- 
tinguished as  having  been  the  birthplace  of  Barneveld.  The  grant, 
although  the  title  was  secured  from  the  Indians  by  purchase,  was  not 
made  valid  by  the  endorsement  of  the  Company,  who  were  not  even 
notified  of  it.  These  irregularities  of  personal  and  official  conduct  at 
last  provoked  the  opposition  of  the  most  respectable  member  of  the 
colonial  government,  Lubbertus  Van  Dincklagen,  who  had  succeeded 
Conrad  Notelman  as  Schout-fiscal,  and  who  was  possessed  of  legal 
training.  But  his  protest  only  drew  down  the  wrath  of  Van  Twiller 
upon  his  head;  he  was  deprived  of  his  salary,  in  arrears  for  some 
time,  and  finally  dismissed  and  sent  back  to  Holland.  This  last  pro- 
ceeding on  the  part  of  the  Director,  however,  was  suicidal  to  his 
official  career,  for  the  capable  Schout  at  once  lodged  a  complaint 
against  his  superior  before  the  States-General.  On  being  referred  to 
the  Assembly  of  the  XIX  it  was  at  first  quietly  ignored,  but  the 
complaint  was  too  well  supported  by  documentary  and  other  evidence 
to  be  disposed  of  in  this  manner.  Dincklagen  importuned  the  States- 
General  for  a  settlement  of  his  claims,  and  the  West  India  Company 
were  summoned  to  refute  his  charges.  As  this  could  not  be  done, 
they  were  forced  to  dismiss  their  unworthy  officer  from  the  Director- 
ship of  New  Netherland.  The  records  of  the  States-General  indicate 

VOL.  I.— 13. 


194  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

that  the  directors  had  promptly  sent  their  letter  of  recall ;  for  on  Sep- 
tember 2,  1637,  application  was  made  to  confirm  the  appointment  and 
sign  the  commission  of  his  successor,  William  Kieft.1 

Thus  ended  the  Administration  of  Walter  Van  Twiller ;  but,  unaf- 
fected by  the  disgrace  of  his  removal,  he  remained  in  the  province  for 
many  years  afterwards.  With  a  cynical  disregard  of  men's  opinion  as 
to  the  manner  of  their  acquisition  he  devoted  himself  to  the  task  of 
improving  his  extensive  lands,  and  to  the  renting  of  his  herds  of 
cattle,  which  were  in  a  flourishing  condition  and  numerous,  while  the 
occupants  of  the  Company's  farms  found  them  sadly  deficient  in  stock. 
After  Patroon  Kiliaen  Van  Rensselaer's  death,  Van  Twiller  appears  as 
one  of  the  trustees  or  guardians  of  his  sons  during  their  minority ; 
but  there  is  no  record  of  his  return  to  Holland,  although  it  is  known 
that  he  died  in  his  native  land  during  the  winter  of  1656-57.  Taking 
into  consideration  the  perplexing  circumstances  in  which  the  encroach- 
ments of  the  English  on  the  Connecticut  placed  him,  his  failure  to 
dislodge  them  is  not  greatly  to  his  discredit.  When  they  defied  his 
protests,  and  were  prepared  to  resist  a  resort  to  force,  the  provisions 
of  the  Company's  charter  forbade  his  employment  of  violent  measures 
against  the  subjects  of  a  friendly  power.  The  attempt  of  the  Virginians 
on  the  Delaware  was  only  frustrated  because  they  had  the  decency  to 
desist  when  a  serious  effort  was  made  to  remove  them  from  territory 
upon  which  they  knew  they  were  trespassing.  Van  Twiller's  policy 
towards  the  Indians  was  firm  and  vigorous ;  his  conclusion  of  a  peace 
with  the  Raritans  is  to  be  highly  commended,  and  he  certainly  showed 
no  cowardice  in  his  dealings  with  the  Pequods.  Indeed,  in  considera- 
tion of  the  risks  involved  and  actual  war  provoked  by  his  firm  atti- 
tude towards  this  tribe  in  the  matter  of  the  redemption  of  the  two 
English  girls,  and  his  punishment  of  them  for  the  murder  of  Captain 
Stone,  Van  Twiller's  noble  return  of  good  for  evil  ought  never  to  be 
forgotten,  and  reflects  the  more  discredit  upon  those  whom  he  thus 
generously  treated.  It  is  as  one  turns  from  these  external  relations 
to  his  public  functions  and  private  character  at  home,  that  his  undigni- 
fied conduct  and  the  cupidity  which  led  him  to  take  advantage  of  his 
official  position  for  private  ends  make  Director  Walter  Van  Twiller 
appear  in  a  reprehensible  light.  These  have  not  unjustly  caused  his 
name  to  appear  in  history  clouded  with  dishonor. 

IDoc.  rel.  Col.  Hist.  N.  Y.,  1:  101-104. 


CHAPTEE    VI 

THE   ADMINISTRATION   OF    WILLIAM   KIEFT 

1638-1647 

N  the  28th  day  of  March,  1638,  the  Haering,  a  man-of- 
war  belonging  to  the  West  India  Company,  of  two  hun- 
dred and  eighty  tons  and  mounting  twenty  cannon,  an- 
nounced, by  salute,  her  approach  up  the  Bay.  The  little 
fort  gave  due  response  from  one  of  its  ancient  culverins,  and,  with 
eager  welcome  from  the  dignitaries  and  people  of  New  Amsterdam, 
there  landed  from  a  small  boat,  on  the  floating  dock  at  the  foot  of  the 
inlet,  at  present  Broad  street,  "Willem"  or  William  Kieft,  Director- 
General  of  New  Netherland. 

It  had  been,  for  some  time,  apparent  to  the  directors  of  the  Com- 
pany that  the  want  of  energy  and  experience  of  Van  Twiller,  and  his 
general  incapacity  for  the  administration  of  so  important  and  difficult 
a  post  as  the  Directorship  of  New  Netherland,  made  a  change  in 
the  Executive  essential  to  both  the  interests  of  the  Dutch  Colony  and 
of  the  Company.  A  man  of  different  stamp  was  selected.  Although 
the  new  Director  had  been  a  bankrupt  in  his  commercial  transactions 
and  labored  under  a  charge  (made  by 
his  enemies)  of  having  appropriated 
certain  monies  which  were  entrusted 
to  him  for  ransoming  Christian  cap- 
tives from  the  Turks,  his  character,  as 
a  person  of  determination  and  activity,  recommended  him  to  the  direc- 
tors of  the  Company,  and  to  the  States-General,  as  a  fit  man  for  the  place. 

The  new  Director,  desiring  to  act  on  his  own  responsibility,  and 
not  wishing  to  be  encumbered  with  those  who  might  oppose  his 
policy,  restricted  his  Council  to  one  person,  John  de  la  Montagne, 
a  man  of  intelligence  and  decision  of  character,  who  had  been  edu- 
cated as  a  physician,  and,  as  a  Protestant  refugee  from  France, 
had  emigrated  to  Holland.  The  Director  retained  two  votes  in  the 
Council,  while  La  Montagne  had  but  one ;  an  advisory  board  was 
summoned  in  times  of  danger,  but  from  the  constitution  of  the 
Council  it  is  evident  that  Kieft  was  practically  absolute ;  and  all  at- 


196  HISTOBY    OF    NEW-YOEK 

tempts  at  appeal  from  his  decisions  were  regarded  with  suspicion,  and 
often  visited  with  punishment.  The  personnel  of  the  government  was 
completed  by  the  appointment,  as  Provincial  Secretary,  of  Cornelius 
Van  Tienhoven,  an  able,  energetic  official,  formerly  "  Koopman "  or 
chief  commissary  and  bookkeeper  of  the  Company's  affairs,  and  of 
Ulrich  Lupold,  as  "  Sellout-fiscal,"  or  prosecuting  and  executive  officer, 
to  compel  the  execution  of  the  laws  of  the  Company  and  the  ordi- 
nances and  regulations  of  the  Council.  He  was  subsequently,  in 
1639,  replaced  by  Cornelius  Van  der  Huygens,  who  was  often  intoxi- 
cated and  always  subservient  to  the  others. 

The  appearance  of  the  little  capital  town  of  the  province  was  dis- 
couraging, and  not  such  as  to  give  the  new  Director  a  favorable  idea 
of  its  past  or  future  prosperity.  Fort  Amsterdam  was  in  a  dilapi- 
dated condition,  and  the  guns  were  for  the  most  part  dismantled ;  the 
public  buildings  were  in  need  of  repair,  and  all  but  one  of  the  wind- 
mills were  out  of  order ;  the  Company's  bouweries  were  untenanted, 
and  the  cattle  belonging  to  them  had  been  scattered  and  appropriated, 
perhaps  to  a  great  extent  by  Van  Twiller  himself,  whose  farms  at  least 
were  well  stocked;  and  much  other  property  of  the  Company  had 
been  taken  without  authority. 

It  was  difficult  for  the  directors  of  the  West  India  Company  in 
Holland  to  give  very  particular  attention  to  the  fortunes  of  the  New 
Netherland  Colony,  or  to  its  possessions  there.  In  fact,  they  began  to 
consider  it  rather  a  troublesome  portion  of  the  territories  under  their 
administration,  which  included,  at  this  time,  Curacoa,  some  of  the 
Cape  de  Verde  islands,  a  great  part  of  Brazil,  Tobago,  Senegal,  Sierra 
Leone,  the  regions  of  Guiana  about  the  Essequibo,  Fernando,  and 
other  localities  in  Africa  and  South  America,  with  power  to  exclu- 
sively traffic  with  and  colonize  a  great  part  of  the  African  coast,  and 
all  the  eastern  and  western  coast  of  North  America. 

While  Van  Twiller  had  been  busy  enriching  himself 1  (he  continued 
to  do  so,  even  after  the  arrival  of  his  successor),  the  public  interests 
had  evidently  suffered  greatly  under  his  administration,  and  the 
new  Director  soon  found  that  great  abuses  had  entered  into  public 
affairs.  The  Company's  employees  had  been  trading  in  furs  on  their 
own  account,  instead  of  attending  to  their  duties  and  observing  the 
prescribed  regulations ;  smuggling  was  common,  guns  and  ammuni- 
tion had  been  furnished  to  the  Indians,  the  town  was  in  a  disorderly 
state,  through  the  insurbordination  of  soldiers,  and  the  rioting  of 
sailors  and  denizens ;  drunkenness,  theft,  fighting  and  immoralities 
generally  prevailed,  and  mutiny  and  homicides  were  frequent.  Against 

l  An  inventory  of  his  property  taken  showed  which  he  let  out,  distributed  at  Fort  Good  Hope, 

that  he  owned  two  islands  in  the  Helle-gat,  Nooten  Fort  Nassau,  and  in  parts  of  Manhattan  ;  he  had 

(formerly  Pagganck)  island,  a  bouwery,  a  tobacco  also  commenced  the  establishment  of  a  colony  at 

plantation,   and  a  dwelling    house ;    also    cattle  Staten  Island. 


THE    ADMINISTRATION    OF    WILLIAM    KIEFT  197 

all  these  irregularities  and  crimes  the  Director  immediately  enacted 
severe  ordinances;  a  regular  guard  or  police  was  maintained,  and 
there  was  every  indication  that  he  would  administer  his  office,  not 
only  with  good  judgment,  but  with  a  strong  hand. 

There  arose,  now,  in  the  minds  of  the  States-General  grave  appre- 
hension of  future  trouble  with  the  New  England  settlements,  and  with 
those  of  the  Swedes,  as  it  was  likely  that  political  complications  might 
arise  therefrom  with  their  home  governments.  Since  1630,  there  was 
a  downward  tendency  of  the  fortunes  of  the  West  India  Company ;  the 
rich  galleons  of  Spain  no  longer  supplied  wealth  to  its  coffers,  and 
the  subsidies  promised  in  its  charter  were  largely  in  arrear;  and  so 
incapable  appeared  the  Company  of  successfully  maintaining  even  its 
territory  along  the  North  Eiver,  that  a  project  was  set  on  foot  by  the 
States-General  to  take  control,  for  political  purposes,  of  the  entire 
Province  of  New  Netherland,  and  to  obtain  the  relinquishment  by  the 
Company  of  its  rights  therein.  To  this  application,  the  Company, 
having  a  valuable  independent  charter,  refused  to  accede.1  The  con- 
dition of  the  Province,  however,  was  so  unsatisfactory  at  this  time 
that  it  was  deemed  necessary  to  make  some  changes  of  policy,  so  as  to 
invite  a  greater  immigration.  The  Amsterdam  Chamber,  consequently, 
established  a  new  system;  and,  by  an  ordinance  of  1638,  yielded  in 
part  its  monopoly  of  trade,  and  sent  special  orders  to  the  Director  to 
make  liberal  arrangements  with  such  new  colonists  as  might  arrive 
and  desire  to  acquire  land.  These  concessions  were  attended  with 
excellent  results,  and  new  settlers  arrived  in  great  numbers,  not  only 
from  Europe,  but  from  Virginia  and  New  England. 

Among  others  who  arrived  (in  December,  1638)  was  David  Pietersen 
De  Vries,  formerly  an  officer  in  the  Dutch  service,  who  had  visited  the 
colony  three  times  before.  He  was  a  native  of  Hoorn,  a  man  of  supe- 
rior practical  knowledge  and  sagacity,  and  an  experienced  soldier  and 

TRANSLATION   OP   FAC-SIMILE. 

lAs  some  recognition  of  the  justness  of  the  conformity  with  the  Authority  of  the  XIX, 
complaints  against  the  Company,  the  Managers  in  accordance  with  which  the  respective  Lands 
directed  some  articles  to  be  drawn  up,  for  the  and  places  in  New  Netherland,  and  the  vicinity 
"Colonization  and  Trade  of  New  Netherland."  thereof, shall  henceforth  be  treated,  trafficked 
The  task  was  performed  by  De  Laet,  the  historian,  with,  and  inhabited,  and  this  under  such 
and  this  fact  constitutes  their  chief  value  to  the  form  of  Government  and  police  as  at  the 
antiquarian ;  for  the  articles  themselves  were  present  may  be  established  there,  or  hereafter 
deemed  impracticable  by  the  States-General,  and  shall  be  established  by  the  Company  or  its  de- 
therefore  rejected  by  them.  The  original  docu-  puties.  (Endorsed  on  the  left  hand  corner  as 
ment  is  preserved  in  the  Royal  Archives  at  The  follows  :)  Referred  to  Messrs.  Arnhem,  Noort- 
Hague,  and  a  fac-simile  reproduction  of  the  first  wyn,  Noortwyck,  Vosbergen,  Weede,  Prius- 
page  is  given  in  the  text.  The  matter  contained  sen,  Donkel  and  Coenders  to  view,  examine, 
therein  reads  as  follows  (see  also  Doc.  rel.  Col.  His.  and  report  thereon.  Their  High  Mightinesses' 
N.  Y.,  1 : 110) :  deputies  shall  be  empowered  to  proceed  forth- 
Exhibited  August  30,  1638,  Report  September  with. 
2,  1638.  Done  August  30,  1638.  (Sig.)  COBN'.  MUSCH, 

Articles  and  Conditions  instituted  and  de-  1638. 

livered  by  the  Chamber  of  Amsterdam  with  1.  The  Company  hereby  retains  for  itself  and  such 
approbation  of  their  High  Mightinesses  the  officers  as  it  shall  charge  with  the  execution  there- 
States-General  of  the  United  Netherlands,  in  of,  all  High  and  Low  Jurisdiction,  together  with 


198 


HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 


DE  LAET'S  ARTICLES  OF  COLONIZATION  AND  TRADE.    FIRST  PAGE. 


the  exercise  of  this  and  other  matters  that  belong 
to  public  affairs ;  in  order  that  its  governors,  offi- 
cers, and  all  others  employed  by  it  may  adminis- 
ter, regulate,  manage,  and  execute  the  same, 
under  obedience  to  their  High  Mightinesses,  ac- 
cording to  instructions  to  be  given  from  time  to 


time,  without  that  any  one  shall  be  allowed  to  op- 
pose himself  thereto,  directly  or  indirectly,  on 
pain  of  being  corrected  therefor,  according  to  the 
case  in  hand,  as  violators  and  disturbers  of  the 
public  peace. 


THE    ADMINISTRATION    OF    WILLIAM    KIEFT  199 

navigator.  The  narrative  of  his  various  voyages  is  invaluable  as  an 
authority  on  New  Netherland  affairs,  and  gives  a  graphic  account  of 
the  province  during  a  large  part  of  the  administration  both  of  Van 
T wilier  and  of  Kieft.  De  Vries  immediately  transported  the  people  he 
had  brought  with  him  to  Staten  Island,  and  began  a  small  colony  there, 
and  soon  afterwards  settled  on  Manhattan  Island,  about  two  Dutch 
miles  above  the  fort.  Two  other  personages,  who  were  to  take  active 
part  in  the  affairs  of  the  settlement,  also  arrived  at  New  Amsterdam 
in  the  year  1639 :  Joachim  Pietersen  Kuyter,  a  man  of  military  ex- 
perience and  of  active  character,  and  Cornelius  Melyn,  who  came  on 
a  visit  of  inspection  in  a  vessel  bringing  a  cargo  of  cattle. 

Prosperity  now  seemed  assured  to  New  Netherland,  and  numerous 
grants  to  settlers  were  made,  not  only  on  the  island,  but  in  surround- 
ing districts.  The  Company's  bouweries  were  put  in  order,  stocked 
with  cattle  and  leased ;  and  more  than  thirty  farms  came  under  active 
cultivation.  Andreas  Hudde  received  a  grant  of  a  hundred  morgens 
at  the  northeast  end  of  the  island,  as  did  also  Van  T  wilier,  on  the 
North  River  strand,  at  Sapohanican.1  Hudde  was  to  pay  one- tenth  of 
the  increase  of  the  stock,  at  the  end  of  ten  years,  and  a  pair  of  capons, 
annually.  In  May,  1638,  Abraham  Isaacksen  Planck  received  a  grant 
for  Paulus  Hoeck,  east  of  Ahasimus,  on  the  western  side  of  the  North 
River.  Among  other  leases  of  the  Company's  bouweries  was  one  to  the 
insatiable  Van  T  wilier,  in  1639,  who  was  busy,  at  this  time,  in  super- 
intending the  letting  out  of  his  goats  and  cows.  The  Company's  farm 
at  Pavonia  was  let  to  John  Evertsen  Bout.  The  Secretary,  Van  Tien- 
hoven,  leased  a  bouwery  opposite  La  Montague's  plantation  of  Vreden- 
dael;3  and  we  find,  in  the  records,  many  other  leases  and  deeds  of 
outlying  farms  and  plantations.  Among  others,  a  tract  was  granted  to 
the  Englishmen  George  Holmes  and  Thomas  Hall,  tobacco  planters, 
extending  from  Deutel  (now  Turtle)  Bay3  to  the  "Hill  of  Schepmoes"; 
a  large  tract  was  also  conveyed  to  John  Jansen  Van  Salee  near 
Coneyn,  now  known  as  Coney,  Island. 

In  the  mean  while,  the  English  colonists  were  looking  with  envious 
eyes  upon  the  fertile  regions  of  the  Connecticut  Valley,  and  they 
adopted  measures  for  dispossessing  the  Dutch  of  their  lands,  not 
only  on  the  Connecticut,  but  to  the  east  of  the  lower  portion  of  the 
North  River.  A  settlement  had  been  planted,  in  1638,  at  a  place 
called  the  Roodenberg,  or  Red  Hill ;  and  the  foundation  of  the  colony 
of  New  Haven  was  laid.  De  Vries  states,  in  his  account,  that,  in  June, 
1639,  he  anchored  at  New  Haven,  where,  to  his  surprise,  he  found 
about  three  hundred  houses  built  and  a  fine  church.  Hartford  was 
already  a  flourishing  settlement.  Other  English  emigrants  soon  after 

l  Subsequently  called,  until  recently,  Greenwich  Village.     2  Between  Eighth  avenue  and  Harlem  River. 
3  About  the  foot  of  Forty-fifth  street,  East  Eiver. 


200  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

established  themselves  in  the  region  about  what  is  now  known  as  Nor- 
walk,  Stamford  and  Greenwich,  interfering  with  the  lands  appertain- 
ing to  the  Dutch  settlement  at  Fort  Good  Hope,  on  the  Fresh  Water 
or  Connecticut  Eiver,  and  which  had  been  purchased  of  the  Indians 
in  1632-33,  as  well  as  the  lands  at  the  mouth  of  the  river. 

On  account  of  these  continual  encroachments,  the  Director  thought 
it  expedient,  at  this  time,  to  fortify  the  title  of  the  Company  to  lands 
on  the  East  Eiver,  by  purchasing  from  the  aborigines  all  the  main- 
land and  the  outlying  islands  extending  northeast  of  the  Great  Kill, 
or  Harlem  River,  as  far  as  the  inlet  at  Norwalk.  About  this  time, 
also,  the  Director  made  extensive  purchases  from  the  Carnarsee  tribe 
of  land  on  the  western  part  of  Long  Island,  embracing  parts  of  the 
modern  Counties  of  Kings  and  Queens. 

English  settlers,  in  the  mean  time,  had  made  extensive  purchases  at 
the  eastern  portion  of  Long  Island,  and  sought  to  take  possession  of 
a  portion  of  the  island  to  the  west,  which  had  been  granted  to  the 
Dutch  by  the  Indians.  Against  these  proceedings  the  Director  took 
active  measures,  and  sent  a  small  military  expedition,  which  soon 
drove  away,  without  bloodshed,  the  English  trespassers,  and  main- 
tained the  sovereignty  of  the  Company  over  their  Long  Island  posses- 
sions. It  is  to  be  remarked  that  Kieft,  in  his  instructions,  ordered, 
"Above  all  things,  take  care  that  no  blood  be  shed."  In  this  instance, 
at  least,  he  showed  prudence  and  humanity.  The  English  occupation 
at  the  eastern  part  of  the  island  still  continued,  however,  and  the  towns 
of  Southampton  and  Southold  commenced  their  career. 

In  July,  1640,  some  Earitan  Indians  were  falsely  accused  of  taking 
certain  property  on  Staten  Island,  and  of  attacking  a  trading  yacht. 
Without  investigation,  and  with  his  usual  disregard  of  consequences, 
the  Director  sent  an  expedition  against  them,  which  wantonly  and 
barbarously  killed  several  and  ravaged  the  fields  of  the  tribe.  The 
soldiers  seem  to  have  acted  in  disobedience  to  the  orders  of  their  chief, 
Van  Tienhoven,  but  Kieft  was  held  responsible  for  the  wrong  done ; 
and  it  was  the  foundation  of  a  hostile  feeling  among  the  savages  that, 
in  a  short  time,  culminated  in  the  terrible  Indian  wars  that  ensued, 
and  which  not  only  caused  great  loss  of  life  and  property  to  settlers 
in  and  about  the  island  of  Manhattan,  but  affected  the  prosperity  of 
the  colony  and  so  retarded  its  progress  that  New  Amsterdam  was  in 
no  condition  to  offer  resistance  to  the  invading  forces  of  the  Duke  of 
York,  in  the  year  1664. 

The  measures  of  the  local  government  towards  the  savages  can  not 
be  said  to  have  been  those  of  conciliation  or  of  prudence.  At  first 
the  Indians  had  been  treated  fairly  and  kindly  by  the  traders,  but 
when  they  began  to  exercise  fraud  and  treachery  confidence  in  the 
whites  became  impaired.  Liquor,  also,  was  frequently  sold  to  them, 


THE    ADMINISTRATION    OF    WILLIAM    KIEFT 


201 


although  both  their  chiefs  and  the  Director  made  efforts  to  stop  this 
dangerous  traffic.  Another  of  the  occurrences  that  now  precipitated 
hostile  feeling  between  the  Dutch  and  the  aborigines  was  an  un- 
provoked attack,  by  some  Earitan  Indians,  on  De  Vries'  plantation, 
on  Staten  Island,  in  which  four  of  the  settlers  were  killed.  This 
occurred  in  September,  1641.  Thereupon  the  Director  imprudently 
offered  a  reward  for  the  head  of  any  one  of  the  Raritans  that  might 
be  brought  to  the  fort ;  this,  of  course,  was  a  declaration  of  war  against 
the  whole  tribe.  Another  tribe  had  also  become  hostile,  through  the 
following  occurrence.  A  wheelwright,  named  Claes  Smits,  or  Switz, 
who  occupied  a  small  house  at  Deutel  Bay,  a  remote  region  on  the 
East  River,  was  murdered  in 
cold  blood  by  the  Weckquaes- 
geck  savage  who  had  long  medi- 
tated a  bloody  revenge  against 
the  Dutch,  on  account  of  the 
killing  of  his  uncle,  some  six- 
teen years  previously,  near  the 
Fresh  Water  pond,  as  related  in 
an  earlier  chapter.  AstheWeck- 


quaesgecks  refused  to  deliver 

the  murderer,  it  was  proposed  to 

declare  open  hostilities  against 

them.    This  tribe  occupied  the 

eastern  bank  of  the  North  River, 

north  of  Manhattan  Island,  and 

extending  through  the  valley  of 

the  Nepera  (or  Saw  Mill)  creek. 

Before  active  measures  were  taken,  however,  the  Director  resolved  to 

take  counsel  with  prominent  members  of  the  community,  to  avoid 

assuming  the  sole  responsibility  for  the  result.     He,  accordingly,  sent 

out  the  following  notice  dated  on  the  23d  of  August,  1641:  "The 

Director-General  of  New  Netherland  informs,  herewith,  all  heads  or 

masters  of  families,  living  in  this  vicinity,  that  he  wishes  them  to 

come  to  Fort  Amsterdam,  on  Thursday,  the  29th  of  August,  for  the 

consideration  of  some  important  and  necessary  matters." 

The  result  of  the  meeting  was  that  twelve  men  were  selected  by  the 
assemblage  for  consideration  of  the  punishment  to  be  inflicted  on  the 
tribe,  if  the  murderer  were  not  surrendered,  and  the  manner  in  which 
it  was  to  be  carried  out.  De  Vries  was  chosen  President  of  the  body. 
Among  the  others  are  found  the  names  of  Jan  Jansen  Damen,  a  pros- 
perous farmer ;  Maryn  Adriaensen,  who  afterwards  attempted  to  assas- 
sinate the  Director;  Joachim  Pietersen  Kuyter,  already  referred  to; 
Joris  or  Greorge  Rapalje,  one  of  the  original  Walloon  colonists,  and 


THE    EARLIEST    MAP    OP    THE    CITY. 


202  HISTORY     OF    NEW-YORK 

Abraham  Isaacsen  Planck,  the  farmer  from  Paulus  Hoeck.  The  Coun- 
cil was  of  opinion  that  further  attempts  should  be  made  to  obtain 
possession  of  the  murderer ;  but  in  case  of  failure  to  secure  him,  that 
the  settlement  of  the  Weckquaesgecks  should  be  destroyed,  not,  how- 
ever, before  the  Indian  hunting  expeditions  began.  It  was  recom- 
mended, also,  that  the  Director  ought  to  lead  the  van  in  case  of  active 
war;  and  that  the  freemen  and  soldiers  be  supplied  with  coats  of 
mail.  De  Vries,  although  the  principal  sufferer  from  Indian  attacks, 
was  of  opinion  that  the  community  was  not  then  in  a  condition 
for  open  war  with  the  powerful  tribes  in  the  vicinity;  besides  that, 
the  Amsterdam  Chamber  was  opposed  to  all  hostilities  with  the  In- 
dians ;  and  such,  in  fact,  were  the  views  of  the  twelve  men,  who  were 
in  favor,  at  least,  of  delaying  an  open  rupture. 

Although  the  prudent  counsels  of  the  twelve  men  had  postponed 
any  hostile  action  for  the  present,  the  Director  had  not  dismissed 
from  his  mind  the  claim  against  the  Weckquaesgecks  for  the  murder 
of  Smits.  The  time  was  not  then  propitious  for  an  expedition,  which, 
however,  with  the  reluctant  consent  of  the  twelve,  he  was  authorized 
to  undertake.  These  twelve  men,  all  persons  of  some  consequence  in 
the  community,  and  having  had  some  experience  of  the  arbitrary  man- 
ner in  which  the  Director  was  inclined  to  rule,  there  being,  in  fact,  no 
practical  limit  to  his  authority,  now  thought  it  an  appropriate  time  to 
make  a  formal  representation  to  him,  to  the  effect  that  the  people  of 
the  colony  should  have  a  permanent  representation  in  the  adminis- 
tration, at  least,  of  municipal  affairs,  based  upon  the  burgher  rights  of 
the  Fatherland.  They  claimed  an  increase  in  the  permanent  Council, 
so  that  the  number  should  be  at  least  five ;  and  that  four  out  of  the 
twelve  men  to  be  elected  by  the  citizens  should  be  assigned  places  in 
the  Council,  who  were  to  take  part  in  judicial  as  well  as  civil  pro- 
ceedings. Other  important  demands  were  also  made.  Under  the 
popular  pressure,  the  Director  conceded  the  right  that  the  common- 
alty might  select  the  four  men  desired  to  be  associated  in  the  Council, 
to  act  in  judicial  matters ;  and  that,  at  certain  specified  times,  they 
should  be  called  upon  to  advise  upon  public  affairs.  It  was  con- 
ceded, also,  that  the  inhabitants  might,  in  future,  trade  with  friendly 
colonies,  upon  paying  certain  imposts  to  the  Company ;  and,  for  the 
purpose  of  protecting  the  cattle  trade,  the  New  England  colonies  were 
to  be  prohibited  from  selling  cows  and  goats  in  the  colony.  These 
concessions  were  carried  into  execution  to  a  limited  extent  only,  for 
the  Director  soon  resumed  his  arbitrary  powers,  dismissing  the 
twelve  men,  whose  presence  he  found  embarrassing  to  his  absolute 
rule,  and  forbidding  the  calling  of  any  assembly  of  the  people,  with- 
out his  express  order,  as  leading  "  to  dangerous  consequences  and  to 
the  great  injury  both  of  the  country  and  of  our  authority." 


THE    ADMINISTRATION    OF    WILLIAM    KIEFT  203 

During  the  years  1641  and  1642,  many  important  grants  were  made 
both  on  Manhattan  Island  and  in  the  vicinity  for  farming  purposes, 
showing  the  prosperous  condition  of  the  colony  and  an  increasing 
population.  In  patents,  among  the  most  noteworthy  was  a  grant  in 
August,  1641,  of  land  on  Newark  Bay  (Achter  Cul),  including  the 
valley  of  the  Hackingsack  Eiver.  It  extended  north  towards  Vries- 
endael,  the  plantation  of  De  Vries.  The  patent  was  to  Myndert  Van 
der  Horst,  who  established  a  bouwery  and  a  small  redoubt  on  the  land 
granted.  Cornelius  Melyn,  who  had  been  absent  in  Holland,  returned 
in  August,  1641,  and  although  De  Vries  was  in  possession  of  part  of 
the  island,  and  also  Kieft,  who  had  a  distillery  there,  Melyn  was  al- 
lowed to  establish  a  plantation  on  Staten  Island  near  the  Narrows ; 
and  subsequently  received,  under  directions  from  the  West  India 
Company,  a  patent,  as  Patroon, 

over  the  whole  island,  except-   (— --<*/«.^  • &* c±s  AAA^      o 

ing  a  portion  reserved  for  the   ^ — cX^o       'K>-£r  ^t 

plantation  of  De  Vries.     Many  ^  ^ 

small  plots  of  ground  for  residences  were  also,  during  the  above  years, 
granted  below  the  present  Wall  street.  The  plots  were  generally 
described  as  about  fifty  or  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet l  in  width. 

The  long-projected  expedition  against  the  Weckquaesgecks2  was 
now,  in  March,  1642,  sent  out;  it  consisted  of  eighty  men  under  the 
command  of  Ensign  Van  Dyck,  an  officer  of  the  fort,  the  Director 
prudently  refraining  from  heading  the  forces.  The  expedition  crossed 
the  Harlem  Eiver  and  entered  the  Westchester  region,  with  orders  to 
punish  the  savages  with  fire  and  sword,  but,  owing  to  a  mistake  in 
the  route  and  the  darkness  of  the  night,  the  settlement  of  the  Indians 
was  not  reached,  and  the  ensign  ordered  a  retreat  to  New  Amsterdam. 
The  savages,  however,  were  intimidated  by  these  martial  measures, 
and  offered  to  surrender  the  murderer,  which  was  never  done.  Peace, 
however,  was  concluded,  and  formally  signed  at  the  house  of  Jonas 
Bronck,  the  prosperous  colonist  on  the  Bronx  river.  The  attempted 
imposition  of  a  tribute  upon  the  tribes  in  the  vicinity  of  Manhattan, 
however,  and  the  fact  that  the  cattle  of  the  settlers  were  not  restrained 
from  trampling  upon  the  crops  of  the  savages  were  still  sources  of 
discontent.  A  new  occurrence  served  as  a  spark  in  bringing  this 
hostile  feeling  once  more  into  active  play. 

A  Hackingsack  Indian,  under  some  small  grievance,  had  deliberately 
shot  a  Dutch  colonist,  who  was  at  work  at  Van  der  Horst's  plantation, 
near  the  Hackingsack  and  North  Eivers.  Although  the  chiefs  of  the 
tribe  to  which  the  savage  belonged  offered  to  come  to  the  fort  and 
make  compensation  in  the  shape  of  blood  money,  the  Director  de- 
manded, as  the  sole  reparation,  that  the  murderer  should  be  delivered 

1  A  Dutch  foot  was  about  93-100  of  an  English  foot.     2  This  is  sometimes  written  "  Weckquesqueeks." 


204  HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YORK 

at  the  fort.  The  reply  was  that  he  had  absconded  and  taken  refuge 
with  the  Tankitekes,  and  that  such  occurrences  only  happened  through 
the  whites  selling  liquor  to  the  Indians.  The  Director  immediately 
made  demand  on  Pacham,  Chief  of  the  Tankitekes,  for  the  delivery  of 
the  murderer ;  but  a  scoffing  answer  was  returned. 

A  body  of  the  formidable  Iroquois  had,  in  the  meantime,  appeared 
from  their  castles  in  the  north,  to  collect  tribute  from  the  Westchester 
and  Eiver  tribes,  and  drove  before  them  a  host  of  terrified  Indian 
fugitives,  who  took  refuge,  some  on  De  Vries'  plantation  at  Vriesen- 
dael,  some  among  the  Hackingsacks  on  the  west  side  of  the  river,  and 
others  on  different  parts  of  Manhattan  Island,  particularly  at  the 
plantation  called  Corlaer's  or  Curler's  Hoeck,  on  the  East  River.  The 
Director,  instead  of  conciliating  and  protecting  these  savages  who 
had  taken  refuge  in  his  territory  —  a  policy  which  would  have  com- 
mended itself  to  a  man  of  better  judgment  —  determined  to  inflict 
punishment  for  the  murder  of  Smits  and  of  Van  Voorst,  the  workman 
at  Pavonia,  and  to  make  the  savages  "  wipe  their  chops,"  as  he  with 
characteristic  coarseness  expressed  it,  for  their  tumultuous  con- 
duct and  refusal  to  pay  the  tribute  he  had  imposed.  Some  of  the 
wiser  members  of  the  community,  among  them  De  Vries  and  Domine 
Bogardus,  were  urgent  in  their  opposition  to  hostilities,  but  three  of 
the  former  twelve  men,  Dameu,  Planck,  and  Adriaensen,  were  as 
urgent  in  their  efforts  to  begin  them,  and  signed  a  petition  to  that 
effect,  apparently  in  the  name  of  the  whole  body.  Kieft  required  no 
persuasion,  and  remonstrance  from  the  community  was  of  no  avail ; 
he  accordingly  prepared  a  military  expedition,  without  giving  any 
sufficient  warning  to  the  various  outlying  settlers.  "  Let  this  work 
alone,"  again  urged  De  Vries;  "  you  want  to  break  the  Indians'  mouths, 
but  it  is  our  own  people  you  are  going  to  murder;  nobody  in  the 
country  knows  anything  of  it,  my  people  will  be  murdered  again, 
and  everything  destroyed."  It  was  determined,  however,  to  send  a 
part  of  the  force  to  Pavonia,  and  another  to  drive  away  those 
Indians  who,  in  their  distress,  had  taken  refuge  at  Corlaer's  Hoeck. 
The  marching  orders  for  the  expedition  to  Pavonia  were  as  fol- 
lows :  "  Sergeant  Rodolf  is  authorized  and  commanded  to  take 
under  his  command  a  troop  of  soldiers  and  lead  them  to  Pavonia, 
and  drive  away  and  destroy  the  savages  being  behind  John  Evert- 
sens;  but  to  spare,  as  much  as  it  is  possible,  their  wives  and  chil- 
dren, and  to  take  the  savages  prisoners.  Done,  February  25,  1643." 

The  expedition  which  proceeded  to  the  Jersey  shore  made  a  mur- 
derous midnight  attack  upon  a  body  of  the  refugee  Tapaens,  unsus- 
picious of  any  danger  from  the  whites,  and  relentlessly  slaughtered, 
mostly  in  their  sleep,  over  eighty  men,  women,  and  children,  with 
attendant  circumstances  of  wanton  cruelty.  The  shrieks  of  the 


THE    ADMINISTRATION    OF    WILLIAM    KIEFT  205 

victims  were  heard  even  at  the  fort.  The  other  expedition  attacked 
the  unfortunate  cowering  refugees  at  Corlaer's  Hoeck,  who  were  sur- 
prised in  their  sleep;  and  at  least  forty  of  them  were  destroyed — 
neither  women  nor  infants  being  spared.  These  occurrences  happened 
on  the  nights  of  the  27th  and  28th  of  February.1 

There  was  much  exultation  at  Fort  Amsterdam  on  the  return  of 
the  two  expeditions,  with  their  prisoners  and  trophies ;  rewards  were 
conferred  on  the  soldiers  and  congratulations  exchanged  for  a  work 
in  which  heroism  bore  no  part.  The  dark  side  of  the  future  was  con- 
cealed ;  and  a  Nemesis  stood  near,  who  was  to  smite  the  land  with 
desolation  and  blood  for  deeds  as  barbarous  and  unjust  as  they  were 
impolitic.  To  add  to  the  enmity  of  the  Indians,  now  spreading 
wildly  throughout  the  land,  a  foray  was  made,  without  the  Director's 
authorization,  by  certain  of  the  inhabitants  of  New  Amersfoort,  on 
Long  Island,  against  the  Marechkawiecks,  a  peaceable  tribe,  living 
near  the  present  Brooklyn,  several  of  whom  were  killed  in  trying  to 
defend  their  property. 

By  these  various  atrocities  all  the  savages  in  the  neighborhood  of 
New  Amsterdam  were  aroused  to  bitter  enmity,  and  became  united 
against  their  common  foe.  Upwards  of  eleven  tribes  were  soon  in 
combination  for  the  destruction  of  the  whites,  both  at  New  Amster- 
dam and  its  vicinity.  Settlements  were  attacked  and  devastated, 
cattle  and  crops  were  destroyed,  houses  burned,  and  the  families  on 
the  farms  were  slaughtered  without  mercy,  or  carried  into  captivity ; 
and  every  plantation  in  New  Netherland  was  exposed  to  destruction. 
The  affrighted  people  fled  to  the  fort  for  safety,  and  many  abandoned 
the  colony  for  the  Fatherland.  Roger  Williams,  who  was  in  New 
Amsterdam  at  the  time,  taking  ship  for  Europe,  was  a  witness  to  the 
desolation  and  havoc  that  prevailed.  "  Before  we  weighed  anchor,"  he 
records,  "  mine  eyes  saw  the  flames  at  their  towns,  and  the  flights  and 
hurries  of  men,  women,  and  children,  and  the  present  removal  of 
all  that  could  for  Holland."  In  a  short  time  only  three  bouweries 
remained  entire  on  the  island  Manhattan,  and  two  on  Staten  Island. 
De  Vries  relates  that  the  savages  burned  his  farm,  cattle,  corn,  barn, 
tobacco  house  and  all  the  tobacco,  and  attacked  his  people,  who  took 
refuge  in  the  house,  which  was  made  with  embrasures,  where  they 
defended  themselves.  They  were  saved  from  destruction  by  a  friendly 
Indian,  whom  De  Vries  had  formerly  protected,  and  his  house  and 
brewery  were  spared.  All  the  male  colonists  at  Manhattan  were  now 
enrolled  as  soldiers,  under  pay,  and  peace  was  sought  to  be  made  with 
the  Long  Island  Indians,  but  it  was  at  first  scornfully  rejected.  Later, 
however  (March,  1643),  they  showed  a  disposition  towards  peace,  and 
sent  delegates  to  the  fort.  They  had  acted  heretofore  in  hostility, 

l  Brodhead  in  his  "  History  of  New-York  "  makes  this  the  night  of  the  25th  and  26th  of  February. 


206 


HISTOKY    OF    NEW-YOEK 


because  some  of  their  tribe  had  been  slaughtered  at  Corlaer's  Hoeck, 
and  others  at  Ainersfoort.  The  courageous  De  Vries,  who  always  had 
the  goodwill  and  confidence  of  the  Indians,  and  one  Jacob  Olfertsen 

volunteered  to  go  to  one  of 
their  settlements  to  treat 
with  them,  although  it  was 
a  hazardous  duty.  De  Vries 
and  Olfertsen  proceeded  to 
a  place  called  Rech-qua- 
akie  (Rockaway).  After  be- 
ing hospitably  entertained 
and  lodged  for  the  night, 
De  Vries  and  his  compan- 
ion proceeded,  at  break  of 
day,  with  the  Indians  to  a 
neighboring  wood,  where 
the  council  began  its  ses- 
sion. At  the  head  of  the 
assemblage  sat  Pennawitz, 
the  chief  of  the  Carnarsees, 
with  sixteen  of  his  princi- 
pal Sachems ;  while  several 
hundred  sulky  warriors 
stood  in  a  circle,  looking 
with  little  favor  upon  the 
bold  delegates  who  had  come 
from  the  fort. 

There  was,  at  first,  a  gloomy  silence.  Then  Pennawitz  began  a 
rehearsal  of  the  wrongs  the  Indians  had  received  at  the  hands  of  the 
Dutch ;  and,  at  the  end  of  every  charge,  laid  down,  for  emphasis  and 
enumeration,  a  little  stick.  Finally,  De  Vries,  growing  impatient  at 
the  number  of  charges  and  sticks,  which  seemed  to  act  as  irritants 
upon  the  savages,  proposed  to  them  that  delegates  from  their  number 
should  go  to  the  fort,  where  they  would  receive  presents  and  make 
a  peace.  The  Indians  naturally  hesitated  about  going  to  New  Am- 
sterdam and  placing  themselves  in  the  hands  of  their  enemies ;  but, 
finally,  in  the  words  of  De  Vries,  "  One  of  the  chiefs,  who  knew  me, 
said,  'We  will  go  on  the  faith  of  your  word,  for  the  Indians  have 
never  found  you  to  be  as  they  have  other  Swannekens ' ;  finally, 
twenty  of  us  went,  sitting  in  a  canoe  or  hollow  tree,  which  is  their 
boat;  and  the  edge  was  not  a  hand's  breadth  above  the  water.  Arrived 
at  the  fort,  William  Kieft  came  and  made  peace  with  the  Indians  and 


KIEFT'S  MODE  OP  PUNISHMENT.  1 


l  This  is  copied  from  one  of  Charles  Robert  Leslie's  paintings,  made  to  illustrate  the  English 
edition  of  "  Knickerbocker's  New- York,"  issued  in  1823.     EDITOR. 


THE    ADMINISTKATION    OF    WILLIAM    KIEFT  207 

gave  them  some  presents.  He  requested  them  to  bring  those  chiefs 
to  the  fort  who  had  lost  so  many  Indians,  as  he  wished  also  to  make 
peace  with  them  and  to  give  them  presents.  Then  some  of  them 
went,  and  brought  the  Indians  of  Ackinsack  and  Tapaen  and  the 
vicinity,  and  the  chiefs  came  forward,  to  whom  he  made  presents,  but 
they  were  not  well  content  with  them.  They  told  me  that  he  could 
have  made  peace  by  his  presents,  so  that  those  days  would  never 
again  be  spoken  of;  but  now  it  might  fall  out  that  the  infants  upon 
the  small  boards  would  be  remembered.  They  then  went  away, 
grumbling  at  their  presents."  The  terms  of  the  peace  were  that  all 
injuries  mutually  received  should  be  considered  forgiven,  and  no  fur- 
ther molestation  should  be  made  on  either  side;  and  the  Indians  were  to 
give  notice  of  any  plots  by  other  savages  not  represented  in  the  treaty. 

But  the  troubles  of  the  Province  with  the  aborigines  had  not 
ceased.  There  was  still  rancor  against  the  Dutch,  and  a  lingering, 
brooding  discontent  that  presaged  harm,  and  kept  the  Colony  in  a 
continual  state  of  alarm.  Pacham,  the  treacherous  chief  of  the  Tan- 
kitekes,  was  ceaseless  in  his  efforts  to  stir  up  the  river  tribes  to  a  re- 
newal of  hostilities.  A  few  months  after  the  peace,  a  friendly  chief, 
who  came  to  the  fort  to  warn  De  Vries,  told  the  latter  that  he  was 
"  very  sad,"  inasmuch  as  the  young  men  of  his  tribe  wanted  to  make 
war  against  the  Dutch.  He  said,  on  being  asked  to  influence  his  tribe 
to  suppress  the  malcontents  — "  that  it  could  not  be  done,  as  there 
were  so  many.  Had  he,  the  Governor,  paid  richly  for  the  murders  it 
would  have  been  forgotten.  He  himself  would  do  his  best  to  keep 
them  quiet."  He  evidently  met  with  little  success. 

The  first  act  of  renewed  hostilities  was  committed,  in  August, 
1643,  on  the  part  of  the  Tankiteke  and  Wappinger  tribes,  the  latter 
located  near  the  Highlands  of  the  North  Eiver ;  and  consisted  in  an 
attack,  instigated  by  Pacham,  on  some  boats  laden  with  beaver-skins, 
descending  the  river  from  Fort  Orange ;  in  which  attack  over  twelve 
of  the  Dutch  were  killed.  Kieft,  under  the  impending  crisis,  called 
again  upon  the  community  for  advice ;  and  eight  men  were  selected 
to  act  in  conference  with  him.  Among  these  were  Joachim  Pietersen 
Kuyter,  Jan  Jansen  Dam  en,  Thomas  Hall  and  Isaac  Allerton,  the 
English  tobacco-planters,  Cornelius  Melyn,  the  patroon  of  Staten 
Island,  and  G-errit  Wolfertsen.  The  others  refused  to  act  with  Damen, 
and  Jan  Evertsen  Bout  was  selected  to  replace  him.  The  decision  of 
the  Council  and  the  eight  men  was  that  peace  was  to  be  maintained 
with  the  Long  Island  Indians;  but  war  was  promptly  declared 
against  the  river  tribes.  The  colonists  and  the  Company's  employees 
were  thereupon  armed  and  drilled  and,  also,  English  settlers  and 
soldiers  under  Captain  John  Underbill,  to  the  number  of  fifty,  who 
were  to  receive  pay  and  to  take  an  oath  of  fealty  to  the  States- 


208  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

General  and  to  the  local  government.  The  selection  of  Underbill  as 
leader  was  a  wise  one ;  he  was  an  expert  Indian  fighter,  experienced 
in  the  wars  of  the  New  Englanders  against  the  Pequods,  in  1637,  and 
was  a  man  of  marked  resolution  and  courage. 

The  always  troublesome  Weckquaesgecks  now  joined  the  hostile 
upper  tribes,  and  began  their  operations  by  attacking  the  unsuspecting 
English  settlers  who  had  received  grants  on  the  Bronx  River  and 
Pelham  Bay.  Anne  Hutchinson  and  a  portion  of  her  family  were 
treacherously  killed ;  the  Throgmorton  and  Cornell  plantations  were 
devastated,  and  many  members  of  those  families  fell  beneath  the 
blows  of  the  savages.  Several  of  the  Long  Island  tribes,  also, 
attacked  the  settlements  at  Gravesend  and  Mespat ;  the  first  of  which 
was  successfully  defended  by  the  English  refugees  there,  Lady 
Deborah  Moody  and  her  associates;  but  Francis  Doughty,  the 
English  clergyman,  and  his  people,  who  were  located  at  Mespat,  were 
driven  from  their  settlement,  with  loss  of  life,  and  their  plantation 
and  houses  were  burned.  Other  settlements  on  Long  Island  were 
devastated,  and  the  inhabitants  fled  in  terror  before  the  savage  in- 
vaders. The  Nevesincks,  located  near  the  Atlantic  and  Raritan  Bay, 
south  of  the  Raritans,  joined  in  the  uprising,  and  commenced  devas- 
tations and  murderous  attacks,  while  the  discontented  Hackingsacks, 
in  September,  1643,  attacked  Van  der  Horst's  colony,  at  Achter-Cul, 
and  Stoffelsen's  plantation  at  Pavonia.  They  treacherously  ap- 
proached the  latter  place,  and  those  left  there  to  defend  it,  having  im- 
prudently laid  aside  their  arms,  were  slain.  As  the  incursions  of  the 
Indians  grew  bolder,  and  houses  and  farms  were  successively  attacked, 
the  affrighted  colonists  from  the  outlying  plantations  took  refuge  in 
huts  about  the  crumbling  fort.  An  army  of  fifteen  hundred  men  out  of 
seven  allied  hostile  tribes,  supplied  with  guns  and  ammunition,  was 
preparing  to  attack  it,  their  scouting  parties  boldly  approaching; 
firing,  at  times,  on  the  outposts,  and  killing  sentinels.  It  was  time 
for  the  citizens  of  New  Amsterdam  to  arouse  themselves,  and  fight 
for  their  lives  and  property,  which  were  now  in  greater  peril  than  ever 
before.  Their  little  army  consisted  of  about  fifty  or  sixty  soldiers  of. 
the  garrison,  the  English  contingent,  and  about  two  hundred  armed 
freemen.  The  New  Haven  colonists,  on  being  applied  to  for  assis- 
tance, refused  it,  although  they  proffered  provisions,  if  required. 

The  wise  De  Vries  (September,  1643),  discouraged  by  his  numerous 
losses,  now  returned  to  Holland,  by  way  of  Virginia ;  and  he  relates 
that,  on  leaving,  he  thus  expressed  himself  to  the  Director :  "  I  doubt 
not  that  vengeance  for  the  innocent  blood  you  have  shed  in  your 
murderings,  sooner  or  later,  will  be  visited  on  your  head."  An  urgent 
appeal  was  about  the  same  time  addressed  by  the  eight  men  to  the 
Directors  of  the  West  India  Company  and  to  the  States-General,  nar- 


THE    ADMINISTRATION    OF    WILLIAM    KIEFT  209 

rating  the  perilous  condition  of  the  Province,  and  the  ruin  and  deso- 
lation with  which  it  was  still  further  threatened.  There  appearing, 
however,  no  signs  of  assistance  from  abroad,  Dutch  courage  now 
rose  to  the  needs  of  the  situation,  and  showed  the  settlers  to  be 
worthy  sons  of  those  who  had  triumphantly  battled  with  the  trained 
legions  of  Spain  and  her  Italian  mercenaries.  The  town  had  been 
put  under  severe  martial  law,  and  stringent  ordinances  were  promul- 
gated in  order  to  maintain  order  and  discipline.  Whoever  profaned 
the  name  of  God  at  the  guard-house,  abused  a  companion  on  duty, 
or  neglected  his  turn  of  service,  was  to  pay  a  fine ;  and  "  whoever 
•discharged  his  gun  without  order  of  the  Corporal  when  reveille  is 
sounded  "  was  to  be  fined  a  florin.  The  town,  however,  continued  in 
a  state  of  disorder  incident  to  a  time  of  war ;  and  thefts,  robberies, 
and  surreptitious  killing  of  cattle  became  frequent.  The  Fiscal  was 
brought  before  the  Council  and  accused  of  having,  in  his  cups,  called 
the  Director  a  rascal,  thief,  and  drunkard ;  and  was  sternly  ordered  to 
discharge  his  duties  more  carefully,  and  told  that  he  would  be  assisted 
by  the  Director,  Council,  and  soldiers,  and  all  the  negroes  under  his 
command.  The  authorities,  moreover,  put  forth  earnest  and  energetic 
efforts  to  crush  the  uprising,  and  executed  immediate  offensive  action 
against  their  savage  foes.  Councilor  La  Montagne  and,  under  him, 
Joachim  Pietersen  Kuyter  with  forty  citizens,  and  English  soldiers 
under  Lieutenant  Baxter,  made  an  excursion  to  Staten  Island,  and 
brought  back  to  the  fort  a  large  quantity  of  corn,  then  sadly  needed. 
An  expedition  was  also  sent,  in  January,  1644,  against  the  Connecti- 
cut Indians,  they  having  made  an  attack  on  the  English  settlers 
at  Greenwich,  who,  under  the  direction  of  one  Captain  Patrick,  had 
placed  themselves  under  Dutch  protection.  The  expedition  went  by 
water,  and  after  some  delay,  .a  detachment  surprised  and  attacked 
an  Indian  village,  and  killed  a  score  of  warriors.  Another  party, 
under  Lieutenant  Baxter  and  Sergeant  Cock,  marched  to  the  castles 
of  the  Weckquaesgecks,  in  the  Westchester  region,  destroyed  two  of 
their  castles,  fortified  a  third,  ravaged  the  crops,  and  after  killing 
many  of  the  savages,  returned  to  Fort  Amsterdam,  carrying  several 
prisoners  with  them  in  triumph. 

In  November  a  force  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  men,  composed  of 
the  regulars  under  Cock  and  armed  citizens  led  by  Kuyter,  under 
the  general  command  of  the  indefatigable  Montagne,  was  sent  against 
the  Cariiarsee  Indians  on  Long  Island,  who  were  suspected  of  treach- 
ery, and  of  meditating  hostilities  against  certain  English  settlers,  who, 
tinder  Fordham,  Ogden,  and  Lawrence,  had  been  established  on  the 
plains  and  bay  at  Heemstede  under  a  recent  patent.  La  Montagne 
and  Underbill,  which  latter  commanded  the  English,  in  separate  de- 
tachments, attacked  two  villages,  one  at  Mespat,  and  one  hundred 
VOL.  I.— 14. 


210  HISTORY    OF    NEW- YORK 

and  twenty  savages  were  slain  ;  two  of  the  prisoners  were  afterwards 
killed  at  the  fort  under  circumstances  of  great  barbarity.  A  forced 
levy  on  the  cargo  of  a  ship  from  Holland  bound  for  Rensselaerswyckr 
and  having  on  board  guns  and  ammunition  not  on  its  manifest,  had 
supplied  the  troops  with  much-needed  clothing  and  military  supplies, 
and  enabled  the  Director  to  send  out  his  attacking  parties. 

Captain  Underhill  and  Ensign  Van  Dyck  were  now  despatched,  in 
midwinter  (1644),  on  an  expedition  against  the  Connecticut  Indians, 
and  accomplished  the  most  important  undertaking  of  the  war.  Land- 
ing at  Greenwich  from  three  yachts,  the  expedition  made  a  difficult 
and  perilous  march  through  a  wilderness,  impeded  by  snow  and  the 
rocks  over  which  the  men  were  obliged  to  crawl,  and  arriving  at  night 
at  a  stronghold  of  the  savages,  boldly  charged  them,  sword  in  hand. 
The  Indians,  gathered  in  large  numbers  prepared  for  attack,  offered  a 
desperate  resistance,  and  repeatedly  made  sallies  against  the  Dutch 
forces  from  behind  their  palisades.  Nearly  two  hundred  warriors 
were  killed  in  the  encounter,  and  their  village  having  been  fired  by 
Underbill's  orders,  upwards  of  three  hundred  more  of  the  savages 
were  shot  down  or  driven  back  into  the  flames.  The  next  morning 
the  victors  marched  back  over  the  toilsome  route,  and  passing  through 
Stamford,  after  a  journey  of  two  days  and  a  night  in  reaching  that 
place,  returned  to  Fort  Amsterdam,  where  they  were  received  with 
triumphant  rejoicing,  and  the  Director  issued  a  proclamation  of 
Thanksgiving  for  the  victory,  which,  at  that  critical  time,  was  of  great 
importance  to  the  Colony. 

The  punishment  inflicted  upon  the  Indians  by  the  Dutch  settlers 
and  soldiers  and  their  English  auxiliaries  made  a  strong  impression 
on  the  red  men ;  and  the  time  for  sowing  their  crops  having  arrived, 
overtures  for  peace  were  made  by  some  of  the  hostile  tribes.  In  the 
spring  of  1644,  Mougockonone  and  Papenaharrow,  Sachems  of  the 
Weckquaesgecks,  and  Marmaranck,  Chief  of  the  Crotons,  came  to 
the  fort  and  entered  into  terms  of  peace  for  their  tribes,  and  chiefs  of 
the  Wappingers  or  Wappinecks,  and  tribes  north  of  Greenwich  and 
Stamford,  came  also.  It  was  agreed  that  Pacham,  the  troublesome 
chief  of  the  Tankitekes,  should  be  surrendered.  Then  the  Mattin- 
necocks  on  Long  Island  submitted,  and  promised  that  the  tribes  in 
their  vicinity  should  be  restrained  in  future  from  any  attacks  on  the 
settlers.  As  parties  of  the  savages  still  continued  their  visitation  on 
the  island  and  made  occasional  forays,  even  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
fort,  a  range  of  palisades  was  constructed  across  the  island,  nearly  in 
a  line  with  the  present  Wall  street,  within  which  the  cattle  remaining 
in  the  settlement  were  pastured. 

The  eight  men  were  now  again  commanded  to  take  counsel  upon 
the  condition  of  affairs,  which  was  yet  far  from  peaceable,  as  the 


THE    ADMINISTRATION    OF    WILLIAM    KIEFT  211 

savages  that  were  still  hostile  were  committing  depredations  and 
threatening  attack  on  outlying  settlements.  No  aid  had  been  received 
from  Holland,  and  the  Colonial  Government  having  no  funds  to  meet 
the  expense  of  the  English  soldiers,  the  Director,  in  opposition  to  the 
protest  of  the  eight  men,  and  to  the  discontent  of  the  community,  in 
June,  1644,  laid  an  excise  duty  on  liquors  and  beaver-skins,  in  order 
to  raise  a  revenue.  The  remonstrance  against  the  impost  was  treated 
with  disdain  by  Kief t,  who  remarked,  "  I  have  more  power  here  than 
the  Company  itself;  therefore,  I  may  do  and  allow,  in  this  country, 
what  I  please.  I  am  my  own  master ;  for  I  have  my  commission  not 
from  the  Company,  but  from  the  States-General."  Some  assistance 
finally  came  to  the  distressed  colony  in  the  summer,  in  the  shape  of  a 
body  of  one  hundred  and  thirty  soldiers,  who  had  been  driven  from 
the  Company's  settlement  at  Brazil,  by  the  Portuguese,1  and  were 
sent  to  New  Amsterdam  by  Peter  Stuy  vesant,  the  Company's  director 
at  Curac,oa.  It  was  thereupon  determined  that  the  English  auxiliaries 
should  be  honorably  dismissed  from  further  service,  and  that  the 
Dutch  soldiers  should  remain,  for  the  present,  at  New  Amsterdam, 
and  be  billeted  upon  the  inhabitants,  and  that  the  expense  of  clothing 
them  was  to  be  paid  from  the  excise  monies. 

Although  the  eight  men,  encouraged  by  the  additional  force,  were 
of  opinion  that  the  war  against  the  remaining  hostile  savages  should 
be  immediately  prosecuted  with  vigor,  there  was  unaccountable  de- 
lay ;  owing  most  probably  to  dissensions  between  the  Director  and 
the  democratic  council  of  eight,  who  were  now  in  pronounced  an- 
tagonism. The  savages,  seeing  no  further  efforts  were  made  against 
them,  became  again  insolent  and  aggressive ;  and  parties,  roving  day 
and  night  over  the  island  of  Manhattan,  practically  confined  the  in- 
habitants within  the  palisades  and  fort ;  and  no  expedition  was  under- 
taken, except  one  of  slight  importance  towards  the  North,  in  which  a 
few  Indians  were  slain. 

The  continuance  of  the  troubles  at  New  Amsterdam,  which  was 
claimed  to  be  the  result  of  the  Director's  inability  to  cope  with  the 
situation,  or,  as  some  of  his  enemies  spitefully  hinted,  of  connivance 
with  the  savages,  and  his  arbitrary  action  in  general,  particularly  as 
to  the  new  excise,  made  such  an  impression  on  the  community  and  so 
influenced  the  eight  men  that  they,  led  by  Melyn,  forwarded  in  Oc- 
tober, 1644,  a  memorial  to  the  States-General  for  his  recall,  and  after 
narrating  the  Indian  massacres,  petitioned,  at  the  same  time,  for  a 
system  of  government  like  that  appertaining  to  the  municipalities  in 
Holland.  Melyn  also  sent  a  letter  giving  his  partial  version  of  affairs. 
The  language  of  the  memorial  of  the  eight  men  presented  a  gloomy 

i  In  1641  the  Portuguese  shook  off  the  Spanish  yoke,  and  were  able  to  give  attention  to  their 
possessions  in  Brazil ;  and  every  effort  was  made  to  dispossess  the  Dutch. 


212  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

picture  of  the  state  of  the  Province ;  it  recites  the  former  peaceable 
condition  and  friendly  disposition  of  the  Indians,  under  the  adminis- 
tration of  Van  Twiller.  "  These,"  it  proceeds  to  state,  "  hath  the  Direc- 
tor, by  various  uncalled-for  proceedings,  from  time  to  time,  so 
estranged  from  us  and  so  embittered  against  the  Netherlands  nation, 
that  we  do  not  believe  that  anything  will  bring  them  and  peace  back, 
unless  that  the  Lord  God,  who  bends  all  men's  hearts  to  his  will,  pro- 
pitiate their  people ;  so  that  the  ancient  sage  hath  well  observed,  any 
man  can  create  turmoil  and  set  the  people  one  against  the  other,  but 
to  establish  harmony  again  is  in  the  power  of  God  alone."  The 
memorial  proceeds  to  state  that  a  temporary  and  illusory  peace  had 
been  patched  up,  but  that  the  savages  were  continually  aggressive 
and  attacked  settlers,  "  at  times,  within  a  thousand  feet  of  the  Fort, 
and  that  the  Company's  farms  are  in  danger  of  being  burnt;  that 
nothing  has  been  done  recently,  even  since  the  arrival  of  the  immi- 
grants and  soldiers  from  Brazil,  and  that  everything  is  going  to  ruin." 
"  Honored  Lords,"  they  conclude,  "  this  is  what  we  have,  in  the  sor- 
row of  our  hearts,  complained  of ;  that  one  man  who  has  been  sent 
out,  sworn  and  instructed  by  his  lords  and  masters  to  whom  he  is  re- 
sponsible, should  dispose  here  of  our  lives  and  properties,  at  his  will 
and  pleasure,  in  a  manner  so  arbitrary  that  a  king  dare  not  legally  do 
the  like."  They  request  that  a  new  Governor  may  be  sent  out  and 
magistrates  appointed,  or  that  they  all,  with  their  wives  and  families, 
be  allowed  to  return  to  Holland. 

In  the  mean  while,  the  memorials  of  August,  1643,  which  had  been 
sent  over  both  to  the  States-General  and  to  the  directors  of  the  Com- 
pany, had  reached  Holland,  causing  grave  concern  and  leading  to 
earnest  discussion  of  the  affairs  of  the  Province.  The  States-Gen- 
eral called  the  attention  of  the  College  of  XIX.,  which  had  the  par- 
ticular direction  of  the  affairs  of  New  Netherland,  to  its  disturbed 
condition.  The  response  was  that  the  bankrupt  condition  of  the 
Company  rendered  it  unable  to  send  any  relief,  and  that  "  the  long- 
looked-for  profits  from  thence  had  not  come."  They  asked  for  a  sub- 
sidy of  a  million  of  guilders  in  order  to  place  the  Colony  in  a  safe  and 
prosperous  condition. 

Before  any  action  was  taken,  the  recent  memorials  of  Melyn  and  of 
the  eight  men,  of  October,  1644,  arrived  and  made  a  strong  impres- 
sion on  the  directors,  and  the  whole  subject  was  referred  to  the 
Amsterdam  chamber,  for  its  further  investigation  and  report.  The 
directors  of  the  Company  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  state  of 
the  colony  was  such,  and  Kieft's  incapability  so  manifest,  that 
either  a  new  director  should  be  sent  over,  or  the  colonists  be  trans- 
ported to  Holland  and  the  Colony  abandoned.  It  was,  in  the  end, 
determined  to  recall  Kieft,  and  to  appoint,  provisionally,  Lubbertus 


THE    ADMINISTRATION    OF    WILLIAM    KIEFT 


213 


Van  Dincklagen  in  his  place.  The  Chamber  of  Accounts,  to  whom 
the  affairs  of  the  Province  were  referred  for  a  particular  investiga- 
tion, reported,  after  a  long  review  of  the  history  of  the  Colony,  that 
its  then  ruinous  condition  was  due  immediately  to  the  unnecessary 
Indian  wars  promoted  by  Kieft,  the  separation  of  the  colonists,  and 
the  imposition  of  tribute  on  the  Indians ;  and  concluded  that,  although 
the  Colony,  instead  of  being 
a  source  of  profit,  had  caused 
the  Company,  from  1626  to 
1644  inclusive,  a  net  loss  of 
over  five  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  guilders,  the  Com- 
pany could  not,  decently 
or  consistently,  abandon  it. 
The  bureau  made  certain 
recommendations  for  the 
future  government  of  the 
Province ;  among  other 
things  they  opposed  the 
views  of  Kieft  to  the  effect 
that  a  body  of  soldiers 
should  be  sent  and  the  hos- 
tile Indians  exterminated, 
but  that  the  opinion  of 
the  commonalty  should  be 
adopted  and  the  savages 
appeased.  It  would  also  be 
proper,  the  report  stated, 
"  to  order  hither  the  Direc- 
tor and  Council,  who  are  responsible  for  the  bloody  exploit  of  the  28th 
of  February,  1643,  to  justify  and  vindicate  their  administration  before 
the  noble  Assembly  of  the  XIX."  It  was  further  recommended  that 
the  fort  was  in  such  a  state  that  it  should  be  rebuilt  of  stone. 

The  condition  of  the  Colony  of  New  Netherland,  in  the  spring  of 
1645,  was  far  from  prosperous.  Instead  of  fulfilling  the  promise  of 
development  and  increase  indicated  at  the  commencement  of  the 
administration,  the  settlement  of  the  island  had  been  retarded,  the 
population  had  declined,  immigration  had  almost  ceased,  trade  had 
been  suspended,  farms  had  been  abandoned,  cattle  destroyed,  and  the 
people  were  discontented  and  mutinous.  All  the  evils  resulting  from 
five  years  of  war,  with  an  interval  of  only  a  few  months  of  peace,  had 
been  experienced  by  the  unfortunate  Colony.  During  the  last  two 

l  From  a  painting  made  by  Irving's  friend,  Charles  Robert  Leslie,  to  illustrate  "  Knickerbocker's 
History  of  New- York.''     EDITOR. 


DUTCH    COURTSHIP. 


214  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

years  it  was  estimated  that  over  sixteen  hundred  Indians  had  been 
killed ;  and  not  much  above  one  hundred  white  men  remained  on  the 
Island  of  Manhattan.  Some  had  gone  to  Fort  Orange ;  many  had  re- 
turned to  Holland.  All  the  settlements  on  the  west  side  of  the  North 
Eiver  had  been  destroyed  —  the  Westchester  region  had  been  aban- 
doned, and  devastated  plantations  testified  to  the  ruin  there;  and  the 
whole  Dutch  territory  of  Long  Island  bore  evidence  of  the  assaults  of 
the  ruthless  and  implacable  savages. 

But  peace  was  now  again  to  smile  upon  distracted  New  Netherland. 
The  Indians  were  in  trouble  from  the  neglect  of  their  annual  crops ; 
and  a  treaty  was  made,  in  May,  1645,  with  some  of  the  neighboring 
savages  of  Long  Island.  On  this  there  was  great  rejoicing,  and  at 
the  firing  of  a  salute  from  three  of  the  dangerous  pieces  of  ordnance 
at  the  fort,  one  of  them,  a  six-pounder,  bursting,  seriously  wounded 
one  of  the  gunners.  Many  of  the  more  distant  Indians  on  Long 
Island  soon  after  came  to  terms,  through  the  aid  of  the  Mockgonecocks, 
a  friendly  tribe.  Then  the  Director,  in  July,  1645,  went  with  his  faith- 
ful Councilor,  La  Montague,  up  the  river,  to  Fort  Orange ;  and 
arrangements  for  peace  were  made  with  the  hostile  nation  of  the  Ma- 
hicans,  and  other  tribes  of  the  neighborhood  of  the  upper  river. 
Peace  was  also  concluded  with  the  tribes  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Island 
of  Manhattan ;  and  as  the  terms  of  the  pacification  were  submitted  to 
the  public,  the  joy  was  great  and  the  approval  general.  The  only 
man  who  wanted  to  continue  the  war  was  Hendrick,  the  tailor,  who 
was  a  turbulent  character  and  always  in  opposition.1  The  Council, 
feeling  themselves  too  weak  to  cope  with  the  situation,  had,  in  the 
preceding  May,  called  Captain  John  De  Vries,  Ensign  Gysbert  de 
Leeuw,  and  Commissaries  Oloff  Stevensen  and  Gysbert  Opdyck,  as 
adjuncts  to  maintain  order  and  promote  the  peace.  To  prevent  any 
quarreling  with  the  savages  an  additional  ordinance  was  passed  for- 
bidding all  sales  of  liquor  to  the  Indians  under  the  penalty  of  a  heavy 
fine.  Armed  sentries  were  still  posted  about  the  town,  and  a  provost 
marshal  with  his  guard  patrolled  the  thoroughfares. 

On  the  25th  of  August,  1645,  Sachems  from  the  various  tribes  and 
the  magnates  of  the  colony,  sitting  in  the  open  air  within  the  crum- 
bling walls  of  the  fort,  ratified  the  terms  of  the  general  pacification. 
Among  the  Sachems  present  were  those  of  the  Hackingsacks  and 
Tapaans,  Aepjen,  Chief  of  the  Mahicans,  delegates  for  the  Weck- 
quaesgecks  and  Sint  Sings,  the  Kicktawanks,  the  Wappinecks,  the 
Nayacks,  and  other  river  tribes.  There,  too,  were  Mohawk  ambas- 
sadors, with  their  own  interpreter,  giving  assent  for  the  great  Iro- 

i  The  records  show  that  in  May,  1643,  Samuel  Peacock,   with   a    letter   of   recommendation  to 

Chandelaer  deposed  that  he  heard  Hendrick,  the  Master    Gerrit  (the  public  executioner),  and  a 

tailor,   say,  "The  Kyvert   (meaning  the    Direc-  pound  Flemish,  so  that  he  may  have  a  nobleman's 

tor)   ought  to  be  packed  off  to  Holland  in  the  death." 


THE    ADMINISTRATION    OF    WILLIAM    KIEFT  215 

quois  Confederacy.  Among  the  signers  of  the  treaty  were  Kieft, 
La  Montagne,  Underhill,  George  Baxter,  Francis  Doughty,  Gysbert 
Opdyck,  Aepjen,  Sachem  of  the  Mahicans,  by  his  mark,  and  also,  by 
their  marks,  the  Sachems  Oratary,  Auronge,  Sespechemis,  and  Willem 
of  Tapaan.  By  the  terms  of  the  peace,  all  future  aggressions  or 
injuries  by  the  Indians  or  the  Dutch  were  to  be  referred  to  their 
respective  rulers  for  redress.  No  armed  Indian  was,  in  future,  to 
visit  the  settlements  on  the  Island ;  and  the  Dutch,  on  their  part, 
were  to  refrain  from  visiting  the  Indian  villages  without  permission, 
unless  conducted  by  one  of  the  tribe.  Among  the  pleasing  features 
of  the  treaty  was  a  stipulation  for  the  return  of  a  little  captive 
daughter  of  Anne  Hutchinson,  for  whom  a  ransom  was  to  be  paid. 

A  proclamation  of  thanksgiving  for  the  peace  was  now  issued  by 
the  Council.  After  reciting  that  "  long-desired  peace  with  the  savages 
had  been  bestowed  by  the  Almighty,"  the  proclamation  concludes  in 
these  words :  "  So  it  has  been  deemed  becoming  to  proclaim  this 
good  tidings  throughout  New  Netherland,  to  the  intention  that,  in 
all  places  where  there  are  any  English  or  Dutch  Churches,  God  Al- 
mighty shall  be  thanked  and  praised,  on  the  6th  of  September  next. 
The  words  of  the  text  must  be  appropriate  to  the  occasion,  and  the 
i  Sermon  likewise." 

The  settlers  on  the  outlying  plantations  of  the  neighborhood  and 
the  farmers  on  Manhattan  Island  now  began  to  return  to  their 
respective  locations  and  to  collect  such  of  their  stock  or  other 
property  as  could  be  found.  Another  colony  of  English  was  begun, 
under  a  patent  granted  to  Thomas  Farrington,  John  Townsend,  John 
Lawrence,  and  others,  at  what  was  then  called  Vlissingen  (Flushing) ; 
the  settlers  were  to  have  municipal  privileges,  freedom  of  conscience, 
and  their  own  ecclesiastical  rule.  The  English  minister,  Doughty, 
and  his  associates  now  also  repossessed  themselves  of  their  plantation 
at  Mespat ;  and  Lady  Moody  and  her  Anabaptist  friends  received  a 
formal  patent  of  the  region  which  they  had  planted  and  valiantly  de- 
fended at  "  Gravesend,"  with  power  to  establish  a  town  government. 
The  Director  also,  in  September,  procured  for  the  Company,  by  grant 
from  the  Indians,  a  large  tract  on  Long  Island  extending  from  the 
"Coneyn  Island  to  Gowanus."  The  marks  of  the  signature  of  the 
red  men  are  arrows,  sticks,  and  beavers. 

The  directors  of  the  Company  in  Holland,  made  fully  aware  of  the 
unfortunate  condition  of  the  Province  and  the  unpopularity  of  Kieft, 
had,  some  time  since,  determined  to  make  a  change  in  its  govern- 
ment. The  provisional  appointment  of  Van  Dincklagen,  as  a  new 
Director  in  place  of  Kieft,  was  revoked,  and  it  was  resolved  to  appoint, 
as  his  successor,  Peter  Stuyvesant.  The  College  of  the  XIX.  adopted 
a  code  of  extensive  regulations  and  instructions  for  the  future  adminis- 


216  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

tration  of  the  Province  ;  among  which  was  the  throwing  open  of  the 
carrying  trade  between  New  Netherland  and  Holland.  Owing  to 
disagreements  among  the  Chambers  of  the  West  India  Company  and 
the  intelligence  received  of  peace  established,  the  new  Government 
did  not  go  immediately  into  effect ;  and  Kief t  remained  as  Director 
for  a  year  beyond  Stuyvesant's  appointment,  although  his  unpopu- 
larity continued,  and  his  personal  hostility  to  the  principal  inhabi- 
tants was  increased  by  a  knowledge  of  the  communications  which 
had  been  forwarded  to  the  home  Government  by  the  eight  men  and 
others,  as  before  recited. 

In  February,  1646,  there  arrived  at  New  Amsterdam  from  the 
Colony  at  Eensselaerswyck,  where  he  had  filled  the  office  of  Schout 
Fiscal,  Adrian  Van  der  Donck,  who  had  been  educated  at  Leyden  and 
admitted  a  doctor  of  both  the  civil  and  canon  law.  Being  a  man  of 
consequence,  and  having  assisted  the  Director  in  making  the  peace  at 
Fort  Orange,  he  was  granted  the  patroonship  over  a  large  territory  on 
the  North  River,  extending  from  Spyt-den-Duyvel  creek  upward,  and 
inland  to  the  Saw-kill  valley ;  and  having  purchased  the  region  from 
the  Indians,  and  his  patroonship  being  confirmed  by  the  States-General,, 
the  Colony  called  Colon  Donck,  or  Donck's  Colony,  was  established ; 
and  from  being  generally  called  the  "Jonkheer"  land  the  modern 
name  of  Yonkers  has  been  derived.  Van  der  Donck,  during  the  early 
period  of  Stuyvesant's  administration,  published  an  extended  pam- 
phlet which  he  had  compiled,  commonly  called  the  "Vertoogh";  being 
a  representation  of  the  condition  of  New  Netherland,  and  criticiz- 
ing unfavorably  the  Kieft  administration.  This  work  is  a  valuable 
authority  to  writers  on  the  Kieft  period. 

New  difficulties  now  occurred  on  the  South  River  and  on  the  Schuyl- 
kill,  where  the  Swedes  and  other  settlers  had  almost  put  a  stop  to  the 
trade  of  the  West  India  Company  by  their  encroachments  and  influ- 
ence over  the  Indian  tribes.  Kieft  was  in  no  condition  to  enforce  the 
rights  of  the  Company  in  that  direction,  and  the  Swedes  continued  their 
encroachments  and  openly  defied  the  Dutch  officials.  The  English  of 
New  Haven,  also,  made  new  purchases  from  Indians  of  lands  between 
the  Naugatuck  and  the  North  River,  which  Kieft  claimed  was  an  en- 
croachment on  the  Company's  possessions  to  the  east  of  the  Hudson. 
The  acts  of  the  New  Haven  people  and  of  the  English  at  Hartford, 
who  were  complaining  against  the  action  of  the  Dutch  at  Fort  Good 
Hope,  were  sustained  by  the  Commissioners  of  the  United  New  Eng- 
land Colonies,  who  met  in  council  at  New  Haven,  and  no  redress  was 
obtained.  In  the  course  of  the  negotiations  the  Director  sent  to  the 
Commissioners  several  protests,  in  Latin,  threatening  that,  at  a  fit 
opportunity,  satisfaction  should  be  exacted ;  but  the  New  Englanders 
disregarded  these  protests  and  did  not  even  respond  to  them  except 


THE    ADMINISTRATION    OF    WILLIAM    KIEFT  217 

to  make  counter  charges;  and  well  might  they  disregard  them  and 
contemn  the  Director's  rule,  for  at  that  time  the  United  Colonies  had 
upward  of  five  thousand  men  capable  of  bearing  arms  and  a  popu- 
lation of  upward  of  forty  thousand.  The  Director,  under  a  sense 
of  weakness  and  discomfiture,  remarked  that  their  complaints  were 
similar  to  those  of  the  "wolf  against  the  lamb." 

The  States-General,  in  July,  1646,  formally  approved  of  the  ap- 
pointment of  Stuyvesant  as  Director  over  New  Netherland,  and  he 
received  particular  instructions  for  the  conduct  of  his  government. 
At  the  same  time  Lubbertus  Van  Dincklagen  was  appointed  Vice- 
Director.  The  new  officials,  however,  did  not  leave  Holland  until  the 
following  December;  and,  after  landing  in  the  West  Indies  and  at 
Curacoa,  arrived  at  New  Amsterdam  on  the  llth  of  May,  1647 ;  and 
the  disastrous  administration  of  Director  Kieft  came  to  an  end. 

At  this  period  the  town  of  New  Amsterdam  was  an  attractive  object 
from  the  bay ;  with  the  great  rivers  bounding  it,  on  either  side,  the 
waving  foliage,  and  the  picturesque  hills  and  vales  ;  while  windmills, 
here  and  there,  gave  animation  to  the  peaceful  scene.  The  fort,  of 
course,  was  the  central  object  of  the  view,  the  pride  and  glory  of  New 
Amsterdam,  emblem  of  home  authority,  local  manifestation  of  that 
sovereign  power,  their  High  Mightinesses  the  States-General,  around 
whose  walls  the  early  memories  of  the  settlers  gathered,  on  whose 
bastion  floated  the  flag  that  recalled  the  brave  Fatherland,  under 
whose  protecting  power  the  young  hamlet  had  nestled,  and  spread, 
and  grown ;  that,  still,  even  with  its  few  and  ancient  cannon  and 
crumbling  earthworks,  bade  defiance  to  both  civilized  and  savage  foe. 
The  church  within  the  walls  of  the  fort,  with  its  twin  roofs  and  little 
belfry,  stood  clearly  out  against  the  sky;  while?  to  the  east,  rose 
the  "Stadt  Herberg,"  conspicuous  above  the  surrounding  cottages 
with  their  peaked  roofs.  Along  the  shore  might  be  seen,  perhaps, 
some  Indian  lazily  paddling  his  canoe,  laden  with  tobacco  and  maize, 
towards  the  mouth  of  the  graclit  (at  foot  of  Broad  street) ;  while,  out  in 
the  bay,  lies,  drying  her  sails,  the  Hope,  just  arrived  from  Cura- 
c.oa,  with  her  cargo  of  salt,  and  cattle,  and  slaves  —  and,  further  out, 
is  the  Blue-Cock,  about  hoisting  sail  for  Fatherland — and  the  jovial 
rhythm  of  her  crew,  weighing  anchor,  sounds  cheerily  over  the  sunlit 
waters.  Of  the  two  great  bounding  rivers  the  Hudson  was  called  by 
Europeans  and  settlers  the  "  River  of  the  Mountains,"  the  "  Mauri- 
tius " ;  also  the  "  Nassau  "  and  the  "  Great  North  River."  It  was  vari- 
ously designated  by  the  Indians  as  the  "  Mahican,"  the  "  Shatenmc," 
and  the  "  Cahohatatea." 

The  houses  of  the  settlement  were  chiefly  of  wood,  with  thatched 
roofs,  some  of  them  covered  with  sods ;  the  chimneys  were  mostly  of 
wood.  Some  of  the  houses,  however,  especially  those  on  the  planta- 


218  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

tions,  were  somewhat  superior,  and  partially  constructed  of  brick  or 
stone.1  The  church,  the  Company's  five  warehouses,  and  the  city 
tavern  were  substantially  built  of  stone ;  and  we  read  of  a  fine  man- 
sion contracted  to  be  built  for  the  Director,  which  was  to  be  partially 
of  stone,  and  upward  of  one  hundred  feet  long;2  his  house  in  the 
fort  was  built  of  brick.  Director  Kieft  did  much  to  improve  the 
town ;  and  during  his  early  administration  there  was  much  activity 
in  building  and  in  the  laying  out  of  plantations.  Most  of  the  houses, 
for  the  sake  of  the  shelter  afforded,  were  clustered  about  the  fort  or 
where  the  two  rivers  gave  protection  and  easy  approach.  They  were 
placed,  at  first,  in  a  straggling  manner,  some  on  thoroughfares,  and 
some  at  random,  about  the  quaint  little  town.  The  Bouweries  were 
nearly  all  located  on  the  two  rivers,  on  the  great  Kill,  or  on  the  bays 
and  lagoons  of  the  East  River. 

A  rough  palisade,  during  this  period,  was  constructed  as  a  defense, 
near  the  present  Wall  street,  and  the  outlying  plantations  were  also 
generally  protected  by  wooden  palings  against  Indians  and  wild 
beasts.  At  first  settlers  had  located  wherever  they  chose,  land  being 
of  little  value,  and  the  trader  population  being  mainly  migratory. 
In  1642,  however,  Andreas  Hudde  was  appointed  as  Surveyor  to  draw 
lines  and  make  boundaries ;  and  land,  thereafter,  when  conveyed,  was 
defined  by  rods  and  feet,  and  farm-land  outside  was  conveyed  by 
morgens.3  Some  of  the  farms  were  situated  in  the  neighborhood  of 
the  fort ;  Gruleyn  Vigne  cultivated  one,  near  what  is  now  the  corner 
of  Pearl  and  Wall  street ;  and  to  Jan  Jansen  Damen  was  granted  a 
farm,  in  1643,  extending  nearly  from  river  to  river  north  of  Wall  street. 
On  this  he  erected  a  brewery  and  a  stone  house,  seen  in  the  ac- 
companying illustration.  Cornelius  Van  Tienhoven's  farm  extended 
from  Broadway  to  the  strand  between  present  Maiden  Lane  and  part 
of  Ann  street. 

When  the  Kieft  administration  began  there  was  no  regulation  of 
streets  or  paving,  and  no  names  except  those  suggested  by  the  nature 

1  This  is  a  contract  for  a  house,  made  in  Decem-  within  posts,  with  passages  through  it,  one  9, 
ber,  1646:   "  Beynier  Domenichos  undertakes  to  the  other  10  feet  wide  ;  one  front  room  50  feet  by 
build  at  his  own  expense  a  house  for  Cornelius  20  feet,  with  one  partition  and  a  double  chimney, 
van  Tienhoven,  30  feet  long,  20  feet  wide,  with  an  all  of  brick.    Juriaen  to  make  also  the  cellar  and  a 
outlet  of  8  feet  on  one  side,  a  porch  in  front  of  garret,  beams  of  plank  necessary  thereto,  together 
9V<j  feet  height,  and  a  porch  in  the  rear  of  12^  feet  with  the  windows  and  door-frames.   Kieft  is  to  pay 
height,  with  five  ties,  one  false  tie,  pillars  and  600  florins  for  the  work  when  completed.    Decem- 
posts,  as  the  work  requires  ;  the  whole  roof  of  the  ber  6,  1642." 

house  of  strong  split  spars  bound  by  a  ridge  board ;  3  A  morgen  is  a  little  more  than  two  English 

the  wood  for  the  chimney  in  the  f  orehouse,  a  door  acres.     The  Dutch  rod  in  use  at  New  Amsterdam 

casing  with  transom,  another  door  casing,  window  contained  twelve  English  feet  four  and  three-quar- 

sashes  with  two  lights.    When  the  house  is  built  ter  inches ;    there  were  five  to  a  Dutch  chain. 

Tienhoven  promises  to  pay  130  florins."  Twenty-five  such  rods  long  and  twenty-four  broad 

2  "Juriaen  Hendricksen f rom  Osenbrugge testi-  made  a  morgen,  which  consisted  of  six  hundred 
fies,  that  he  has  entered  into  an  agreement  with  square  Dutch  rods.     See  note  to  Moulton's  "  His- 
Dir.  Kieft.  to  build  for  the  same  a  house  at  the  tory  of  New-York,"  2  :  334,  quoting  Fauconnier's 
Otterspoor  [on  the  East  River],  100  feet  long,  50  survey  book. 

feet  wide,   tapering  off  to  a  breadth  of  20  feet 


THE    ADMINISTRATION    OF    WILLIAM    KIEFT 


219 


of  the  ground  or  by  natural  boundaries.  Such  roads  or  lanes  as  there 
were  resulted  from  the  convenience  afforded  in  reaching  certain 
localities  or  in  avoiding  hills  or  swamps.  Some  of  them  were  the 
paths  of  cattle.  The  devious  nature  of  the  streets  below  Wall  street 
in  the  present  city  is  thus  easily  accounted  for.  Cornelius  Clopper, 
the  blacksmith,  resided  at  the  present  corner  of  Maiden  Lane  and 
Pearl  street ;  hence  the  road  in  front  of  his  shop  running  through  a 
sort  of  valley  retained,  for  a  long  time,  the  name  of  Smit's  Valey  or 
Smith's  Swamp.1  There  was  also  the  road  to  the  ferry  along  the 
present  Stone  street  arid  the  Strand  or  Pearl  street,  naturally  one  of 
importance,  extending  from  the  fort  to  the  house  of  Cornelius  Dirck- 
sen,  the  ferryman,  at  the  narrowest  part  of  the  East  River,  at  the  foot 
of  the  present  Peck  Slip.  The  road  and  pasture-ground  used  by 
sheep  leading  to  the  swampy 
meadow  or  v ley  owned  by 
the  Company,  running  south 
and  east  from  the  present 
Exchange  Place,  was  called 
the  "  Schaap  Waytie,"  and 
possibly  was  the  origin  of 
that  street. 

The  main  road,  called  the 
"Public  road,"  the  "Hoogh 
Weg,"  or  Highway,  and  after- 
wards the  "Heeren  Straat," 
extended  from  the  fort  north, 
on  the  line  of  the  present 
Broadway,  to  the  region  of 
the  Park ;  thence  along  pres- 
ent Chatham  street  and  the  Bowery;  and  thence,  later,  along  what 
was  subsequently  known  as  the  Old  Post  or  Boston  road.  There  was 
a  wagon  road  from  Sapohanican  or  Greenwich,  leading  from  the  shore 
inland,  and  probably  joining  a  main  wagon  road.  Adjoining  Sapo- 
hanican was  a  long  reedy  valley. 

Broad  street  was  then  a  marshy  piece  of  ground,  through  the 
middle  of  which  a  drain  was  made,  partially  then  developed  into  that 
pride  of  the  Dutchman's  heart,  a  canal,  afterwards  called  the  "  Gracht" 
or  the  "  Heeren  Gracht."  This  was  crossed  by  a  small  bridge ;  and  hence, 
the  modern  Bridge  street.  Pearl  street  was  the  river  "  strand,"  and 
was  continuous  from  the  fort  to  the  ferry.  Maiden  Lane  (f  Maegde- 
Padtje)  was  probably  in  existence  as  a  cow-path,  leading  from  the 
strand  to  the  great  highway.  The  modern  Beaver  street  was  then 
partially  a  drain  or  ditch  flowing  into  the  main  one,  which  were  then 

i  The  Fulton  street  market  was  until  quite  recent  times  known  as  the  '•  Fly"  market. 


THE    DAMEN    HOUSE. 


220 


HISTORY    OF    NEW- YORK 


VIEW  OF  CANAL  IN  BROAD  STREET. 


both  useful  in  carrying  off  the  water  of  the  above-mentioned  Com- 
pany's meadow  or  marsh.  There  were  houses  and  gardens  on  either 
side  of  these  drains  in  Broad  and  Beaver  streets. 

To  the  important  highway  along  present  Chatham  street  a  road  ran 
from  the  East  River  to  the  locality  of  the  fresh-water  pond  at  a  point 
called  Kalk-hoeck  (subsequently  called  the  Collect),  situated  near  where 

is  now  the  prison 
in  Centre  street. 
This  pond  was 
connected  with 
the  East  Eiver  by 
a  rivulet  called 
the  "Versch  Wa- 
ter," or  fresh  wa- 
ter. A  swamp  ex- 
tended for  sev- 
eral blocks  to 
the  north  of  the 
present  Laight 
street  (called  sub- 
sequently Lispen- 
ard's  swamp  or 

meadow)  and  joined  the  Kalk-hoeck  to  the  north  of  that  pond. 
Brooks,  ponds,  swamps,  and  marshes  characterized  other  portions 
of  the  island  of  the  "Manhattoes."  Lofty  hills  were  on  the  site 
of  parts  of  present  Beekman  and  Ferry  streets,  on  both  sides  of 
Maiden  Lane,  and  on  the  site  of  the  present  Nassau,  Cedar,  and 
Liberty  streets.  A  range  of  sandy  hills  traversed  the  region  from 
about  the  corner  of  the  present  Charlton  and  Varick  to  the  junc- 
tion of  Eighth  and  Greene  streets;  north  of  them  ran  the  brook 
or  rivulet  called  by  the  Indians  Minetta,  and  by  the  Dutch  "Best- 
evaer's  Killetje,"  or  Grandfather's  Little  Creek,  which,  coming  through 
the  marshes  of  the  present  Washington  Square,  emptied  into  the 
North  Eiver,  at  the  foot  of  what  is  now  Charlton  street.  A  swamp 
or  marsh  also  extended  over  parts  of  Cherry,  James,  and  Catherine 
streets ;  and  what  was  subsequently  known  as  Beekman's  swamp 
covered  what  is  still  known  as  "the  Swamp,"  about  Ferry,  Cliff, 
and  Frankfort  streets. 

A  dense  forest  in  which  deer  herded  plentifully  covered  the  middle 
and  upper  parts  of  the  Island,  where  a  few  of  the  Manhattans  lived 
in  almost  primitive  barbarism.  Wolves  roamed  at  large  through  this 
wilderness,  and  committed  occasional  ravages  during  the  remainder 
of  the  century ;  and  bears  were  not  infrequent  in  their  visits  to  the 
Island,  and  afforded  rare  sport  to  the  settlers,  as  the  annals  show. 


THE    ADMINISTRATION    OF    WILLIAM    KIEFT  221 

A  bear  hunt  which  took  place,  as  late  as  1680,  in  an  orchard  between 
the  present  populous  Cedar  street  and  Maiden  Lane,  is  chronicled  by 
the  Rev.  Charles  Wooley,  then  one  of  the  chaplains  of  the  fort ;  and 
which,  he  records,  gave  him  "great  diversion  and  sport."  "When 
the  bear  got  to  his  resting-place,"  he  says,  "perched  upon  a  high 
branch,  we  'prudently  despatched  a  youth  after  him,  with  a  club,  to 
an  opposite  bough,  who  knocked  his  paws.  He  conies  grumbling 
down,  with  a  thump  upon  the  ground — and  so,  after  him  again!" 
As  the  sporting  domine  recounts  that  he  had  neither  gun  nor  weapon, 
but  simply  "  a  good  cudgel,"  it  is  doubtful,  according  to  Riker,  the 
historian,  whether  the  bear  was  despatched  or  the  adventurous  youth. 

On  the  Highway,  just  above  the  present  Moms  street,  was  the  bury- 
ing-ground  of  the  settlement,  where  many  of  the  "  rude  forefathers 
of  the  hamlet "  still  lie,  the  sturdy  pioneers  that  bore  the  toil  and  bat- 
tle of  the  earlier  time  and  carved  the  way  for  the  empire  that  those  of 
later  generations  were  to  inherit.  On  the  west  side  of  the  present 
Broadway,  between  Fulton  and  a  line  between  Chambers  and  Warren 
streets,  and  extending  to  the  North  River,  was  the  West  India  Com- 
pany's farm,  afterwards  known  as  the  King's  farm,  and  by  the  Crown 
ceded  to  Trinity  Church.  North  of  it  was  the  Doinine's  farm  or  Bou- 
wery.  This  was  the  well-known  domain  of  Anneke  Jans,  subsequently 
the  wife  of  Domine  Bogardus.  It  originally  had  been  conveyed  by 
Director  Van  Twiller  to  Roeloff  Jansen,  and  was  subsequently  con- 
firmed to  Mrs.  Anneke  Bogardus,  by  Stuyvesant,  in  1654.  North  of 
this  was  the  land  of  Jan  Coles,  or  old  Jan's  land,  and  a  swamp  where 
cattle  were  often  almost  submerged. 

In  the  year  1642  was  erected  by  the  Director  for  the  Company  the 
"  Stadt  Herberg,"  or  City  Tavern.1  About  that  time  the  busy  trade 
that  was  being  carried  on  between  New  England  and  Virginia  brought 
many  traders  and  visitors  to  New  Amsterdam.  The  coasting  vessels 
often  stopped  to  repair  damages  after  the  perils  of  the  Helle-gat,  to 
break  the  monotony  of  the  long  voyage,  to  learn  the  state  of  trade 
— mayhap  solely  to  escape  from  the  solemn  reign  of  the  blue  laws,  and 
to  partake  of  the  life  and  jollity  of  the  little  Dutch  town ;  to  have  a 
bout  at  ninepins  and  a  glass  of  Rosa  Solis  with  mine  host  Gerrit,  the 
miller ;  or  a  draft  of  new  ale  and  game  of  backgammon  at  Snedeker's 
little  tap-room  by  the  water-side.  Kieft  was  able  to  give  the  many 
traders  and  visitors  but  slight  entertainment  in  the  fort,  and  was 
tired  of  playing  the  host  promiscuously ;  hence  arose  the  City  Tavern. 

Behind  the  Herberg  was  its  neat  garden,  where  grew  the  cabbage, 
dear  to  the  Dutchman's  heart,  and  many  a  flower,  caught  and  tamed 

l  At  the  corner  of  Coenties  Lane,  facing  Coenties  as  those  of  the  ancient  building,  and  are  supposed 

Slip,  where  now  are  the  warehouses  Nos.  71  and  to  be  the  only  remains  of  this  Dutch  period  now 

73  Pearl  street,  is  the  site  of  the  old  Stadt  Herberg.  extant. 
Part  of  the  foundations  on  that  site  are  still  shown 


222  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

from  surrounding  wilds.  Through  the  garden  there  was  a  path  and 
an  entrance  gate  from  the  ferry  road.  In  front  no  South  or  Front 
street  then  intervened,  but  directly  to  the  view  shone  the  bright 
waters  of  the  river  and  bay ;  and  the  green  hills  of  Breuckelen  and 
the  waving  foliage  on  Nooten  Island  rose  in  the  distance,  and  bound 
the  rural  scene.  Of  substantial  stone  or  brick  was  the  Herberg,  about 
fifty  feet  square  and  three  stories  high.  The  row  of  little  windows  in 
the  roof,  and  the  gables  rising  in  successive  steps,  recalled  the  archi- 
tecture of  Old  Amsterdam.  A  jovial  man  was  Philip  Gerritsen,  to 
whom  the  City  Tavern  was  leased  by  the  Director  in  1643,  with  a 
right  to  retail  the  Company's  wine,  brandy,  and  beer.  There  was  a 
spirited  time  in  March,  1644,  when  Gerritsen,  proud  of  his  position  as 
the  city  Boniface,  and  of  the  merits  of  his  cook,  invited  some  of  his 
customers  to  a  supper  at  the  tavern.  There  was  Dr.  Hans  Kierstede, 
from  the  Strand,  then  a  lively  young  fellow  of  thirty-two,  and  his 
blooming  wife  Sara ;  and  Nikolaes  Koorn,  just  appointed  "  Wacht 
meester"  at  Rensselaerswyck,  and  his  substantial  vrouw,  whom  he 
had  brought  from  the  Fatherland ;  and  Gysbert  Opdyck,  with  his  new 
wife  Catrina,  whose  cheeks  shone  rosy  through  the  snow-white  skin, 
and  John  Jacobsen  and  his  spouse.  Things  went  merrily  and  bright 
eyes  sparkled ;  toasts  went  round  and  songs  were  sung  —  when  opens 
the  door,  and  insolently  and  unmannerly  break  in  John  Underbill, 
the  famous  captain  of  the  Pequod  wars,  and  George  Baxter,  then  the 
English  Secretary  at  New  Amsterdam,  accompanied  by  his  drummer. 
With  them  was  Thomas  Willett,1  a  New  Plymouth  captain,  also ;  there- 
after, in  his  staid  days,  the  first  mayor  of  New- York  —  now  a  roy- 
sterer  like  the  rest. 

The  English  interlopers  are  far  in  their  cups.  With  many  maudlin 
bows  and  scrapes  they  ask  to  join  the  festive  party,  which  is  refused 
them.  Then  they  insist  that  Gysbert  Opdyck  shall  come  out  and 
drink  with  their  party  in  another  room.  Opdyck  refuses,  and  tries 
to  get  them  out.  Whereupon  we  are  informed  that  they  drew  their 
swords,  and  valorously  hacked  the  cans  on  the  tavern  shelf  and  the 
h  0j  posts  of  the  doors,  and  slashed 

O  I'^VL  *\  ,«L<La  1A*^fc         al30Ut  ln  a  terrible  wa^' f rignten- 
"  ing  the  ladies  and  uttering  boast- 

ful  words.  Then  other  English 
soldiers  came  in,  friends  of  the  former,  and  a  fight  is  imminent,  for  the 
Dutch  blood  is  warmed.  Whereupon  mine  host  sends  for  the  Fiscal  and 
the  guard.  This  functionary,  arriving,  orders  Underbill's  party  to  depart. 
He  refuses,  and,  with  little  regard  for  authority,  makes  to  the  Fiscal 
this  severe  remark :  "  If  the  Director  came  here,  't  is  well ;  I  would 

1  Willett  received  a  grant  of  land  in  New  Amsterdam  in  1645.     He  spoke  Dutch,  and  was  an 
active  trader,  negotiating  between  the  Hollanders  and  English. 


THE    ADMINISTRATION    OF    WILLIAM    KIEFT 


223 


rather  speak  to  a  wise  man  than  to  a  fool."  "  Then,"  says  one  of  the 
Hollanders  in  his  affidavit  before  the  authorities,  "  in  order  to  prevent 
further  mischief,  yea,  even  bloodshed,  we  broke  up  our  pleasant  party 
before  we  intended." 

By  way  of  diversion  from  somewhat  dry  historical  detail,  it  may 
not  be  out  of  place  here,  in  illustration  of  the  social  affairs  of  the  time, 


CITY    TAVERN, 
AFTERWARDS    THE    STADT    HUYS 


to  present  one  of  the  judicial  proceedings  that  came  under  the  cog- 
nizance of  the  council  sitting  as  a  court,  during  this  administration. 
We  possess  the  record  of  a  capital  punishment  in  1641.  The  court 
proceedings  before  the  Council,  urged  by  the  Fiscal,  were  against 
Jan,  of  Fort  Orange,  Manuel  Gerrit,  the  giant,  Anthony  Portuguese, 
Simon  Congo,  and  five  others,  all  negroes  belonging  to  the  Company, 
for  killing  Jan  Premero,  another  negro.  The  prisoners  having  pleaded 
guilty,  and  it  being  rather  a  costly  operation  to  hang  nine  able-bodied 
negroes  belonging  to  the  Company,  with  a  proper  Dutch  thrift,  the 
sentence  was,  that  they  were  to  draw  lots  to  determine  "  who  should 
be  punished  with  the  cord  until  death,  praying  the  Almighty  God,  the 
Creator  of  Heaven  and  Earth,  to  direct  that  the  lot  may  fall  on  the 
guiltiest,  whereupon,"  the  record  reads,  "  the  lot  fell,  by  God's  provi- 
dence, on  Manuel  Gerrit,  the  giant,  who  was  accordingly  sentenced  to 
be  hanged  by  the  neck  until  dead,  as  an  example  to  all  such  malefac- 
tors." Four  days  after  the  trial,  and  on  the  day  of  the  sentence,  all 
New  Amsterdam  left  its  accustomed  work  to  gaze  on  the  unwonted 
spectacle.  Various  Indians  also  gathered,  wondering,  to  the  scene. 
The  giant  negro  is  brought  out  by  the  black  hangman  and  placed  on 
the  ladder  against  the  fort,  with  two  strong  halters  around  his  neck. 
After  an  exhortation  from  Domine  Bogardus,  during  which  the  negro 


224  HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YOEK 

chants  barbaric  invocations  to  his  favorite  Fetich,  he  is  duly  turned 
off  the  ladder  into  the  air.  Under  the  violent  struggles  and  weight  of 
the  giant,  however,  both  halters  break.  He  falls  to  the  ground,  and 
utters  piteous  cries.  Now  on  his  knees,  now  twisting  and  groveling 
in  the  earth.  The  women  shriek.  The  men  join  in  his  prayers  for 
mercy  to  the  stern  Director ;  but  he  is  no  trifler,  and  the  law  must 
have  its  course.  The  hangman  prepares  a  stronger  rope.  Finally, 
the  cry  for  mercy  is  so  general  that  the  Director  relents,  and  the 
giant  is  led  off  the  ground  by  his  swarthy  friends,  somewhat  dis- 
turbed in  his  intellect  by  this  near  view  of  the  grim  king  of  terrors. 

It  is  related  by  a  chronicler  of  the  time  that,  at  the  early  period  of 
Kieft's  administration,  one-fourth  part  of  the  city  of  New  Amsterdam 
consisted  "  of  grog-shops  or  of  houses  where  nothing  is  to  be  got  but 
tobacco  and  beer."  The  Company,  also,  kept  up  a  lively  manufacture 
and  sale  of  beer  from  its  brewery,  near  its  warehouses.1  This  account 
does  not  speak  well  for  the  average  moral  and  intellectual  condition 
of  the  inhabitants,  in  spite  of  the  exhortations  of  Domine  Bogardus, 
and  of  the  teachings  of  Adam  Roelantsen,  the  schoolmaster,  who,  for 
two  beaver-skins  annually  paid  by  each  scholar,  imparted  a  modicum 
of  knowledge  to  the  sturdy  little  people,  whose  studies  were  often 
grievously  interrupted  by  distant  whoop  or  yell,  the  roll  of  the  drum, 
or  the  tramp  of  armed  men,  as  they  marched  past  to  the  wars  clad  in 
steel  corselets  or  leather  jerkins,  and  armed  with  their  half  pikes  and 
wheel-lock  muskets.  The  settlers,  at  first,  with  the  exception  of  the 
Company's  employees  and  of  a  few  who  could  establish  or  lease  plan- 
tations, were  people  of  little  means  or  education,  who  came  seeking 
to  better  themselves  and  escape  from  the  turmoil  of  European  wars ; 
or  needy  and  uncouth  adventurers  seeking  gain,  often  by  illicit 
trading.  When  Kieft  arrived,  the  population,  as  stated  in  a  report  to 
the  States-General,  had  been  decreasing;  but,  in  1639,  the  number 
became  much  increased,  owing  to  the  fur  trade  being  thrown  open, 
which  was  a  great  inducement  to  immigration.  According  to  Father 
Jogues,  in  1642-43  the  male  population  of  the  region  in  and  about 
New  Amsterdam  was  estimated  at  four  hundred ;  and  he  states  that 
eighteen  different  languages  were  spoken  there.  There  were  a  num- 
ber of  English  settlers  on  the  island,  some  free  negroes,  to  whom  land 
was  granted,  and  we  read  of  Peter  Cesar  the  Italian,  Dirck  the  Nor- 
man, and  Jan  the  Swede  as  land-owners.  There  were  also  some 
Danes  and  French ;  and  Walloons,  from  the  Spanish  Netherlands, 
were  settled  at  the  Waelenbogt,  or  Walloon  Bay.  The  population, 
however,  in  1642,  was  so  insufficient  for  the  defense  and  advancement 

l  Other  liquors  also  were  sold  to  tapsters  by  the  strong  wines  and  four  stivers  on  brands  of 
Company,  to  be  retailed  by  them,  so  that  they  French  and  Spanish  wines.  A  stiver  was  about 
could  make  a  profit  of  six  stivers  per  can  on  two  cents. 


THE    ADMINISTRATION    OF    WILLIAM    KTEFT 


225 


of  the  settlement  that  it  was  determined,  in  Council,  in  October  of 
that  year,  as  follows :  "  Resolved :  That  it  is  necessary  to  assist 
people  arriving  here,  for  else  the  land  will  never  amount  to  anything, 
while  the  people  remain  poor  and  miserable.  The  Council  hope  that 
our  resolution  shall  meet  with  approval,  considering  that  the  welfare 
of  the  country  depends  on  it,  while  the  Company  does  not  suffer  any 
damage,  except  that  for  a  short  time  the  money  laid  out  bears  no 
interest."  The  Company  could  not  object  to  this  modest  request. 

There  were  many  substantial  citizens  and  public-spirited  men,  how- 
ever, among  the  motley  population,  even  at  this  early  period.  Among 
others  not  previously  mentioned 
were  Augustine  Herrman,  an  en- 
terprising merchant  and  extensive 
land-holder,  who  was  also  a  sur- 
veyor by  profession  and  a  skilful 
artist,  and  Jonas  Bronck,  a  Danish 
Lutheran,  who  came  over  with  his 
friend  Kuyter.  The  latter  received 
a  grant  of  land  on  the  Great  Kill 
or  Harlem  River,  which  he  called 
Zegendael.  Bronck  was  a  man  of 
means  and  evidently  of  education. 
He  obtained  a  large  tract  of  land 
on  the  Harlem  River  opposite  Kuy- 
ter's  farm  and  running  to  the  river 
Bronx.1  He  called  his  plantation 
Emmaus,  erecting  on  it  a  stone 
mansion,  a  barn,  and  a  tobacco 
house.  He  died,  or  was  killed,  in 
1643,  and  Kuyter's  house  was  burned  during  the  Indian  wars  ;  hence 
possibly  his  subsequent  hostility  to  Kieft. 

To  show  that  there  were  both  intelligence  and  wealth  at  this  period 
among  some  of  the  rude  forefathers  of  the  city,  an  inventory  of  the 
goods  and  effects  of  Feuntje,  the  widow  of  Jonas  Bronck,  may  be 
referred  to :  it  was  dated  in  May,  1643.  Among  other  articles  there 
were  about  forty  books,  eleven  pictures,  five  guns,  one  with  silver 
mounting,  and  other  arms ;  silver  cups,  spoons,  tankards,  and  bowls ; 
about  thirty  pewter  plates;  agricultural  and  brewing  implements, 
and  bedding  and  divers  clothing,  including  satin,  cloth,  and  grogram 
suits  and  gloves.  A  stone  house  covered  with  tiles,  tobacco-house 
and  outhouses,  and  a  large  number  of  horses,  cattle,  and  pigs  were  also 
enumerated.  Among  the  books,  it  may  be  curious  to  record  the  titles 

l  The  Indian  name  of  the  "  Bronx"  was  "  Ah-qua-hung,"  and  its  present  name  is,  doubtless,  a 
derivative  from  "  Bronck."     Its  beauties  were  celebrated  by  the  poets  Halleck  and  Drake. 
VOL.  I.— 15. 


226  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

of  some,  showing  the  serious  reading  of  the  day.  There  were  two 
Bibles,  Calvin's  "  Institutes,"  Luther's  "  Psalter,"  Luther's  "  Complete 
Catechism,"  the  "  Praise  of  Christ,"  the  "  Four  Ends  of  Death,"  a  vol- 
ume entitled  "  Fifty  Pictures  of  Death,"  and  also  Biblical  stories. 

In  1641,  in  the  inventory  of  Dame  Ides  Van  Voorst,  widow  of  Cor- 
nelius Van  Voorst  and  subsequently  married  to  Jacob  Stoffelsen,  of 
Ahasimus,  we  read  of  gold  hoop  rings,  silver  medals  and  chains,  sil- 
ver spoons,  silver  brandy-cups  and  goblets,  Spanish  leather  patterns, 
a  damask  furred  jacket,  linen  handkerchiefs  with  lace,  and  brass 
warming-pans.  It  will  be  observed  that  there  is  no  mention  of  tea- 
cups or  tea-pots.  At  the  end  of  Kieft's  administration  the  population 
of  the  Island  was  estimated  at  one  thousand. 

Traffic  with  the  natives  for  peltry  was  the  principal  business  pro- 
jected by  the  West  India  Company  through  its  Colony  in  New  Neth- 
erland ;  and  its  attention  to  that  trade,  of  which  it  had  a  monopoly, 
and  its  efforts  to  extend  it  were,  for  a  long  time,  so  absorbing  that 
other  interests  material  to  the  prosperity  of  the  Colony  received  but 
little  attention.  Trade  was  carried  on  with  the  Indians  over  a  large 
tei-ritory.  Even  before  the  charter  to  the  West  India  Company,  the 
merchant  traders  had  made  treaties  for  traffic  with  various  Indian 
tribes,  and  particularly  with  those  comprising  the  Iroquois  or  Five 
Nations.  Scouts  of  the  Company  subsequently  traveled  through 
wild  territories ;  and  its  boats  and  shallops  traded  along  the  Hudson, 
about  Long  Island,  Buzzard's  Bay,  and  the  Connecticut  and  Delaware 
Rivers.  They  collected  the  skins  brought  by  the  tribes  about  the 
northern  part  of  the  Hudson  and  the  Connecticut  Rivers  and  sent 
them  down,  in  small  luggers,  to  Manhattan  Island,  whence  they  were 
exported  to  Holland.  Owing  to  the  more  immediate  profit  accruing 
from  trade  and  the  lesser  capital  required,  there  was  a  temptation  to 
the  colonists  to  engage  in  it  when  they  subsequently  had  an  oppor- 
tunity to  do  so ;  and  agriculture  was  comparatively  neglected.  Set- 
tlements in  the  town  were  consequently  not  promoted,  and  were  less 
likely  to  be  permanent — population  became  scattered — and  the  main 
settlement  at  New  Amsterdam  was  thereby  weakened,  and  less  able 
to  withstand  attack. 

The  true  basis  of  a  colonial  plant  to  insure  permanency  in  its 
settlement,  steady  increase  in  its  population,  and  a  prosperous  prog- 
ress is  agriculture.  The  possession  and  cultivation  of  the  soil 
which  has  been  redeemed  from  the  wilderness,  enriched  by  the  in- 
dustry of  the  inhabitant  and  endeared  by  its  associations,  give  to 
him  a  sense  of  enjoyment  and  a  feeling  of  repose  and  security 
that  no  other  ownership  or  occupation  affords.  He  daily  contem- 
plates with  satisfaction  the  field  of  his  enterprise  and  toil, —  a  sense 
of  beauty  is  created  by  the  landscapes  presented, —  his  devotional 


THE    ADMINISTRATION    OF    WILLIAM    KIEFT  227 

feelings  are  aroused  by  gratitude  towards  the  Higher  Power  that  has 
smiled  upon  his  aims,  his  children  grow  up  about  him,  with  love  for 
their  home  surroundings,  in  an  atmosphere  of  simplicity  and  truth ; 
and  their  as  well  as  his  attachment  to  their  rural  abode  interests 
them  in  the  State,  and  arouses  patriotic  impulses  that  tend  to  develop 
and  maintain  a  high  grade  of  citizenship. 

Commercial  adventures  and  trading  speculations,  in  a  new  country, 
it  is  true,  tend  to  stimulate  enterprise  and  discovery ;  but  the  trader, 
whether  successful  or  otherwise,  is  apt  to  be  a  rover,  and  is  tempted 
to  vary  the  field  of  his  operations.  He  forms  few  attachments,  and 
is  careless  of  the  fortunes  of  the  land  of  his  residence.  Whatever  his 
possessions  they  are  easily  moved  or  changed ;  he  becomes  restless, 
greedy,  and  often  unscrupulous.  The  agriculturist,  on  the  contrary, 
becomes  in  character  calm,  moderate,  and  just;  as  his  possessions 
are  permanent,  and  his  interests  are  involved  with  those  of  the 
country  of  his  residence,  his  aim  is  to  assist  in  the  establishment  of 
good  government  and  good  laws  for  his  protection,  and  of  a  wise 
policy  for  the  maintenance  of  peace.  Trade  was  the  chief  employ- 
ment in  New  Netherland ;  agriculture  in  New  England.  The  differ- 
ence in  the  progress  of  the  respective  colonies  was  great. 

The  West  India  Company  at  first,  by  its  early  charter,  had  a  mo- 
nopoly of  trade,  and  none  others  were  to  traffic  with  or  even  visit  the 
Colony,  without  the  consent  of  the  Company;  consequently,  the  earlier 
population  of  New  Amsterdam  consisted  mostly  of  the  officials  and 
employees  of  that  corporation.  Subsequently,  the  privileges  of  trade 
were  extended  to  the  patroons  and  colonists  who  owned  a  dwelling, 
where  the  Company  had  no  factories.  In  the  year  1638,  the  directors 
of  the  Company  thinking,  wisely,  that  existing  restrictions  were 
retarding  the  prosperity  and  development  of  the  Colony,  opened  trade 
to  free  competition  for  all  people  of  the  United  Provinces  and  their 
friends  and  allies  of  any  nation,  on  payment  of  certain  duties  on  im- 
ports and  exports.  The  carriage  of  goods  or  cattle,  however,  was 
still  confined  to  the  Company's  vessels.  In  1640  certain  commercial 
privileges  of  trading  were  extended  to  all  free  colonists,  which  had 
theretofore  been  limited  to  patroons,  and,  in  1642,  the  inhabitants  of 
New  Netherland  were  allowed  to  trade  with  all  friendly  colonies;  and, 
subsequently,  private  persons  were  allowed  to  trade  with  New 
Netherland,  in  their  own  vessels,  and  also  with  the  Swedish,  English, 
and  French  colonies.  The  authorities  at  New  Amsterdam  still 
claimed  a  staple  right.1 

Several  effects  of  the  opening  of  trade  became  manifest.  The  pop- 
ulation of  the  Colony  became  immediately  much  increased,  while  at 
the  same  time  it  became  less  centralized.  Traders,  spreading  thena- 

l  By  virtue  of  which  all  vessels  passing  up  or  down  the  river  were  liable  to  certain  imposts. 


228  HISTOKY    OF    NEW-YOBK 

selves  far  into  the  interior,  in  their  thirst  for  gain  did  not  hesitate  to 
barter  guns  and  ammunition  with  the  savages.  Smuggling  too  was 
frequent,  and  the  Company's  interests  suffered  from  private  competi- 
tion, especially  from  its  own  servants ;  and  an  ordinance  was  conse- 
quently promulgated,  to  the  effect  that  no  person  should  trade  without 
a  license  nor  export  without  permission ;  and  persons  sailing  to  Fort 
Orange,  the  South  River,  or  Fort  Good  Hope  were  obliged  to  furnish 
themselves  with  passports. 

The  effect  of  this  free  trading  was  also  apparent  in  the  extended 
intercourse  with  the  Indians.  In  the  rush  for  wealth,  people  sepa- 
rated and  had  direct  dealings  with  them,  it  being  supposed  that 
fortunes  could  be  thus  quickly  made.  Hence  arose  a  desire  to  court 
the  natives ;  frequency  and  freedom  of  intercourse  caused  the  latter 
to  look  upon  the  whites  with  familiarity  and  some  contempt;  thus 
a  bitter  feeling  was  created,  which  soon  developed  into  a  hostile  one. 
The  Colony  of  Rensselaerswyck,  from  its  remote  and  independent 
position,  was  of  great  embarrassment  to  the  colonial  government; 
and  probably  indirectly  prolonged  the  Indian  wars  with  the  Dutch, 
by  selling  to  the  aborigines  guns  and  powder.  A  gun  was  sold  at  the 
rate  of  twenty  beaver-skins,  and  a  pound  of  powder  for  ten  or  twelve 
guilders.  So  great  was  the  profit  of  this  contraband  trade  that  even 
the  merchants  in  Holland  engaged  in  it,  and  sent  over  guns  that  soon 
made  their  way  to  the  Mohawks.  So  great  was  the  abuse  of  this 
traffic  that  Kieft  in  1639,  and  later,  promulgated  ordinances  forbid- 
ding the  sale  of  fire-arms  to  Indians,  under  penalty  of  death. 

In  1644  an  excise  duty  was  imposed  on  liquors,  and  a  license  fee  on 
brewers  and  tapsters ;  a  duty  of  eight  in  a  hundred  was  also  imposed 
on  traders  bringing  beaver-skins  into  New  Amsterdam,  from  which 
place  all  vessels  were  cleared.  During  the  latter  part  of  the  Indian 
war,  Director  Kieft,  after  consulting  the  eight  men,  imposed  an  extra 
excise  tax  on  beer  and  liquors,  in  order  to  raise  funds  wherewith  to 
pay  the  fighting-men  from  New  England.  This  was  retained  after 
the  war,  to  the  great  discontent  of  the  community. 

The  voyage  from  Holland,  at  this  time,  in  the  little  ships  of  the 
period  occupied  about  seven  or  eight  weeks.  The  course  was  to  the 
Canary  Islands ;  thence  to  the  West  India  Islands,  and  so  to  the  main- 
land of  Virginia,  passing  the  Bahamas  on  the  left  and  the  Bermudas 
on  the  right.  A  flag  was  raised  on  a  little  redoubt  built  at  the  Nar- 
rows, on  Staten  Island,  to  announce  the  arrival  of  inward  bound 
vessels  in  the  outer  Bay.  The  exports  from  New  Amsterdam  to  the 
mother  country  were  of  course  of  limited  variety;  they  consisted, 
chiefly,  of  the  skins  of  beaver,  mink,  deer,  otter,  lynx,  and  elk,  also 
those  of  the  panther  and  the  fox.  While  from  Holland  came  all  that 
was  necessary  for  the  use  of  an  infant  colony,  including  French  and 


THE    ADMINISTRATION    OF    WILLIAM    KIEFT 


229 


Spanish  wines  and  brandy,  leather,  meat,  bacon,  malt,  nails,  lead, 
butter,  linen  and  woolen  stuff,  oil,  soap,  tiles,  bricks,  iron  rods,  casks, 
cordage,  candles,  salt,  spices,  tar,  and  agricultural  and  domestic  im- 
plements. To  secure  a  monopoly  of  certain  exportations  the  manu- 
facture of  woolen,  linen,  or  cotton  in  the  Colony  was  for  a  long  time 
prohibited;  which  prohibi- 
tion continued  in  force 
until  the  amendment  of  the 
Charter,  in  March,  1640. 

The  solid  warehouses  of 
the  Company  and  of  the 
opulent  traders  were  filled, 
in  prosperous  times,  with 
produce  and  merchandise, 
and  attested  the  busy  trade 
of  the  Colony  both  with 
the  Indians  and  the  outside 
world.  There  was  a  Euro- 
pean trade  not  only  with 
Holland  but  with  Curac.oa, 
St. Bartholomew,  the  Canary 
Islands,  Brazil,  and  with  the 
coasts  of  France,  Spain,  and 
Africa;  and,  even  during 
Kieft's  administration,  New 
Amsterdam  became  an  em- 
porium of  commerce  for  the 
western  hemisphere.  A  coasting  trade  was  carried  on  with  Virginia 
and  the  colonies  of  New  England ;  and  the  New  England  coasters 
to  Virginia  passing  through  the  East  River  usually  stopped  at 
New  Amsterdam,  which  was  of  great  profit  to  the  Colony.  The 
articles  carried  for  sale  and  barter  to  Virginia  consisted  of  wheat, 
pork,  beer,  fish,  tobacco,  and  wine ;  and  also  woolen  and  linen  goods. 
The  return  cargo  consisted  almost  entirely  of  tobacco.  There  was  a 
trade,  also,  up  the  Hudson,  with  the  plantations  along  its  banks,  Eso- 
pus,  Fort  Orange,  Beverswyck,  and  the  Colony  at  Rensselaerswyck. 

Vessels  from  New  Amsterdam  also  navigated  Delaware  Bay,  and 
coasted  along  Long  Island ;  and  the  larger  vessels  made  voyages  to 
the  West  Indies,  whence  came  sugar  and  other  produce,  not  the  least 
of  which  was  Barbados  rum.  To  the  West  Indies  and  to  the  Dutch 
colonies  at  Curac,oa  and  Brazil  were  sent  from  New  Netherland  the 
various  kinds  of  goods  received  from  Holland,  as  above  mentioned, 


LONG    PIPES    AND    SHORT    PIPES.1 


l  This  spirited  engraving  is  copied  from  a  drawing  made  by  George  Cruikshank  to  illustrate  the 
Pipe  Plot,  as  described  in  "  Irving's  New-York."     EDITOR. 


230  HISTORY     OF    NEW- YORK 

and  also  large  quantities  of  Indian  corn,  and  baked  bread  and  biscuit, 
dried  fish,  salt  meat,  and  lumber.  Trade  received  a  stimulus,  occa- 
sionally, when  privateers  brought  Spanish  prizes  into  port,  which 
were  condemned  by  the  Director  and  his  Council,  sitting  as  an  Admi- 
ralty Court.  In  May,  1643,  Captain  Blauvelt,  commander  of  the  pri- 
vateer frigate  La  Garce,  brought  into  New  Amsterdam  a  Spanish 
bark  laden  with  tobacco,  sugar,  and  ebony  from  Cuba,  and  another 
loaded  with  wine  coming  from  New  Spain.  Another  Spanish  prize 
laden  with  sugar  and  tobacco  was  captured  by  the  same  privateer  in 
the  year  1646.  Among  the  partners  owning  La  Garce  after  she 
was  sold,  in  1646,  are  found  many  of  the  prominent  names  of  New 
Amsterdam,  including  Kieft,  as  representing  the  West  India  Company0 

The  main  monetary  medium  circulating  in  trade  at  this  period  con- 
tinued to  be  the  wampum  or  seawant.  But  so  debased  had  this  cur- 
rency become,  that  in  1641  Kieft  issued  an  ordinance  reducing  the 
value  of  the  coarse  seawant,  and  fixing  its  rate  at  four  beads  of  the 
polished  for  one  stiver,  and  five  or  six  of  the  rough.  The  people  of 
New  Netherlands  procured  this  seawant  by  exchanging  for  it,  with  the 
Long  Island  and  lower  tribes,  their  imported  knives,  hatchets,  needles, 
looking-glasses,  cloth  and  other  fabrics,  and  with  it  bought  furs,, 
skins,  corn,  and  venison  from  other  Indians  further  inland ;  and  thus 
the  latter  were  not  under  the  necessity  of  transporting  such  goods 
to  New  Amsterdam.  Seawant  was  also  the  circulating  medium  be- 
tween all  the  other  colonists  of  the  North  American  coast.  Beaver- 
skins  and  Holland  guilders  and  stivers  were  also  used  in  trade ;  the 
first  at  a  fixed  valuation. 

During  the  earlier  part  of  Kieft's  administration,  and  before  the 
desolating  Indian  wars,  there  was  great  promise  of  agricultural  pros- 
perity. Laborers  came  into  the  Colony  from  New  England  and  Vir- 
ginia, as  well  as  from  Holland ;  and  also  slaves  from  Brazil,  of  which 
the  Company  had  a  number,  under  charge  of  a  salaried  overseer. 
There  was  always  a  deficiency  of  farm  laborers,  however,  and  the 
Indian  wars  were  of  serious  disturbance  to  agricultural  industry. 

In  1640  the  new  charter  for  settlers  was  made,  restricting  the 
settlement  of  lands  by  patroons,  and  raising  a  minor  class  of  landed 
colonists.  The  provision  was  that  whoever  should  convey  to  New 
Netherland  five  grown  persons  besides  himself  was  to  be  deemed 
a  master  or  colonist,  and  could  occupy  two  hundred  acres  of  land. 
The  West  India  Company  was  the  owner  of  six  bouweries  or  plan- 
tations on  the  island,  which  were  generally  leased,  stocked  with  cattle, 
at  a  fixed  rent,  payable  in  guilders  and  produce.  It  also  had  one 
bouwery  at  Hoboken-Hacking  (Hoboken),  which  in  1639  was  leased 
to  Henry  Van  Vorst,  the  Company  giving  him  four  thousand  bricks 
to  build  a  chimney.  It  had  another  farm  at  Pavonia.  It  is  stated 


THE    ADMINISTRATION    OF    WILLIAM    KIEFT  231 

that,  in  the  early  part  of  Kieft's  administration,  there  were  thirty 
bouweries  under  cultivation  in  and  about  the  island  of  Manhattan. 

Clearings  on  a  new  settlement  were  made  by  the  trees  being  cut 
and  burned  in  the  fields.  Corn  was  ground  and  boards  were  sawn  by 
horse  or  windmills,  of  which  latter  the  Indians  were  greatly  afraid, 
and,  as  one  chronicler  states,  "  they  durst  not  come  near  their  long 
arms  and  big  teeth  biting  the  corn  to  pieces."  There  was  a  large 
saw-mill  on  Nooten  Island,  where  oak  and  pine  trees  were  shaped 
into  planks.  Cattle  were  brought  over  from  Holland,  and  there 
were  some  of  English  breed.  By  ordinance  of  1641  an  annual  fair 
for  cattle  was  directed  to  be  held  in  October,  and  one  for  hogs  in 
November.  The  latter  were  plentiful,  and  sheep  and  goats  were 
numerous,  also  geese,  and  above  all,  ducks  —  humble  reminders  of  the 
Fatherland.  The  woods  afforded  abundance  of  wild  turkeys,  quail, 
and  venison ;  and  the  surrounding  waters  supplied  oysters,  the 
"  twaelft "  or  striped  bass,  the  "  elft "  or  shad,  sturgeon,  and  salmon, 
and  the  water-terrapin,  which  Van  der  Donck  states  in  his  narrative 
to  be  a  "  luscious  food." 

A  great  deal  of  the  arable  land  on  the  island  of  Manhattan  was 
devoted  to  the  raising  of  tobacco,  which  on  account  of  certain  defects 
of  its  curing  was,  in  1638,  ordered  to  be  carefully  inspected  by  the 
Government  authorities  before  export.  Much  of  the  tobacco  used 
and  exported  came  from  Virginia  plantations ;  but  the  rich  virgin 
soil  of  Manhattan  Island,  on  which  no  fertilizer  was  required  in  those 
days,  produced  a  crop  not  much  inferior.  There  were  several  to- 
bacco plantations  on  the  island  and  its  environs.  In  1639  George 
Holmes  and  Thomas  Hall  had  in  partnership,  as  we  saw,  an  extensive 
one  at  Deutel  (Turtle)  Bay  on  the  East  River,  near  the  foot  of  the 
present  Forty-sixth  street.  Hall  subsequently  leased  Wouter  Van 
Twiller's  tobacco  plantation  at  Sapohanican.  Alberto,  the  Italian, 
had  one  leased  from  Peter  Cesar,  on  Long  Island;  Jonas  Bronck 
also  raised  a  crop  on  his  farm  on  the  Great  Kill  (Harlem  River). 
Isaac  Allerton,  an  Englishman,  who  came  over  in  the  Mayflower, 
also  had  a  large  tobacco-house  on  the  shore  of  the  East  River,  near 
the  present  Maiden  Lane.  Maize,  peas,  and  beans  were  extensively 
raised,  both  for  consumption  and  export.  The  apple,  cherry,  and 
peach  trees,  and  vines,  which  had  been  imported,  flourished,  as  well 
as  melons,  strawberries,  and  garden  produce  such  as  cabbages  and 
various  other  vegetables. 

The  building  where  religious  meetings  were  at  first  conducted  under 
Director  Kieft  continued  to  be  the  barn-like  structure  near  the  fort, 
on  what  would  now  be  the  northern  side  of  Pearl  street  near  White- 
hall. In  1642,  the  accommodation  afforded  by  this  edifice  being  found 
quite  insufficient  for  the  wants  of  the  community,  a  stone  church  was 


232 


HISTORY    OF    NEW- YORK 


begun  within  the  inclosure  of  the  fort.  The  mode  in  which  the  neces- 
sary funds  were  raised  for  the  erection  of  this,  for  the  time,  rather 
expensive  building  is  humorously  described  by  a  cotemporary  as  being 
accomplished  at  the  marriage  of  Sara,  a  daughter  of  Mrs.  Everardus 
Bogardus,  with  Surgeon  Hans  Kiersteede.  The  Director  thought, 
wisely,  that  the  hilarity  incident  to  such  an  occasion  would  stimulate 
the  generosity  of  the  wedding  guests ;  and,  "  after  the  fourth  or  fifth 
round  of  drinking,"  he  "  started  the  subscription  with  a  large  sum  of 
guilders,  and  the  rest  with  a  light  head  followed  his  example  and 
subscribed  richly."  "  Some  of  them,"  writes  De  Vries,  "  well  re- 
pented it,  but  nothing  availed 
to  excuse."  We  are  told,  how- 
ever, that  the  sober  second 
thoughts  of  many  of  the  sub- 
scribers did  not  induce  them 
to  cash  their  subscriptions, 
but  that  the  Company  was 
obliged  subsequently  to  pay 
the  workmen. 

The  church  for  a  long  time 
remained  unfinished,  and  it  was 
charged  against  the  Director 
that  he  applied  some  of  the 
funds  to  military  uses  during  the  Indian  war ;  which  was  not  improb- 
able, as  fighting,  in  those  days,  was  more  relied  on  than  praying.  The 
inscription  placed  by  the  Director  on  this  church,  as  translated,  was : 
"Anno  Domini  1642;  W.  Kieft,  Director  General,  hath  caused  this 
Temple  to  be  built  for  the  Congregation."1  This  stone  was  after- 
wards placed  in  the  belfry  of  the  Reformed  Church,  in  Garden  street 
(Exchange  Place),  and  was  destroyed  by  fire  in  1835. 

The  officiating  clergyman  under  the  administration  of  Director 
Kieft  was  the  above-named  Domine  Everardus  Bogardus,  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  men  of  the  Dutch  period.  The  Domine  had  come 
to  the  Colony  with  Van  T  wilier  in  1633,  and  his  controversies  with  that 
Director  have  been  before  referred  to.  He  was  a  man  of  strong  will, 
and  fearless  against  all  opposition.  As  he  had  been  the  pronounced 
public  enemy  of  Van  Twiller,  so  he  denounced  Kieft  with  all  the 
energy  of  his  determined  and  vigorous  character.  Kieft  and  Bogar- 
dus were,  in  fact,  in  continuous  opposition ;  and  so  violent  were  the 
Domine's  fulminations  against  the  Director  from  the  pulpit,  that  the 
latter,  for  many  months,  refused  to  enter  the  church,  and  discouraged 
his  officials  from  so  doing.  To  drown  the  Domine's  vociferations, 
the  Director  allowed  noisy  games  to  be  played  outside  and  drums  to 

l  "Ao.  Do.  MDCXLII.  W.  Kieft  Dr.  Gr.  Heeft  de  Gemeente  deseii  Tempel  doen  Bouwen." 


THE  GOVERNOR'S  HOUSE  AND  CHURCH. 


THE    ADMINISTRATION    OF    WILLIAM    KIEFT  233 

be  beaten  during  the  church  sessions ;  and  even  caused  cannon  to  be 
fired,  in  order  to  distract  attention  from  the  Domine's  discourses, 
which  often  tended  to  stir  up  the  people  to  insubordination  and  mu- 
tiny against  Kieft,  whom  Bogardus  charged  with  murders,  covetous- 
ness,  and  gross  excesses. 

The  outraged  Director  finally  lost  all  patience  with  his  uncompro- 
mising antagonist,  and  summoned  him  to  appear  and  answer  before 
the  Council  for  his  misconduct.  The  following  was  a  part  of  the  ar- 
raignment, which  is  a  curious  document,  as  illustrating  the  spirit  of 
the  time :  "  You  have  no  less  indulged  in  scattering  abuse,  during  our 
administration.  Scarcely  a  person  in  the  entire  land  have  you  spared ; 
not  even  your  own  wife  and  your  sister ;  particularly  when  you  were 
in  good  company  and  tipsy.  Still  mixing  up  your  human  passion  with 
the  chain  of  truth,  you  associated  with  the  greatest  criminals  of  the 
country,  taking  their  part  and  defending  them.  You  refused  to  obey 
the  order  to  administer  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord,  and  did  not  dare 
to  partake  of  it  yourself.  And,  in  order  not  to  plead  ignorance,  a  few 
out  of  many  instances  shall  be  cited  for  you." 

Then  follows  a  long  arraignment,  in  which  the  Domine  is  accused 
of  being  intoxicated  and  slandering  the  Director;  of  countenancing 
Maryn  Adriaensen  after  his  attempt  to  assassinate  the  Director ;  of 
being  under  the  influence  of  liquor  on  two  occasions  in  his  pulpit ; 
of  abusing  the  Director  unjustly  from  the  pulpit;  of  abusing  and 
libeling  the  Director,  Fiscal,  and  Secretary  when  intoxicated,  and  of 
refusing  to  thank  God  for  the  peace  on  the  day  set  apart  for  thanks- 
giving. The  document  concludes  with  charging  that  his  language 
against  the  Director,  from  the  pulpit,  was  so  outrageous  that  the  latter 
had  to  refrain  from  church,  and  he  denounced  the  Domine's  sermons 
as  "  the  rattling  of  old  wives'  stories  drawn  out  from  a  distaff."  "And 
inasmuch  as  all  this  conduct  tends  to  stir  up  mutiny  and  the  general 
ruin  of  the  land  "  the  Domine  is  summoned  to  make  answer. 

To  all  of  which  Bogardus  made  defiant  response  and  challenged  the 
right  of  the  Director  to  judge  him,  and  he  was,  therefore,  a  second 
time  summoned.  The  charges  were  finally  offered  to  be  submitted  to 
the  arbitration  of  four  worthy  citizens  ;  but  the  Domine  seemed  recal- 
citrant, and  the  matter  is  supposed  to  have  died  out.  Corroborative 
records  seem  to  show  that  neither  Kieft  nor  the  Domine  was  very  far 
wrong  in  his  estimate  of  the  other.  The  latter,  although  apparently 
an  independent,  conscientious  preacher,  seems  to  have  been  rather 
coarse  and  quarrelsome  as  an  individual,  and  was,  doubtless,  too 
much  addicted  to  drinking.  He  is  chronicled  as  being  in  continual 
litigation,  and  seemed  to  delight  particularly  in  slander  suits,  of 
which  several  are  related.  Soon  after  his  arrival  he  was  smitten  by 
the  charms  and  pecuniary  attractions  of  the  widow  of  Roeloff  Jansen 


234 


HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 


then  the  possessor  of  a  fine  farm  on  the  North  River,  and  since  long 
and  favorably  known  to  New- York  antiquarians  and  litigants  as  "  An- 
neke  Jans."  The  Domine  led  to  the  altar,  in  or  about  the  year  1639, 
that  historical  personage.  He  had  an  antagonist  in  Lubbertus  Van 
Dincklagen,  who,  in  1636,  preferred  charges  against  him  before  the 
Classis  at  Amsterdam,  where  he  was  defended,  singularly  enough,  by 
protest  in  his  favor  on  the  part  of  Director  Kieft,  in  1638.  The  di- 
rectors of  the  Company,  in  instructing  Stuyvesant  on  his  assuming 
the  government,  write,  "  We  were  sorry  to  learn  of  the  great  disorders 
which  your  Honor  has  found  there,  principally  caused  by  Domine 
Bogardus."  Take  him  all  in  all,  he  seems  to  have  been  rather  a  tur- 
bulent character.  His  tragic  end  will  be  subsequently  related. 

Although,  under  directions  from  the  Company,  given  in  1640,  no 
other  religion  "  save  that  then  taught  and  exercised  by  authority  in  the 
Reformed  Church  in  the  United  Provinces  "  was  to  be 
publicly  sanctioned  in  New  Netherland,  thus  consti- 
tuting the  creed  of  the  Synod  of  Dort  the  established 
religion  of  the  Colony,  one  of  the  most  pleasing  features 
of  the  Kieft  administration  was  the  toleration  extended 
to  those  of  other  religious  persuasions.  While,  under 
the  insanity  of  sectarianism,1  the  arm  of  the  civil  gov- 
ernment in  New  England  was  employed  in  support  of 
the  denunciations  of  the  Puritan  Church,  the  Island  of 
Manhattan  was  a  refuge  for  all  the  persecuted  and  op- 
pressed for  conscience1  sake,  who  fled  thither  from  the 
New  England  colonies.  And  yet  the  New  Englanders  had  experienced, 
themselves,  all  the  rigors  of  religious  persecution.  When  the  pedant 
James  became  king  he  illustrated  some  of  its  principles  in  this  wise, 
when  speaking  of  his  Puritan  subjects  :  "  I  will  make  them  conform, 
or  I  will  harry  them  out  of  the  land ;  or  else  worse,  I  will  only  hang 
them,  that 's  all."  Many  of  the  New  England  Anabaptists  and  other 
denizens  of  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  at  this  period  came  to 
New  Amsterdam.  They  were  granted  patents  of  land,  and  were 
allowed  free  exercise  and  preaching  of  their  religious  opinions.  So 
many,  indeed,  came  that  there  was  a  policy  contemplated  by  the 
Massachusetts  authorities  of  forbidding  such  emigration.  It  was 


ANNEKE  JANS'S 
FARM. 


1  The  following  recently  discovered  letter,  if  au- 
thentic, will  serve  to  illustrate  the  fact  that  this 
expression  of  the  text  is  none  too  strong.  EDITOR. 

"  September  15,  1682. 

' '  To  Ye  Aged  and  Beloved,  Mr.  John  Higgin- 
son :  There  be  now  at  sea  a  ship  called  Welcome, 
which  has  on  board  100  or  more  of  the  heretics 
and  malignants  called  Quakers  with  W.  Penn, 
who  is  the  chief  scamp,  at  the  head  of  them.  The 
General  Court  has  accordingly  given  secret  orders 
to  Master  Malachi  Huscott,  of  the  brig  Porpoise, 


to  way  lay  the  said  Welcome  slyly  as  near  the  Cape 
of  Cod  as  may  be,  and  make  captive  the  said  Penn 
and  his  ungodly  crew,  so  that  the  Lord  may  be 
glorified  and  not  mocked  on  the  soil  of  this  new 
country  with  the  heathen  worship  of  these  people. 
Much  spoil  can  be  made  by  selling  the  whole  lot  to 
Barbadoes,  where  slaves  fetch  good  prices  in  rum 
and  sugar,  and  we  shall  not  only  do  the  Lord  great 
service  by  punishing  the  wicked,  but  we  shall 
make  great  good,  for  His  minister  and  people. 
"Yours  in  ye  bowels  of  Christ, 
••  COTTON  MATHER." 


THE    ADMINISTRATION    OF    WILLIAM    KIEFT  235 

encouraged,  however,  by  Director  Kieft,  who  saw  in  it  additional 
strength  for  his  colony,  and  the  only  condition  imposed  was  an  oath 
to  the  government.1  Among  the  religious  exiles  that  profited  by 
this  politic  liberality  was  Anne  Hutchinson,  a  woman  of  gentle 
breeding  and  rare  mental  powers.  This  remarkable  woman  had  ar- 
rived at  the  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony  in  1634,  from  which  she  was 
exiled  after  a  sojourn  of  four  years.  She  at  first  went  to  Rhode  Island, 
whence,  her  husband  having  died,  and  fearful  of  further  persecu- 
tion, she  came  in  1642  to  New  Amsterdam,  and  was  allowed,  with 
her  family,  to  settle  at  what  is  now  called  Pelham  Neck,  near  New 
Rochelle,  and  which  for  a  long  time  thereafter  was  known  as  "Annie's 
Hoeck."  Her  sad  end  has  been  related  on  a  previous  page. 

Roger  Williams,  also,  came  for  a  short  time  to  New  Amsterdam. 
His  ideas  "  on  the  sanctity  of  conscience  "  were  too  independent  for  the 
conformists  of  Massachusetts,  and  he  had  been  banished  therefrom  in 
1635.  He  took  refuge  among  the  Narragansetts,  and  laid  the  foun- 
dations of  Providence,  desiring,  he  said,  "  that  it  might  be  a  shelter  for 
persons  distressed  for  conscience."  Rev.  Francis  Doughty,  a  refugee 
from  Massachusetts,  was  also  welcomed  by  Director  Kieft,  and  ad- 
vances were  made  to  him  in  goods  and  money.  In  1642  a  grant  was 
made  to  him  and  his  associates  of  a  large  tract  at  Mespat  (now  New- 
town),  Long  Island,  with  a  right  of  limited  jurisdiction  in  civil  and 
criminal  matters  and,  as  the  grant  states,  "with  power  to  erect  a 
church  and  to  exercise  the  Reformed  Christian  religion  which  they 
profess."  When  his  place  at  Mespat  was  burned  by  the  Indians, 
Doughty  came  to  New  Amsterdam,  and  officiated  as  clergyman  to  the 
English  inhabitants.  After  the  Indian  war  his  land  at  Mespat, 
except  his  bouwery,  was  confiscated,  at  the  instance  of  some  of  his 
associates,  who  considered  that  he  had  ignored  their  co-proprietary 
rights.  He,  thereafter,  settled  at  Flushing,  and  was  so  open  in  his 
animadversions  upon  the  Director,  that  Captain  John  Underbill 
ordered  his  church  doors  to  be  shut.  Finally,  he  removed  to  the  Vir- 
ginia settlement,  leaving  behind  his  daughter,  who  was  married  to 
Adriaen  Van  der  Donck.  Director  Kieft,  also,  in  July,  1643,  gave  a 
deed  for  a  tract  on  the  East  River  to  John  Throgmorton  and  thirty- 
five  families,  Anabaptist  refugees  from  Salem.  The  grant  was  of  land 
embracing  part  of  the  present  town  of  Westchester.  Throgmorton 
had,  at  first,  gone  to  Rhode  Island,  but  preferred  a  settlement  with- 
out any  sectarian  supervision.  The  patent  gave  license  to  the  settlers 
"that  they  were  to  reside  on  their  tract  in  peace,  and  were  to  be 

i  The  oath  was  as  follows:  "You  swear  to  be  the  Council  leads,  immediately  to  give  information 

true  and  faithful  to  their  High  Mightinesses  the  of  everything  tending  to  the  disadvantage  of  this 

States-General, his  Highness  the  Prince  of  Orange,  land,  to    assist    and   protect  the  inhabitants  of 

and  the  Director  and  Council  of  New  Netherland,  this    country  with    your    property    and   person 

to  follow  where  the  said  Director  or  a  member  of  against  all  public  enemies." 


236  HISTORY     OF    NEW-YORK 

favored  with  the  free  exercise  of  their  religion."  So  delighted  were 
the  exiles  with  their  new  home  and  the  peaceful  exercise  of  their 
faith,  that  their  settlement  was  called  Vredeland,  or  the  land  of  peace. 
Part  of  this  land  was  subsequently  known  as  Throgmorton's  Neck. 
These  settlers  suffered  during  the  Indian  war,  when  Mrs.  Hutchinson 
was  murdered ;  their  houses  and  cattle  were  destroyed,  and  eighteen 
of  them  were  killed. 

Another  refugee  to  New  Amsterdam  from  the  ecclesiastical  discipline 
of  New  England  was  John  Underbill,  who  came  in  1643,  taking 
service  with  the  Dutch,  and,  as  has  been  above  related,  rendering 
valuable  aid  to  New  Amsterdam  at  the  most  critical  time  of  Kieft's 
Indian  wars.  Underhill  had  been  a  man  of  note  in  Massachusetts, 
and,  as  captain  of  musketeers,  had  performed  valiant  service  there  in 
the  Indian  wars  and  expeditions.  But  although  a  valuable  man  to 
that  Colony  he  was  rather  too  independent  and  outspoken  to  please  the 
Puritan  fathers.  He  was  also  unusually  gay  and  fond  of  good  cheer ; 
and  his  somewhat  irregular  life  led  him  into  much  trouble.  He  had 
been  disfranchised  by  the  Massachusetts  Colony  for  protesting  against 
the  condemnation  of  Wheelwright,  a  brother  of  Anne  Hutchinson,  as 
unjust  and  iniquitous,  and  for  stoutly  maintaining  the  right  of  free 
speech :  he  was  consequently  removed  from  his  offices,  and  his  arms 
were  taken  from  him.  He  afterwards,  after  living  in  exile  at  Dover, 
returned  to  Boston,  made  profession  of  his  sins,  and  was  relieved  from 
banishment.  But,  finding  no  employment  at  Boston,  and  probably 
not  liking  the  dullness  of  Puritanic  life  and  the  restrictions  to  which 
he  was  subjected,  and  having  married  a  Dutch  woman  and  speaking 
that  language,  he  took  service  under  Kieft,  and  became  prosperous  in 
the  Dutch  Colony  although  something  of  a  roysterer.  In  1646  we 
find  that  he  was  rewarded  for  his  various  services  to  the  Colony  by  a 
patent  for  a  small  island  in  the  East  River. 

The  authorities  of  New  Amsterdam  also  extended  welcome  to  Father 
Jogues,  the  Jesuit;  who,  after  suffering  terrible  torture  and  mutila- 
tion  at  the  hands  of  the  Iroquois,  was  ransomed 
a{  Rensselaerswyck  from  the  Mohawks,  and  in 
1643  came  to  New  Amsterdam,  where  he  was  kindly 
received  by  Director  Kieft,  who  gave  him  money  and  clothes  and 
a  free  passage  to  France.  He  subsequently  renewed  his  heroic 
efforts  to  christianize  the  Iroquois,  and  was  murdered  by  the  Mo- 
hawks in  1646.  Father  Jogues,  in  describing  New  Amsterdam,  says 
that  although  Calvinism  was  the  prescribed  creed  there  were  also  in 
the  colony  Catholics,  English  Puritans,  Lutherans,  and  Anabaptists. 
The  Quakers  were  yet  to  come,  fleeing  from  the  scaffold  and  the 
scourge  prescribed  for  their  reformation  in  New  England.  Father 
Bressani,  another  Jesuit,  was  also  welcomed  to  New  Amsterdam,  after 


THE    ADMINISTRATION    OF    WILLIAM    KIEFT  237 

being  ransomed  by  Kieft  from  the  Iroquois.  The  Director's  circular, 
in  1644,  for  Bressani's  safe  conduct  has  come  down  to  us,  and  is  an 
interesting  document.  "  We,  William  Kieft,  Director-General,  and  the 
Council  of  New  Netherland,  to  all  those  who  shall  see  these  presents, 
greeting :  Francis  Joseph  Bressani,  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  for  some 
time  a  prisoner  among  the  Iroquois  savages,  commonly  called  Maquaas, 
and  daily  persecuted  by  these  men,  was  when  about  to  be  burned 
snatched  out  of  their  hands  and  ransomed  by  us,  for  a  large  sum,  after 
considerable  difficulty.  As  he  now  proceeds  with  our  permission  to 
Holland,  thence  to  return  to  France,  Christian  charity  requires  that 
he  be  humanely  treated  by  those  into  whose  hands  he  may  happen  to 
fall.  Wherefore,  we  request  all  Governors,  Viceroys,  or  their  lieu- 
tenants and  captains,  that  they  would  afford  him  their  favor  in  going 
and  returning ;  promising  to  do  the  same  on  like  occasion.  Dated  in 
Fort  Amsterdam  in  New  Netherland  this  20th  September,  Anno 
Salutis  1644,  stylo  novo." 

One  of  the  most  notable  characters  of  the  Kieft  period  was  Lady 
Deborah  Moody,1  a  refugee  from  the  sectarianism  both  of  England 
and  New  England.  Lady  Moody  was  in  close  sympathy  with  those 
who  battled  for  constitutional  and  natural  rights ;  and  drank  in,  from 
her  family  associations,  those  principles  of  religious  freedom  that  were 
trampled  on  in  her  native  land,  and  which  caused  her  to  flee  from  it. 
The  condition  of  the  English  subject  then  being  that  of  slavery  to 
the  Crown  and  Prelacy,  and  the  Lady  Moody  being  a  particular 
object  of  animadversion  to  the  inquisitorial  Court  of  the  Star  Cham- 
ber, she  resolved  to  abandon  her  native  land,  and  decided  to  settle  in 
the  Colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay.  To  this  Colony  a  strong  tide  of 
immigration  was  flowing  of  those  who  sought  it  as  a  place  of  repose 
and  religious  peace.  Lady  Moody  left  England  prior  to  the  year  1640, 
and  was  warmly  welcomed  by  Pilgrim  and  Puritan.  She  at  first 
settled  at  Saugus  (now  Lynn),  and  became  a  member  of  the  Congre- 
gational Church  at  Salem.  The  General  Court  made  to  her  an  exten- 
sive grant  of  land,  and  she  purchased,  stocked,  and  cultivated  a  large 
farm  at  Swampscott.  Hardly  had  she  become  comfortably  settled  in 
her  new  possessions,  when  she  had  personal  experience  that  she  was 
not  to  enjoy  that  religious  freedom  which  had  been  the  inducement 
of  her  exile.  In  three  years  after  joining  the  church  at  Salem,  she 
was  admonished  by  that  church  for  denying  the  propriety  of  infant 
baptism,  and  was,  subsequently,  formally  excommunicated  for  deny- 
ing that  the  baptism  of  infants  was  of  divine  ordinance.  Again 
harassed,  mortified  by  her  arraignment  and  presentation  before  the 

l  She  was  the  widow  of  Sir  Henry  Moody,  of  was  a  member  of  Parliament  during  the  troublous 

Wiltshire,  who  was  one  of  the  Baronets  created  times  of  Charles  I.  and  of  Cromwell,  and  was  a 

by  James  I.  Her  family  was  connected  with  that  strenuous  advocate  of  the  rights  of  the  subject, 
of  Cromwell,  and  her  cousin.  Sir  William  Dunch, 


238  HISTOEY    OF    NEW- YORK 

General  Court,  still  seeking  a  haven  for  repose  and  freedom  of 
religious  expression,  Lady  Moody,  for  a  second  time,  became  an 
exile  (in  the  summer  of  1643),  reluctantly  abandoning  the  country 
of  her  adoption,  with  a  number  of  her  friends.  They  were  warmly 
welcomed  at  New  Amsterdam,  although  there  was  some  little  mur- 
muring as  to  the  possible  effect  of  the  reception  of  so  large  a  number 
of  sectaries  in  the  Dutch  settlement.  We  are  led  also  to  infer  that 
there  was  some  dissatisfaction  or  disappointment  on  her  part,  from  a 
request  that  she  made  for  a  return  to  the  New  England  Colony,  of 
which  mention  is  made  in  a  letter  written  by  Deputy-Governor  John 
Endicott  to  Governor  Winthrop  in  1644.1 

Matters,  however,  seem  to  have  been  amicably  arranged  with  the  New 
Amsterdam  authorities,  for  Lady  Moody  and  her  friends  were  allowed 
to  settle  in  the  same  year  (1643)  upon  a  large  tract  of  land  on  Long 
Island,  at  that  portion  of  the  island  known  as  the  town  of  Gravesend, 
for  which  a  patent  was  subsequently  given.  This  place  was  situated 
on  the  southwesterly  coast  of  Long  Island,  within  a  few  miles  of  New 
Amsterdam,  the  name  being  given  to  it  by  Governor  Kieft,  after  the 
Dutch  village  of  's  Gravesande,  not  far  from  the  river  Maas.  Lady 
Moody,  being  a  person  of  substance,  no  doubt  had  as  comfortable  a 
residence  built  for  her  as  could  be  erected  at  that  time.  It  was  evidently 
a  large,  substantial  structure,  for  it  was  used  as  a  citadel  when  the 
town  was  attacked  by  Indians;  and,  three  several  times,  did  the 
spirited  lady  and  her  friends  repulse  them. 

The  settlers  at  Gravesend  seem  to  have  been  generally  affected  with 
anabaptist  views,  and  to  have  had  no  settled  church.  In  an  account  of 
the  state  of  the  churches  in  New  Netherland,  given  in  1657,  by  Do- 
mines  Megapolensis  and  Drisius,  addressed  to  the  Classis  of  Amster- 
dam, they  speak  of  the  inhabitants  of  Gravesend  as  being  Mennonists 
—  "  yea,"  the  account  states,  "  they,  for  the  most  part,  reject  infant 
baptism,  the  Sabbath,  the  office  of  preacher,  and  the  teachers  of  God's 
word ;  saying  that  through  these  have  come  all  sorts  of  contention 
into  the  world.  Whenever  they  meet  together,  the  one  or  the  other 
reads  something  for  them." 

Shortly  after  the  arrival  of  the  new  Director,  Stuyvesant,  Kuyter 
and  Melyn  formulated  charges  against  the  ex-Director,  and  demanded 
that  the  late  members  of  his  Council  and  others  should  be  examined 
as  to  his  conduct  and  policy  during  his  administration  of  the  govern- 

l  In  the  postscript  of  this  letter  are  the  following  hinde  her,  ffor  shee  is  a  dangerous  woeman.    My 

words:    "  Sir,  since  I  wrot  my  Lettre,  Mr.  Nor-  brother  Ludlowwritt  to  mee,  that,  bymeanes  of  a 

rice  came  to  mee,  to  tell  mee,  that  hee  heard  that  booke  she  sent  to  Mrs.  Eaton,  shee  questions  her 

the  Lady  Moody  hath  written  to  you  to  give  her  owne    baptisme  it   is  verei    doubtefull  whither 

advice  for  her  returne.     I  shall  desire  that  shee  shee  will  be  reclaymed,  shee  is  so  farre  ingaged. 

may  not  have  advice  to  returne  to  this  Jurisdic-  The  Lord  rebuke  Satan,  the  Aduersarie  of   our 

cion,  vnless  shee  will  acknowledge  her  ewill  in  op-  Soules ! " 
posing  the  Churches,  and  leave  her  opinions  be- 


THE    ADMINISTRATION    OF    WILLIAM    KIEFT 


239 


ment,  with  the  view  of  forwarding  the  testimony  to  Holland,  in  sup- 
port of  their  charges.  But  the  result  of  the  trial  that  ensued  was  that 
sentence  was  pronounced  against  the  accusers  for  daring  to  attack 
one  in  authority  over  them.  Melyn  was  condemned  to  be  banished 
for  seven  years,  to  pay  a  fine  of  three  hundred  guilders,  and  to  for- 
feit all  benefits  to  be  derived  from  the  Company ;  while  Kuyter  was 
condemned  to  three  years'  banishment,  and  to  pay  a  fine  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty  guilders.  Following  Kieft's  precedent,  all  right  of 
appeal  was  contemptuously  denied  by  the  new  Director. 

On  the  16th  of  August,  1647,  ex-Director  Kieft,  now  triumphant  over 
his  enemies,  and  with  a  fair  amount  of  guilders  accumulated  during 
his  term  of  office,  much  of  it 
from  his  private  still  on  Staten 
Island,  with  the  prospect  of  pass- 
ing the  remainder  of  his  days 
amid  the  peaceful  scenes  of  the 
Fatherland,  far  from  the  conten- 
tions of  a  querulous  people  and 
the  anxieties  and  responsibilities 
of  government,  set  sail  from  New 
Amsterdam  in  the  ship  Princess. 
His  old  antagonist,  Domine  Bo- 
gardus,  who  was  returning  to  ex- 
plain his  version  of  late  public 
affairs,  and  to  set  himself  right 
before  the  Classis  at  Amster- 
dam, was  a  fellow-passenger.  On 
board,  too,  was  Van  der  Huy- 
gens,  the  late  Fiscal  of  New  Am- 
sterdam. Kuyter  and  Melyn 
were  also  on  the  ship,  sent  over 
under  restraint,  to  stand  a  trial 
at  Amsterdam,  and  to  make  good  their  charges  against  Kieft,  if 
they  were  able  so  to  do. 

The  Princess,  not  taking  the  usual  route  of  vessels  sailing  to  Hol- 
land, and  mistaking  her  reckoning,  was  navigated  into  the  Bristol 
Channel,  and  off  the  perilous  coast  of  Wales  struck  upon  a  rock  and 
soon  went  to  pieces.  With  impending  death  before  him,  Kieft  turned 
to  his  adversaries,  Melyn  and  Kuyter,  and  extending  his  hand  said : 
"Friends,  I  have  been  unjust  towards  you;  can  you  forgive  me?" 
These  are  his  last  recorded  words. 

Soon  came  the  final  catastrophe :  Kieft,  Bogardus,  Van  der  Huy- 
gens,  a  son  of  Melyn,  and  eighty  others  miserably  perished.  Kuyter 
escaped  by  clinging  to  a  part  of  the  wreck  that  was  washed  ashore,  to 


The  while,  around  the  globe'tfour  quarters,  I  did  tteer, 
I,  on  the  open  helmet,  bore  a  tilcer  sphere. 

ARMS    OF    DE    VR1ES. 


240  HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YORK 

which  was  lashed  a  small  cannon.  The  thousands  of  spectators  who 
crowded  the  shore  took  off  the  almost  expiring  man,  and,  it  is  re- 
corded, planted  the  cannon  there  as  a  memorial  of  the  wonderful 
escape.  Melyn  also  reached  the  shore,  floating  to  a  sand-bank  from 
which  he  was  soon  rescued.  By  dragging  in  the  shoals  a  small  box 
of  Kuyter's  valuable  papers  was  recovered,  and  by  their  aid  he  pro- 
cured the  revocation  of  the  unjust  sentence  against  himself  and 
fellow-sufferer,  and  complete  restoration  to  their  rights,  privileges, 
and  property.  When  news  of  the  tragic  event  reached  New  England 
there  was  no  expression  of  sympathy  or  regret  from  the  stern  re- 
ligionists there.  Even  the  wise  and  godly  Winthrop  remarked  in  the 
Puritan  cant  of  the  day  "  that  the  shipwreck  was  considered  in  New 
England  an  observable  hand  of  God  against  the  Dutch  at  New  Nether- 
land,  and  a  special  mark  of  the  Lord's  favor  to  his  poor  people  here 
and  displeasure  towards  such  as  have  opposed  and  injured  them." 
The  authorities  in  Holland,  under  the  conflicting  charges  and  opin- 
ions sent  to  them  in  the  above  matters,  had,  on  a  communication  sent 
in  August,  1648,  to  the  new  Director,  ascribed  the  condition  of  the 
people  at  New  Amsterdam,  whom  they  represent  as  "  very  wild  and 
loose  in  their  morals,"  to  the  "weakness  of  the  late  Director  and  the 
neglect  of  his  duties  by  the  preacher."  Such  was  the  obituary  on 
Director  Kieft  and  Domine  Bogardus  by  their  superiors. 

Few  proconsuls  had  a  more  arduous  task  in  the  administration  of 
the  government  of  a  province  than  had  Director  Kieft.  The  Roman 
official  had  legions  at  command  to  sustain  his  power  and  to  repel 
attack ;  and  in  case  of  disaster  the  whole  empire  was  at  hand  for  his 
support.  Kieft,  in  a  far  distant  province,  with  a  handful  of  soldiers 
crowded  in  a  dilapidated  fort  and  a  few  citizens  turbulent  and  unre- 
liable, surrounded  on  all  sides  by  savages  ever  on  the  alert  for  rapine 
and  murder,  receiving  little  support  from  the  home  government,  and 
having  a  large  territory  to  defend  and  two  civilized  races  to  contend 
with,  passed  the  eight  years  of  his  administration  amid  turmoil  and 
dissension  within,  and  such  hostile  attack  from  without  as  to  keep 
the  province  in  continuous  peril.  The  New  England  colonies  were 
always  in  a  state  of  antagonism  and  threatening  war.  As  a  specimen 
of  the  unfriendly  spirit  that  prevailed,  Connecticut  sent  a  request 
to  Cromwell  asking  him  to  exterminate  the  Dutch  settlement.  The 
Swedes  and  independent  settlers  on  the  South  and  Schuylkill  rivers 
were  constantly  making  encroachments  and  threatening  the  Com- 
pany's occupancy  there,  while  pretenders  under  patents  and  inde- 
pendent settlers,  knowing  the  weakness  of  the  government,  kept  it 
disturbed  and  agitated.  What  wonder  that  mistakes  were  made,  that 
policy  failed,  that  misfortunes  came,  and  that  Kieft's  rule  brought  no 
prosperity  to  the  land  ? 


THE    ADMINISTRATION    OF    WILLIAM    KIEFT  241 

The  radical  trouble  with  his  administration  was  that  he  was  under 
a  divided  rule — a  political  governor,  with  allegiance  to  the  States- 
General,  and  a  commercial  Director,  as  the  representative  of  a  great 
company  of  traders.  The  States-General  was  too  busily  occupied  in 
establishing  its  independence  and  watching  the  balance  of  European 
power  to  give  supervision  to  the  affairs  of  a  province  of  small  political 
importance — while  the  Company,  looking  upon  its  colony  merely  as 
a  medium  of  commercial  gain,  drew  all  the  profit  it  could  gather 
from  it,  disregarded  its  true  interests,  and  gave  it  only  occasional  and 
grudging  support.  The  neglect  of  the  Company  in  promoting  the 
agricultural  interests  of  the  colony,  its  inhibition  of  manufactures, 
and  the  little  attention  given  to  promote  immigration  displayed  a 
narrow  policy.  Legitimate  trade,  too,  was  kept  down  for  several 
years  by  restrictions  in  favor  of  the  Company's  monopoly.  Through 
this,  the  population  was  constituted,  in  the  main,  of  the  Company's 
employees,  and  afterward  of  roving  traders  who  sought  to  gather 
gold,  and  then  to  leave  a  country  where  there  was  little  promise  for 
the  future,  and  no  proper  protection  for  property  or  life.  The  evil  of 
neglecting  agriculture  in  favor  of  traffic  began  to  appear  under  Kieft ; 
and  in  its  various  reports  and  directions,  particularly  one  issued  in 
January,  1648,  the  Company  strongly  expresses  itself  to  the  effect 
that  the  directors  ought  to  give  more  attention  to  population  and  agri- 
culture ;  and  in  an  application  sent  by  the  commonalty  to  the  States- 
General,  in  1649,  reference  is  made,  even  then,  to  the  multiplicity  of 
traders,  the  scarcity  of  barns  and  farm  servants,  and  the  small  number 
of  denizens.  The  system  of  patroonships,  also,  added  no  strength  or 
prosperity  to  the  colony.  By  the  charter  of  1629,  patroonships  were  to 
be  bestowed  alone  on  directors  of  the  Company.  Through  this  system 
the  interests  of  the  Company  and  of  the  patroons  were  divided,  and  they 
were  of  little  mutual  support,  indeed  rather  the  contrary.  The  patroons 
were  often  absentees,  and  they  were  more  interested  in  the  success  of 
their  own  colonies  than  in  the  prosperity  and  stability  of  the  province. 

Towards  the  Indians  Kieft's  dealings  were  characterized  by  a  rigid 
regard  for  their  possessory  rights;  no  title  was  deemed  vested  and 
no  right  was  absolutely  claimed  until  satisfaction  was  made  to  the 
native  owner.  Historians  of  the  period  have  been  almost  universal 
in  their  condemnation  of  him  for  the  various  contests  and  wars  en- 
gaged in  with  the  Indians,  and  have  put  on  him  all  responsibility  for 
the  revolts.  But  this  is  an  ex  post  facto  criticism,  which,  with  a  false 
judgment,  condemns  a  man  for  the  results  of  his  actions  rather  than 
for  the  actions  themselves.  Indeed,  without  the  energy  displayed  by 
the  Director  towards  the  aborigines,  the  colony  would  probably  have 
been  annihilated.  Besides,  in  Kieft's  day  the  spirit  of  the  age  favored 
and  often  required  arbitrary  action,  and  that  spirit  impressed  on  rulers 

VOL.  I.— 16. 


242  HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YOEK 

should  be  a  factor  in  the  criticism  and  interpretation  of  their  conduct. 
In  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century,  man  was  still  bloodthirsty, 
natural  rights  were  little  respected,  religion  was  intolerant,  tyranny 
made  the  laws,  and  civilization  herself,  not  yet  humane,  enforced  her 
progress  by  the  sword.  As  regards  the  particular  charges  of  rash, 
imprudent  and  inhuman  conduct  on  the  part  of  Kieft  much  may  be 
urged  in  extenuation.  On  reviewing  the  preceding  pages  of  this 
chapter  it  will  be  seen  that  every  act  of  hostility  against  the  Indians 
originated  in  some  unprovoked  onslaught  or  murder  by  the  latter. 
Punishment  in  the  then  condition  of  the  colony  was  necessary,  and 
had  to  be  severe  to  be  effective.  No  military  expedition  was  under- 
taken from  the  fort  until  after  consultation  with  prominent  mem- 
bers of  the  community  and  their  assent  obtained,  and  the  Director, 
at  times,  was  even  criticized  for  want  of  energy  in  attack.  The 
indiscriminate  slaughter  perpetrated  at  times  by  the  leaders  of 
expeditions  was,  as  the  records  show,  not  in  consequence  of  any 
orders  given  by  the  Director,  but  of  the  action  of  men  fighting 
for  their  lives  and  property,  and  urged  by  their  apprehensions  to 
intimidate  if  not  exterminate  pestilential  foes,  who  themselves,  as  a 
general  rule,  spared  neither  women  nor  children.  Indeed,  in  case  of 
the  slaughter  at  Pavonia,  we  find  the  orders  for  attack  distinctly 
contained  a  provision  "  to  spare,  as  much  as  it  is  possible,  their 
wives  and  children,  and  to  take  the  savages  prisoners."  In  the  or- 
ders given  to  the  expedition  sent  out  to  drive  away  certain  English 
intruders  from  Dutch  possessions  on  western  Long  Island,  in  1640, 
the  orders  were,  "  Above  all  things  take  care  that  no  blood  be  shed." 
The  Director's  toleration  towards  sectarianism,  in  an  age  of  intoler- 
ance, and  his  humanity  towards  refugees  are  also  commendable  feat- 
ures of  his  administration.  Imprudence,  rashness,  arbitrary  action, 
want  of  political  sagacity  may  be  imputed  to  Director  Kieft,  but  not 
excessive  inhumanity,  nor  want  of  effort,  nor  unfaithfulness  to  his 
employers  or  to  his  province.  He  has  been  generally  condemned,  but 
without  sufficient  consideration  of  the  trials  which  he  experienced, 
the  anxiety  to  which  he  was  subject,  and  the  perplexities  incident  to 
a  government  over  discontented,  ignorant  and  mutinous  subjects,  and 
to  the  continued  apprehension  of  outside  attack.  Left  mostly  to  his 
own  resources,  and  receiving  no  sympathy  and  little  aid,  his  motives 
the  subject  of  attack  from  both  tavern  and  pulpit,  and  twice  the 
object  of  attempted  assassination,  his  rule  as  a  whole,  though  dis- 
astrous, was  not  dishonorable.  It  was  not  deficient  in  energy,  nor 
was  it  entirely  inglorious;  it  was  certainly  dramatic. 


•    • 


CHAPTER  VII 

PETER   STUYVESANT,    THE   LAST    OF   THE   DUTCH   DIRECTORS 

1647-1664 


E  cannot  judge  Peter  Stuyvesant  from  the  enlightened 
standpoint  of  to-day,  when  through  the  evolution  of  politi- 
cal, social,  and  religious  ideas  the  conditions  of  life  are 
so  different  from  those  of  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth 
century.  To-day  a  man  like  this  great  Dutch  governor  of  early  New- 
York  would  be  decried  as  a  tyrant,  as  obstinate,  and  as  well  deserving 
the  soubriquet  of  "  Stiff-necked  Peter,"  bestowed  upon  him  by  an  early 
chronicler.  He  was,  however,  nothing  more  than  what  the  Roman 
poet  calls  his  hero  Romulus  in  the  familiar  ode,  "  a  just  man  of  de- 
termined intentions"1;  and  this,  it  is  hoped,  the  reader  of  the  present 
chapter,  who  does  not  expect  to  read  a  homily  011  Stuyvesant's  in- 
fallibility or  an  essay  against  his  perversity,  will  find  to  be  the  true 
estimate  of  his  character. 

Political  complications,  which  had  assumed  a  warlike  aspect  at 
home  and  in  the  colony  on  the  Hudson,  led  the  directors  of  the  West 
India  Company  to  select  as  the  successor  of  Kieft  a  man  of  military 
experience.  They  found  such  in  their  late  Governor  of  the  Island  of 
Curacoa,  who  had  been  obliged  to  return  home  for  surgical  treatment 
and  final  amputation  of  a  part  of  his  right  leg,  badly  shattered  in  an 
attack  on  the  Portuguese  Island  of  St.  Martin  in  1644.  Little  is  known 
of  the  early  life  of  the  fourth  Director-General  of  New  Netherland. 
He  was  the  son  of  a  clergyman,  the  Rev.  Balthazar  Stuyvesant,  or 
Stuyfsant,2  who  was  settled  at  Berlikum  in  the  province  of  Friesland 
for  many  years.  As  he  did  not  arrive  there  until  1622,  this  can  give 
us  no  clue  to  his  son  Peter's  birthplace.3  The  latter  was  born  in  the 

i  Justura  ac  tenacem  propositi  virum  resented  on  another  page,  is  also  still  in  the  pos- 

Non  eivium  ardor  prava  jubentium  session  of  his  family.  EDITOR. 

Non  vultus  instantis  tyranni 

Mente  quatit  solida  neque  auster.  The  fine  steel  portrait  of  Peter  Stuyvesant,  the 

(Horace  III.  3.)  puissant  potentate  of  New  Netherland,  facing  this 

2  The  name  is  derived  from  stuwen,  to  stir  or  Pa«e' is  c°Piedf/™  a  seventeenth  century  picture, 
raise  a  dust,  and  sand,  being  the  same  in  both  th«  P™P«rty  of  Mr.  Van  Rensselaer  Stuyvesant 
Dutch  and  English.                                    EDITOR.  »nd  's  »t  present  included  in  the  collections  of 

the  New-York  Historical  Society.    It  was  probably 

3  The  lace  dress  in  which  he  was  baptized  is      painted  in  Holland,  but  not  by  Van  Dyck  to  whom 
still  preserved,  and  has  been  used  for  that  pur-      it  has  incorrectly  been  attributed.     It  is  obviously 
pose  by  his  lineal  descendants  for  nearly  three      not  the  work  of  that  master,  or  any  other  great 
centuries.     Stuyvesant's  seal  of  solid  silver,  rep-      portrait  painter.  EDITOR. 

243 


HISTORY     OF    NEW-YORK 


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year  1592,  and  at  an  early  age  he  displayed  a  desire  for  a  military 
career.  After  receiving  a  college  education  he  entered  the  army.  At 
the  time  of  appointment  to  his  important  office,  Stuy  vesant  had  reached 
the  mature  age  of  fifty-five  years.  In  the  same  ship  with  him  arrived 


STUYVESANT,    THE    LAST    OF    THE    DUTCH    DIKECTOBS        247 


C}  i  cva 
'"""YkVcm  i  cfttfc'  Ms£cir fo^vOcV) , 


-  11003+ 


BEQUEST    FOR    THE    ISSUE    OF    A    COMMISSION    FOR    STUYVESANT.l 

several  times,  and  their  assistance  has  been  asked,  I  have  notwith- 
standing, with  the  few  negroes  and  other  servants  of  the  Company, 
done,  during  the  last  summers  (1650  and  1651),  as  much  as  possible, 
and  would  have  made  such  progress  that  the  fort  would  now  be  inclosed 
all  round  and  be  in  a  good  effective  condition,  if  the  service  of  the 


l  To  THE  HIGH  AND  MIGHTY  LORDS  STATES- 
GENERAL,  or  THE  UNITED  NETHERLANDS. 

HIGH  AND  MIGHTY  LORDS  :  The  Directors  of  the 
Chartered  West  India  Company  beg  with  all  rever- 
ence  that  your  High  Mightinesses  he  pleased  to 
cause  to  be  issued  the  commission  of  Petrus  Stuy- 


vesant,  Director  of  New  Netherland,  a  form 
whereof  is  hereunto  annexed. 

Which  doing,  etc. 

Endorsed  on  side  to  the  effect  that  the  memo- 
rial  of  the  West  India  Company  was  referred  and 
approved  July  13,  1646. 


248 


HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 


Company  and  of  the  country  in  general  had  not  called  nie  and  other 
servants  of  the  Company  to  the  South  River,  and  kept  us  most  of 
last  summer  in  laying  out  and  building  there  a  new  fort,  for  main- 
taining the  Company's  rights  and  our  boundaries.  We  see,  however, 
to  our  regret,  that  our  orders  have  not  been  executed  in  the  mean 
time,  and  that  the  not  yet  completed  works  have  been  destroyed  by 
horses,  cows,  and  pigs,  which  to  our  disgrace  may  still  be  daily  seen 
pasturing  there.  We  have  time  and  again  informed  you  thereof  and 
of  the  trouble  and  displeasure  caused  to  us  by  finding  that  our  new 
work  is  ruined  and  trodden  under  foot  by  the  community's  animals 
and  our  troublesome  and  zealous  labors  rendered  fruitless.  It  is  true, 
the  negligence  and  connivance  of  the  Fiscal  is  principally  the  cause 

thereof,  as  he  has 
not  maintained 
nor  executed  our 
orders  published 
two  or  three  times. 
We  shall  there- 
fore be  compelled 
either  to  leave  the 
fort  in  the  condi- 
tion in  which  we 
found  it,  to  the 
bad  reputation 
and  disadvantage 
of  this  place,  and 
to  stop  our  workr 
or  to  maintain 
and  execute  our 

repeatedly  published  orders  —  that  is,  horses,  cows,  and  hogs  hence- 
forth found  on  the  walls  of  the  fort  will  be  impounded  and  con- 
fiscated for  the  benefit  of  the  Company,  for  else  it  is  impossible  to 
complete  the  work.  Before  we  take  such  harsh  measures  we  have 
thought  it  best  to  give  due  notice  of  it  to  your  body,  that  you  may 
warn  the  people."  l 

The  breaking  out  of  active  hostilities  between  the  United  Provinces 
and  England  made  the  question  of  repairing  the  fort  and  fortifying 
the  whole  city  a  decidedly  urgent  one.  At  a  conference,  held  by 
Director  and  Council  with  the  magistrates  of  the  lately  incorporated 
city,  March  13,  1653,  it  was  resolved  that,  as  the  fort  could  not 
shelter  all  the  inhabitants  nor  protect  their  houses,  it  was  best  to  put 
a  stockade  around  the  larger  part  of  the  dwellings  and  to  make  a  small 
parapet  or  embankment,  behind  which  the  inhabitants  could  gather 

IN.  Y.  Col.  MSS.,  5:19. 


THE    PALISADES    ALONG    WALL    STREET. 


STUYVESANT,   THE    LAST    OF    THE    DUTCH    DIEECTOES        249 

for  the  defense  of  their  persons  and  property.  The  magistrates,  after 
one  day's  deliberation,  gave  their  consent  to  this  resolution,  having 
decided  that  the  work  would  cost  from  four  to  six  thousand  florins 
($1600  to  $2400),  which  were  to  be  collected  by  tax  from  the  commu- 
nity,1 when  the  defenses  were  completed.  In  the  mean  time  the 
wealthier  portion  of  the  citizens  loaned  5050  florins.  Whatever  was 
then  done,  in  1653,  was  either  not  completed  or  the  walls  were  again 
trodden  down  by  cattle  roaming  at  will  through  the  streets.  The 
ordinances  of  July  11,  1654,  and  November  5,  1655,2  indicate  that 
the  latter  was  the  reason  for  the  despatch  by  the  Company  of  stone- 
masons to  work  on  the  walls,  and  for  Stuyvesant's  saying  in  August, 
1658 3 :  "It  is  necessary  to  continue  building  the  walls  of  the  f ort." 

A  consideration  of  how  to  increase  the  revenues  of  the  Company 
had  something  to  do  with  the  fortification  of  the  City  of  New  Am- 
sterdam against  an  attack  from  the  water  side,  the  land  side  having 
been  inclosed  by  palisades  along  the  south  side  of  the  present  Wall 
street  in  1653.4  The  water-front  on  North  and  East  Rivers  was  open 
and  easily  accessible  for  any  one  coming  in  boats,  either  for  an  hostile 
attack  or  for  smuggling  purposes.  Stuyvesant  suggested  that  this 
unprofitable  way  of  importing  and  exporting  dutiable  goods  could 
only  be  stopped  by  setting  up  a  double  row  of  palisades  along  the 
water,  with  two  or  three  gates  that  could  be  closed  at  night.  The 
Council  accordingly  resolved,5  May  25,  1658,  to  have  it  done  for  the 
benefit  of  the  treasury  and  as  u  a  defense  against  evil-minded  neigh- 
bors." The  magistrates  of  the  city  were  also  convinced  of  the  neces- 
sity of  such  a  sea-wall,  and  promised  to  pay  one-third  of  the  expenses 
of  the  work,  which  was  to  be  done  by  the  lowest  bidder  for  the  con- 
tract, "  as  then  it  could  best  be  ascertained  how  much  it  would  cost." 6 

The  possibility  of  a  war  with  either  the  English  neighbors  or  the 
Indians  seems  always  to  have  acted  as  a  stimulus  on  Stuyvesant's 
mind.  He  had  learned  the  truth  of  the  saying  "  Si  vis  pacem,  para 
bellum,"  and  his  first  step  towards  such  preparation  was  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  "  Capitaine  des  Armes,"  or  an  ordnance  officer,  at  a  salary  of 
16  florins  ($6.40)  a  month,  whose  duty  it  was  to  keep  the  guns,  muskets, 
and  ammunition  in  good  order.7  The  military  forces  of  the  Company 
stationed  in  New  Netherland  were  at  no  time  adequate  for  the  defense 
of  the  city  alone  against  an  invader.  Apparently  much  reliance  was 
placed  on  the  inhabitants,  who,  it  was  hoped,  would  do  their  best  in 
repelling  an  invader.  Thus  we  find  in  New  Amsterdam  a  "  Burgher- 
wacht,"  or  Citizens'  trainband,  whom  Stuyvesant  at  an  early  date  en- 
deavored to  bring  into  a  proper  state  of  discipline.  In  May,  1648,8 

1 N.  Y.  Col.  MSS. .  5 : 106,  109.  4  "  New  Amsterdam  Records,"  1 :  March  15, 1653. 

2  "  Laws  of  New  Netherland,"  pp.  170,  201.  5  N.  Y.  Col.  MSS.,  8 :  879. 

3N.  Y.  Col.  MSS.,  8 :  947.  6  ib.,  p.  947.        7  Ib.,  p.  338.        8  ib.,  p.  385. 


250  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

the  officers  of  this  corps  complained  against  the  Director-General's 
order,  that  they  should  always  report  armed  with  muskets,  for  they 
had  not  enough  for  their  men.  They  were  told  that  it  was  their 
business  to  supply  themselves  with  arms,  and  that  they  must  do  so 
within  two  or  three  months,  but  as  an  emergency  might  arise  in  the 
mean  time  in  which  they  would  need  muskets,  the  ordnance  officer  of 
tho  fort  would  distribute  what  they  required,  on  condition  that  the 
citizen-soldiers  kept  the  arms  clean  and  in  good  order  and  returned 
them  when  called  for.  The  corps  was  also  provided  with  a  guard- 
house. It  was  divided  into  two  companies,  of  the  blue  and  of 
the  orange  flag.  In  case  of  a  vacancy  among  the  officers,  the  rank 
and  file  nominated  two  candidates,  of  whom  the  Director  and  Council 
appointed  one.1  The  Regulars,  to  use  a  modern  name,  or  the  soldiers 
of  the  Company,  stood  under  the  command  of  the  Director  and  of 
subaltern  officers,  appointed  either  by  him  or  by  the  Company. 
Their  quarters  in  Fort  Amsterdam  were  so  limited  that  when,  in  1658, 
a  number  of  recruits  came  from  Holland  with  families,  they  could  not 
find  room  in  the  fort.  They  were  consequently  allowed  to  hire  quar- 
ters in  tho  city  at  the  rate  of  ten  stivers  (20  cents)  a  week,  which 
Stuyvesant  promised  to  pay  monthly  either  direct  to  the  landlord 
or  through  the  soldier.2  A  soldier's  pay  was  ten  florins  ($4.00)  a 
month,  and  on  entering  the  service  he  had  to  pay  for  his  musket  thir- 
teen and  one-half  florins ;  if  ho  was  married  and  wished  to  take  his 
family  to  his  transatlantic  field  of  duty,  he  was  also  charged  with  their 
passage-money. 

The  military  duties  of  the  soldier  in  New  Amsterdam  consisted 
mostly  of  guarding  the  gates  of  the  fort  and  of  the  city,  of  patrolling 
at  night,  and  of  cutting  wood,  to  keep  his  quarters  and  the  guard- 
house warm  during  the  winter.  The  records  tell  iis  that  in  Stuyve- 
sant's  time  they  had  to  cut  wood  beyond  the  limits  of  the  city ;  also, 
that  on  one  occasion,  when  the  supply  had  suddenly  given  out  or  they 
had  been  too  lazy  to  chop  the  wood  for  the  farmers  to  bring  in, 
they  cut  down  palisades  along  the  strand,  and  as  punishment  were 
ordered  to  prepare  double  the  number  to  replace  the  stockades  cut 
down.3  The  military  code4  of  Stuyvesant's  day  gives  to  the  modern 
soldier  a  curious  insight  into  the  life  and  habits  of  his  comrade  of  the 
seventeenth  century.  It  requires  that  when  the  drums  beat  for  parade 
every  man  must  come  with  his  musket  loaded;  he  must  not  come 
drunk,  nor  is  he  allowed  to  become  intoxicated  while  on  duty.  He  is 
not  to  leave  his  place  in  the  ranks  or  the  guard-house  when  on  duty 
there,  without  leave  or  order.  To  prevent  a  wanton  waste  of  ammu- 
nition, the  muskets  are  to  be  discharged  only  once  a  week,  and  then, 
that  no  one  may  be  injured,  outside  of  the  fort  on  the  water-side. 

1  N.  Y.  Col.  MSS.,  8  :  928.        8  Ib.,  p.  768.         3  Ib.,  12 :  17.        *  Laws  of  N.  N.,  p.  252. 


STUYVESANT,    THE    LAST    OF    THE    DUTCH    DIKECTOBS        251 


STUYVESANT'S  BOUWEEY  HOUSE. 


Every  evening  an  inspection  of  the  cartridge-boxes  is  held,  and  the 
man  who  has  not  six  to  eight  full  charges  is  fined  twelve  stivers  (24 
cents),  of  which  one-third  goes  to  the  officer  or  citizen  who  makes 
the  complaint,  the  balance  being  for  the  benefit  of  the  Company. 
The  guard  had  to  drill  every  morning,  but  apparently  had  no  sentry 
duty  to  perform  during 
the  day.  The  insuffici- 
ency of  the  Company's 
military  force  became 
painfully  evident  when 
Director-General  Stuy- 
vesant  was  ordered  by 
the  home  authorities  to 
retake  from  the  Swedes 
the  possessions  on  the 
Delaware  River.  "  The 
drum  was  daily  beaten 
in  the  streets  of  New 
Amsterdam  for  volun- 
teers," and  a  proclamation  was  issued  inviting  "  any 
lovers -of  the  prosperity  and  security  of  the  province  of 
New  Netherland  who  were  inclined  to  volunteer  or  to  serve  for 
reasonable  pay  to  come  forward;  whosoever  should  lose  a  limb  or 
be  maimed  was  assured  of  a  decent  compensation."  The  expedi- 
tionary force  numbered,  when  it  sailed  from  New  Amsterdam, 
between  six  and  seven  hundred  men — that  is  to  say,  probably  the 
largest  part  of  the  male  population  of  New  Amsterdam  able  to  bear 
arms.  The  city  was  practically  left  defenseless,  and  had  to  pay  the 
penalty  of  this  oversight  on  the  part  of  Stuyvesant,  whose  mistrust 
the  quiet  behavior  of  the  surrounding  Indians  during  the  preceding 
years  had  lulled  into  sleep. 

Ten  years  had  passed,  during  which  there  had  been  peace  with  the 
Indians  around  Manhattan  Island.  No  one  feared  an  invasion  by 
the  natives,  even  though  one  or  the  other  settler  might,  by  ill-treat- 
ment, have  given  reason  for  reprisal.  At  last  even  Indian  patience 
gave  way.  Van  Dyck,  the  late  Fiscal,  had  wantonly  killed  a  squaw 
whom  he  had  found  gathering  peaches  in  his  orchard.  This  roused 
all  the  neighboring  tribes,  and  they  united  to  avenge  her  death.  A 
letter  from  the  members  of  the  Council,  who  had  been  left  behind  by 
Stuyvesant,  to  the  Director,  then  at  the  South  River,  tells  what 
occurred.1  "  In  the  morning  hours  of  the  15th  inst.  (September,  1655), 
many  armed  savages  came,  Maquasas  (Mohawks),  Mahicanders  (Mo- 
hikans),  Pachamis,  savages  from  the  upper  and  lower  North  River. 

IN.  Y.  Col.  MSS.,  18:  12 


252  HISTOEY    OF    NEW- YORK 

With  intolerable  impudence  they  forcibly  entered  the  farmers'  houses 
and  offered  great  insult  to  Mr.  Allerton,  whereupon  as  much  order 
as  possible  was  formed  to  secure  the  fort.  A  parley  was  held  with 
the  chiefs,  who  gave  many  and  great  good  words.  They  went  to 
their  people  on  the  strand,  who  towards  evening  wounded  Hendrick 
Van  Dyck,  standing  at  his  garden-gate,  in  the  side  with  an  arrow,  but 
not  mortally,  and  came  very  near  cleaving  Paulus  Leendertsen's  [Van 
der  Grift]  head  with  a  tomahawk,  as  he  stood  by  his  wife.  It  was  then 
thought  advisable  to  go  again  to  the  Indian  chiefs  on  the  strand  and 
ask  why  they  had  not  withdrawn  to  Nutten  Island,1  as  promised. 
When  our  people  came  to  the  river,  the  savages  rushed  upon  them 
and  killed  Jan  de  Visser,  whereupon  we  opened  fire  and  drove  the 
enemies  into  their  canoes,  of  which  there  were  sixty-four.  They  pad- 
dled away  along  the  river  bank,  and  when  off  land,  they  shot  from 
their  canoes,  killing  Cornells  Van  Dov  [?]  and  wounding  others.  Pres- 
ently we  saw  the  house  on  Harboken  in  flames,  then  the  whole  of 
Pavonia2  was  immediately  on  fire,  and  now  everything  there  is  in 
ashes  and  everybody  killed,  except  the  family  of  Michael  Hansen. 
On  this  island  they  burned  everything.  Nine  hundred  savages  are 
encamped  at  the  end  of  this  island  or  thereabouts,  having  joined  the 
others.  .  .  .  God  has  delivered  us  from  a  general  massacre  last1  night, 
the  savages  being  too  hasty  and  relying  too  much  on  their  superior 
numbers.  .  .  .  Sir,  you  will  please  to  take  this  letter  into  considera- 
tion and  reflect  whether  you  and  the  forces  under  your  command 
might  not  be  more  needed  here  than  to  subdue  the  places  yonder ;  it 
seems  to  us  better  to  protect  one's  own  house  than  to  gain  a  new  one 
at  a  distance  and  lose  the  old  property.  .  .  .  Madame,  your  wife,  with 
her  whole  family  and  all  those  in  whom  you  and  she  are  concerned, 
are  well.  As  the  citizens  are  unwilling  to  guard  other  people's  houses 
far  from  the  Manhatans,  we  have,  with  her  advice,  hired  ten  French- 
men to  protect  your  bouwery.  We  '11  keep  as  good  watch  as  possible, 
but  expect  your  speedy  return,  for  to  lie  in  the  fort  night  and  day 
with  the  citizens  has  its  difficulties,  as  they  cannot  be  commanded 
like  soldiers." 

The  Indians,  elated  by  their  success  on  Manhattan  Island,  and  thirst- 
ing for  still  more  blood,  crossed  over  to  Staten  Island,  where  they 
killed  and  took  prisoners  twenty-three  of  the  population  of  ninety. 
This  storm  of  Indian  warfare  raged  for  three  days,  during  which  one 
hundred  of  the  Dutch  were  killed,  one  hundred  and  fifty  were  taken 
prisoners,  and  over  three  hundred  lost  all  their  property  in  buildings, 
clothing,  and  food.  The  city  and  neighborhood  had  not  recovered 
from  the  panic  and  terror  of  the  invasion,  when  Stuyvesant  returned. 
His  energy  and  zeal,  coupled  with  his  military  arrangements,  did  much 

i  Now  Governor's  Island.  2  Jersey  City. 


STUYVESANT,    THE    LAST    OF    THE    DUTCH    DIRECTORS        253 


to  bring  the  people  back  to  their  equanimity.  Soldiers  were  sent  to 
guard  the  outlying  farms  ;  passengers  on  the  ships,  ready  to  sail,  had 
to  give  up  their  intended  voyages,  to  join  the  troops  "  until  it  should 
please  God  to  change  the  aspect  of  affairs " ;  funds  were  raised  to 
strengthen  the.  city  walls  by  a  plank  curtain  impossible  to  scale,  and 
negotiations  with  the  Indians,  whose  fury  was  now  spent,  were  begun 
to  ransom  the  prisoners.  We  know  of  only  forty-two  who  were 
returned  in  consequence  of  these  negotiations.  The  question  of  res- 
cuing the  rest  of  them  was  anxiously  discussed  in  the  Council  cham- 
ber. One  member,  Cor- 
nelius Van  Tienhoven, 
was  in  favor  of  war,  but 
Stuyvesant,  though  not  as 
long  acquainted  with  In- 
dians as  Van  Tienhoven, 
knew  them  better,  and 
said:  "The  recent  war  is 
to  be  attributed  to  the  rash- 
ness of  a  few  hot-headed 
individuals.  It  becomes 
us  to  reform  ourselves,  to 
abstain  from  all  wrong,  and 
to  guard  against  a  recur- 
rence of  the  late  unhappy 
affair  by  building  block- 
houses wherever  they  are 
needed,  and  not  permit- 
ting any  .armed  Indians 
to  come  into  any  of  our 
settlements."  New  Am- 
sterdam and  the  surround- 
ing country  on  Long  Is- 
land, Westchester,  New 
Jersey,  and  Staten  Island  were  not  again  troubled  by  Indians  swinging 
the  tomahawk  and  war-club  or  filling  the  air  with  swift-flying  arrows 
and  hideous  war-whoops.  Stuyvesant's  military  and  diplomatic  expe- 
ditions to  the  Esopus  district,  now  Ulster  County,  did  not  affect 


VAN    COBLAER    GOING    TO    THE    WARS.1 


1  The  above  illustration  of  Anthony  Van  Cor- 
laer  taking  leave  of  the  ladies  before  setting  off 
for  the  wars  is  from  a  painting  executed  by 
Charles  Robert  Leslie  for  Knickerbocker's  New- 
York,  in  which  work  appears  the  following  ac- 
count of  the  origin  of  the  name  of  Spuyten  Duy- 
vel:  "  It  was  a  dark  and  stormy  night  when  the 
good  Anthony  arrived  at  the  Creek  (sagely  denom- 
inated Haerlem  River).  .  .  .  The  wind  was  high, 
the  elements  were  in  an  uproar.  Bethinking  him- 


self of  the  urgency  of  his  errand,  [he]  took  a 
hearty  embrace  of  his  stone  bottle,  swore  most 
valorously  that  he  would  swim  across  in  spite  of 
the  devil !  (Spyt  den  Duyvel),  and  daringly  plunged 
into  the  stream.  Luckless  Anthony !  Scarce  had 
he  buffeted  half-way  over,  when  he  was  observed 
to  struggle  violently,  as  if  battling  with  the  spirit 
of  the  waters.  Instinctively  he  put  his  trumpet 
to  his  mouth,  and,  giving  a  vehement  blast,  sank 
forever  to  the  bottom !  "  EDITOR. 


254  HISTORY     OF     NEW-YORK 

the  city  of  New  Amsterdam,  except  in  respect  to  furnishing  the 
soldiers  to  protect  the  settlers  and  punish  the  Indians  of  that 
region.  But  the  Indian  surprise  of  September,  1655,  gave  Stuyvesant 
a  new  chance  to  urge  the  completion  of  the  city  fortifications.  A 
joint  conference  at  the  City  Hall  on  the  20th  of  September  authorized 
him  to  issue  an  ordinance,  October  11,  1655,1  again  directing  that 
palisades  should  be  set  up  around  the  whole  city,  the  expenses  for 
which  work  were  to  be  paid  by  a  voluntary  loan,  if  voluntary  can  be 
called  a  contribution  which  the  magistrates  were,  by  the  same  ordi- 
nance, authorized  to  levy  by  distress ;  while  a  few  months  later  another 
burden  was  laid  upon  the  inhabitants,  not  only  of  New  Amsterdam, 
but  also  upon  the  whole  province.  This  came  in  the  shape  of  an 
excise  on  meat.  Whoever  desired  to  slaughter  for  his  own  use  or  for 
sale  had  to  obtain  a  permit,  paying  for  it  at  the  rate  of  one  stiver 
(2  cents)  on  the  guilder  of  the  animal's  true  value.2  This  tax  was  to 
be  applied  for  the  maintenance  and  protection  of  the  place  where 
it  was  raised,  by  enlisting  soldiers  or  buying  ammunition. 

All  endeavors  of  Stuyvesant  to  have  on  hand  the  means  for  an 
effective  defense  of  the  city  and  fort,  if  attacked,  proved  futile. 
When,  in  August,  1664,  the  fleet  under  Nicolls,  sent  by  the  Duke  of 
York,  appeared  in  the  harbor  of  New  Amsterdam,  the  city  was  still 
open  along  the  banks  of  both  rivers ;  on  the  northern  or  land  side  its 
protection  was  a  hastily  erected  fence,  composed  of  "  old  and  rotten 
palisades,  in  front  of  which  was  thrown  up  a  small  breastwork,  about 
three  to  three  and  a  half  feet  high  and  barely  two  feet  wide."  The 
fort  was  in  no  better  shape  to  stand  an  attack.  It  was  again  sur- 
rounded by  an  earth  wall  from  eight  to  ten  feet  high,  three  to  four  feet 
thick,  upon  which  were  mounted  twenty-four  pieces  of  artillery.  No 
ditch  or  fosse  protected  the  approaches,  but  hills  to  the  north  and  west, 
looking  down  the  Heerewegh,  now  Broadway,  commanded  the  interior 
of  Fort  New  Amsterdam  at  pistol-shot  distance,  and  from  them  it  was 
possible  "  to  see  the  soles  of  the  men  walking  in  the  square  or  on  the 
corners  of  the  battlements." 

The  West  India  Company  had  its  first  conception  not  so  much  in  a 
purely  commercial  enterprise  as  in  the  hope  of  gaining  dividends  by 
the  capture  of  Spanish  silver  fleets,  and  thus  it  assumed  a  political 
character,  which  it  retained  as  long  as  its  ships  could  make  war 
against  the  national  enemy,  before  whose  very  doors  they  had  made 
the  settlement  on  the  Hudson  for  that  purpose.  Within  a  month 
after  Stuy vesant's  arrival  the  two  men-of-war,  then  stationed  at  New 
Amsterdam,  were  ordered  to  "go  to  sea  and  cruise  against  our  enemies, 
the  Spaniards  and  their  allies." 3  The  crew  of  one  of  these  "  yachts  " 
had  appropriated  for  their  own  use  some  pieces-of-eight  and  pearls, 

i  Laws  of  N.  N.,  p.  196.  2  Ib.,  p.  208.  3  N.  Y.  Col.  MSS.,  4 : 298. 


8TUYVESANT,   THE    LAST    OF    THE    DUTCH    DIRECTORS        255 

found  in  the  prize  Nostra  Senora  Rosario,  a  Spanish  bark,  captured  in 
the  Caribbee  Islands.  As  this  was  considered  by  the  law  to  be  piracy, 
the  Fiscal  demanded  their  punishment;  the  Court,  however,  consider- 
ing the  few  sailors  in  port  and  the  necessity  of  sending  this  ship  to 
Curac.oa  for  a  cargo  of  salt,  pardoned  the  criminals  with  forfeiture 
of  their  prize-money.1  The  occupation  of  these  two  men-of-war,  the 
yachts  Liefde  (Love)  and  Kath  (Cat),  was  not  always  a  warlike  one ; 
they  acted  also  in  the  capacity  of  our  modern  revenue  cutters  to  pre- 
vent smuggling.  The  orders  given  to  the  Liefde,  June  19, 1648,  show 
how  the  smuggling  was  carried  on.2  She  was  to  take  station  behind 
the  Sandpoint  (Sandy  Hook)  in  the  bay,  to  meet  ships  coming  from  Hol- 
land, and  not  to  allow  shore-boats  to  communicate  with  them  before 
they  had  reported  themselves  at  the  fort.3  The  Treaty  of  Westphalia 
stopped  the  expeditions  against  Spanish  silver  fleets,  and  Stuyvesant 
had  to  remember  that  he  had  been  sent  out  not  only  as  the  repre- 
sentative of  the  West  India  Company,  for  the  purpose  of  defending 
their  American  colonies  against  enemies,  of  giving  them  law  and  jus- 
tice, but  also  as  their  commercial  agent  to  look  after  the  trade  to  and 
from  the  world  beyond  the  seas  and  with  the  interior. 

Of  the  trade  regulations  under  former  governors  of  the  province 
but  little  is  known.  Stuyvesant  had  therefore  no  precedents  to  follow. 
He  began  his  career  as  commercial  authority  by  an  ordinance  against 
trading  in  the  Minquas  country,  between  the  lower  Delaware  and 
Susquehanna  Rivers,  June  18, 1647,  and  in  a  few  weeks  made  the  first 
of  his  many  mistakes  in  this  direction,  which  was  promptly  counter- 
manded by  his  superiors  in  Amsterdam,  who  knew  more  about  trade 
than  a  bluff  soldier  who  so  far  had  issued  only  military  orders. 
The  occasion  of  the  rebuff  was  an  ordinance  of  July  4,  1647,  to  regu- 
late the  fur  trade.  Furs  were  to  be  marked  by  an  official  commis- 
sioned for  that  purpose,  who  also  had  to  record  the  duties  to  which 
furs  to  be  exported  were  liable.  The  objectionable  feature,  however, 
was  that,  thinking  he  could  prevent  smuggling,  Stuyvesant  directed 
at  the  same  time  that  merchants  must  allow  their  books  to  be  exam- 
ined by  himself  or  members  of  the  Council,  when  called  upon.  Upon 
the  receipt  of  this  law  the  directors  wrote,  January  27,  1649 : 4  "  We 
observe  that  you  have  undertaken  to  visit  the  stores  of  some  mer- 
chants, intending  to  discover  smuggling  by  the  examination  of  their 
books.  This,  we  think,  is  of  grave  consequence  and  contrary  to  the 
course  of  free  trade,  which  provisionally  this  Department  has  granted 

1  N.  Y.  Col.  MSS.,  p.  391.  appear  scanty  to-day,  but  were  evidently  satis- 

2  Ib.,  p.  389.  factory  in  the«days  of  New  Amsterdam.     They 

3  Having  made  several  voyages  across  the  At-  consisted  of  pottage,  served  daily  at  the  proper 
lantic  in  warships,  Stuyvesant  had  learned  that  hours,  and  for  the  week  of  3">iz  Ibs.  of  bread,  1  Ib. 
for  the  sake  of  good  service  it  was  necessary  to  of  dried  fish,  2^  Ibs.  of  bacon  and  meat,  1M«  quar- 
flatter  Jack  Tar's  stomach,  and  he  issued  an  order,  tern  of  vinegar. 

June  6, 1047,  fixing  the  sailors'  rations,  which  may          *  N.  Y.  Col.  MSS.,  11 : 14. 


256  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

to  all  traders,  because  we  are  as  yet  unable  to  retain  the  trade  to 
ourselves,  but  must  be  satisfied  with  the  duties." 

Apparently  Stuyvesant  did  not  consider  this  disapproval  as  a  direct 
veto  of  his  ordinance,  but  pursued  the  course  which  he  considered 
as  prescribed  by  his  instructions — namely,  not  to  allow  any  contraven- 
tion of  the  Company's  charter  by  traders — and  also  as  most  beneficial 
for  the  Company's  treasury.  The  directors  have  to  recur  to  the  matter 
a  year  later,  February  16,  1650 r1  "What  we  shall  say  respecting 
Edicts  and  Resolutions,  which  are  sometimes  difficult  of  execution, 
refers  solely  to  what  we  have  before  said  about  examining  the  books 
of  merchants.  Hardenbergh  has  already  complained  of  it,  and  this 
argument  was  greatly  strengthened  by  the  report  of  the  Delegates, 
who  have  set  forth  in  plain  terms  in  their  Eemonstrance  that  Edicts 
have  been  posted  up  whereby  you  demand  that  all  merchants'  books 
must  be  open  to  you  and  the  Council  for  examination.  This  was  never 
done  anywhere  in  Christendom,  and  should  not  become  a  custom." 

The  instructions  given  to  Stuyvesant,  with  his  commission,  by  the 
Assembly  of  the  XIX,  and  the  orders  sent  over  by  the  directors  of 
the  West  India  Company,  Chamber  of  Amsterdam,  clashed  so  much 
that  a  firmer  commercial  head  might  have  been  puzzled.  The  instruc- 
tions said :  "  The  Company  has  resolved  to  open  hereafter  to  private 
persons  the  trade  which  it  has  exclusively  carried  on  with  New 
Netherland,  and  to  empower  the  various  Chambers  to  give  permis- 
sion to  all  individuals  of  this  country  to  sail  with  their  own  ships  to 
New  Netherland,  etc."  In  obedience  to  these  instructions,  Stuyvesant 
had  allowed  the  frigate  Hercules,  from  Medemblick,  to  enter  and  trade 
at  New  Amsterdam  ;  but  when  this  became  known  in  Amsterdam,  the 
directors  had  again  occasion  to  rebuke  Stuyvesant.  They  wrote,  April 
12,  1648 : 2  "  We  do  not  approve  of  traders  coming  to  your  coast  un- 
der authority  of  any  other  Chamber  than  that  of  Amsterdam.  We 
notice  that  a  frigate  from  Medemblick,  the  Hercules,  Cornelis  Claessen 
Snoo,  skipper,  has  come  there,  and  we  are  astonished  to  learn  that 
you,  yourself,  have  entered  into  negotiations  with  such  an  interloper, 
although  you  ought  to  have  known  that  no  other  Chamber  has 
been  willing  to  contribute  for  the  support  of  New  Netherland,  and 
that  therefore  that  coast  has  always  been  reserved  for  the  Chamber 
of  Amsterdam.  It  is  therefore  our  express  wish  that  no  one  shall  be 
allowed  to  trade  there  who  does  not  come  with  permission  from  here. 
If  anybody  does  the  contrary,  you  are  to  confiscate  his  goods  and 
hold  them  until  further  orders  from  us.  It  is  true  that  people  are 
busy  now  before  their  H.  M.  the  States-General  at  the  Hague,  to 
devise  a  general  plan  of  trade  for  all  the  conquests  of  this  Company, 
and  New  Netherland  is  not  forgotten." 

i  N.  Y.  Col.  MSS.,  11 : 18.  2  ib.,  11 :  12. 


STUYVESANT,    THE    LAST    OF    THE    DUTCH    DIKECTOBS        257 

It  seems  that  up  to  this  time  citizens  of  New  Amsterdam  were  not 
allowed  to  trade  on  their  own  account  to  foreign  countries.  One  of 
Stuyvesantfs  earliest  orders,  June  20,  1647,1  directs  the  Company's 
ship  G-roote  Gerrit  to  sail  to  Boston  in  New  England,  with  a  cargo  of 
salt  to  be  sold  there,  and  to  load  in  return  such  and  as  much  provi- 
sions as  can  be  obtained  for  disposal  at  Bonayro,  where  freight  for 
New  Amsterdam  is  to  be  taken.  "  Now,"  continue  the  directors  in 
the  above-quoted  letter  of  April  12,  1648,  "it  has  provisionally  been 
resolved  that  all  colonists  there  shall  be  allowed  to  ship  their  products 
of  flour,  fish,  meat,  bacon,  peas,  beans,  and  everything  else  in  their 
own  or  in  chartered  bottoms  to  Brazil  and  Angola,  the  same  ships  to 
receive  freight  for  this  country  in  Brazil,  while  ships  trading  to  An- 
gola shall  be  allowed  to  carry  negroes  to  your  coast  to  be  used  as 
agricultural  laborers."  Stuyvesant  must  have  received  news  of  this 
resolution  before  the  foregoing  was  written,  for  he  issued  on  January 
20,  1648,  an  ordinance  to  the  same  effect,  differing  only  in  so  far 
that  he  forbade  ships  to  return  from  Brazil  with  sugar  to  New  Neth- 
erland, — they  had  to  remain  open  for  charter  to  any  place,  while  the 
Angola  traders  were  required  to  take  out  special  slave-trading  licenses 
from  the  directors  of  the  Company.  No  record  tells  of  a  New  Nether- 
land  ship  ever  having  sailed  on  a  slave-trading  expedition  to  Africa ; 
the  slaves  imported  into  the  province  all  came  by  the  way  of  the 
West  Indies  and  South  American  colonies.  Another  extract  from  the 
already  mentioned  and  quoted  letter  shows  us  that  Stuyvesant  had 
never  studied  political  economy. 

"  In  speaking  of  the  trade  there,"  they  write,  "  you  say  in  one  place 
that  the  private  traders  spoil  the  trade,  in  another  that  you  think 
untrammeled  trade  the  most  beneficial  for  the  population,  for  in 
time  great  quantities  would  be  consumed.  It  has  been  and  still  is 
in  our  Chamber  the  general  opinion  that  trade  should  be  free  for 
everybody,  while  you  say  that  this  freedom  is  abused  by  many  who 
go  a  few  miles  into  the  country  to  meet  the  Indians,  bringing  in 
furs,  and  that  this  increases  the  prices.  You  think  it  would  therefore 
be  well  to  establish  a  market-place  where  all  peltries  must  first  be 
offered  for  sale.  But  we  consider  that  as  too  dangerous,  as  it  would 
again  embroil  us  with  the  savages,  and  on  the  other  side  is  only 
another  form  of  enforced  trade." 

The  question  who  should  and  who  should  not  be  allowed  to  carry 
on  an  import  and  export  trade  at  New  Amsterdam  was  a  puzzling  one 
to  Stuyvesant,  placed  as  he  was  between  his  instructions  and  the 
directorial  orders.  Perhaps  accidentally  he  adopted  a  course  which 
was  for  the  best  development  of  New  Amsterdam  as  the  great  mart  of 
the  Western  world.  So-called  Scotch  or  Chinese  merchants  and  ped- 

1  Ib.,  4  :  297. 

VOL.  I.— 17. 


258 


HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YORK 


dlers  came  from  time  to  time  to  New  Netherland,  sold  their  goods 
rapidly  at  lower  prices  than  the  resident  traders,  and  paid  extravagant 
prices  for  beaver-skins,  eleven  to  twelve  florins  the  piece.  Such  pro- 
ceedings of  course  unsettled  and  threatened  to  destroy  the  regular 
trade.  Stuyvesant  therefore  issued  an  ordinance,  September  18, 

1648,  directing  that  these  free-lances 
of  trade  should  not  carry  on  their 
business  until  after  having  been  set- 
tled in  New  Netherland  for  three 
years  ;  they  were  further  required  to 
build  a  substantial  house  in  New 
Amsterdam. 

It  has  been  said  above  that  the 
Westphalian  Treaty  of  Peace  pre- 
vented the  West  India  Company  from 
further  hostile  expeditions  against 
Spain  and  its  colonies,  and  thereby 
considerably  reduced  the  dividends. 
This  was  perhaps  to  the  advantage 
of  their  own  colony  on  the  Hudson, 
for  it  brought  about  a  decision  to  in- 
crease the  population  of  New  Nether- 
land  and  draw  the  marine  trade  to 
New  Amsterdam.  Under  this  new 
policy  Stuyvesant  was  directed,  April  26,  1651,1  to  exact  from  all 
goods  coming  from  Virginia  or  New  England  a  duty  of  sixteen 
per  cent.,  while  goods  exported  from  New  Amsterdam  to  the  Eng- 
lish colonies  were  exempted  from  all  duties.  It  was  expected  that 
the  custom  of  shipping  goods  from  Holland  via  New  England, 
where  no  duties  were  exacted,  to  New  Amsterdam  would  be  made 
fruitless,  to  the  advantage  of  the  direct  shippers  and  of  the  merchants 
of  New  Netherland.  Stuyvesant  first  followed  out  this  policy,  but 
soon  took  another  view  of  the  question,  induced  by  the  financial 
straits  of  his  administration.  He  issued  ordinances  in  September 
and  November,  1653,  which  called  forth  a  remonstrance  from  the  prin- 
cipal merchants  of  New  Amsterdam,  indorsed  by  the  Burgomasters 
and  Schepens.  The  merchants  boldly  told  him 2  that  they  could  not 
and  would  not  obey  his  orders  to  advance  the  price  of  goods  imported 
by  them  120  per  cent,  over  the  first  cost,  as  that  would  entail  great 
losses  and  lead  to  a  diminution  of  trade.  "  If  compelled  to  charge 
only  120  per  cent,  over  first  cost,  we  cannot  hold  out,"  they  said,  "  for 
the  heavy  export  and  import  duties,  convoy  duties,  freight,  insurance, 
interest  on  invested  capital,  alone  swallow  up  seventy  to  eighty  per 


STUYVESANT'S  PEAR  TEEE. 


IN.  Y.  Col.  MSS.,11:37. 


2Ib.,  5:  147,  150. 


259 

cent,  over  purchase  price,  and  we  sustain  a  great  loss  by  leakage  and 
average.  Do  not  meddle  with  things  of  which  you  know  nothing, 
but  let  us  merchants  do  as  they  do  in  the  Fatherland  and  in  other 
commercial  countries — that  is,  let  us  sell  at  such  prices  as  circum- 
stances and  conscience  will  allow  us.  If  not,  we  shall  shut  up  our 
shops,  even  though  by  your  order  you  only  intended  to  benefit  the 
community."  Stuy  vesant  did  not  immediately  yield  to  the  objections 
of  the  merchants,  but  called  for  further  information,  and  then  let  the 
matter  rest  without  rescinding  his  order.  The  merchants  of  the  city, 
who  were  mostly  agents  of  Amsterdam  houses  and  frequently  made 
voyages  across  the  Atlantic  for  the  purpose  of  buying  new  stock, 
were  not  satisfied  with  Stuyvesant's  interference  and  again  brought 
up  the  question  in  July,  1654 : '  "  We  have  learned  of  more  taxes 
on  our  trade.  As  we  are  mostly  only  factors  of  our  houses  in  Hol- 
land, we  must  consider  the  advantages  of  them.  The  goods  now  im- 
ported have  been  sent  over  under  contracts  previously  made,  the 
consignors  were  necessarily  ignorant  of  the  new  orders,  and  we  ask 
you  to  refer  the  whole  affair  to  the  directors  of  the  Company  and  to 
allow  us  to  discharge  and  dispose  of  our  merchandises."  "  No," 
answered  Stuy  vesant;  "it  is  an  old  and  well-known  rule  that  all 
merchants  here  have  to  pay  to  the  Director-General  and  Council  one 
pe'r  cent,  of  all  their  goods,  and  besides  that,  as  much  more  as  has 
been  fixed  before  their  arrival."  The  records  do  not  tell  how  the 
difficulty  was  settled,  but  we  may  presume  it  was  done  to  the  satis- 
faction of  all  concerned,  for  in  May,  1655,2  the  directors  take  occasion 
to  write  to  Stuyvesant :  "  We  are  very  glad  to  learn  that  you  are  in 
good  accord  with  the  inhabitants  there,  and  recommend  that  you  do 
your  best  to  have  this  state  of  affairs  continue,  for  a  good  and  careful 
governor  can  do  much  that  way."  This  good  feeling  continued  with 
evident  beneficial  results.  The  Director-General  and  Council  "  have 
noticed,  March  13,  1657,3  by  the  blessed  increase  of  population  and 
trades,  that  the  people  are  inconvenienced  by  the  small  number  of 
laborers  at  the  Company's  commercial  houses,  the  Storehouse,  the 
Weighhouse,  and  the  Excise  office ;  they  resolve  therefore  to  increase 
the  number  to  nine,  who,  for  the  benefit  of  all  needing  their  services, 
may  deviate  from  the  old  rule  of  working  only  at  the  place  desig- 
nated to  them  and  go  from  one  house  to  the  other."  The  magistrates, 
having  given  their  consent  to  the  preceding  order,  could,  however,  only 
nominate  twelve  men  as  applicants  for  the  nine  vacancies,  as  no 
more  applied.  How  the  politician  of  to-day  would  rejoice  if  not  more 
than  one  man  were  to  apply  for  a  vacancy  in  his  gift !  This  experi- 
ence had,  moreover,  taught  Stuyvesant  that  in  matters  of  which  he 
understood  little  it  was  safer  to  consult  people  who  knew  more.  In 

l  N.  Y.  Col.  MSS.,  5 :  308.  2  Ib. ,12:22.  3  ib.,  8 :  471,  482. 


260  HISTOBY    OF    NEW-YOEK 

April,  1658,1  a  question  concerning  duties  came  before  him,  which 
he  did  not  trust  to  his  own  judgment  to  decide  ;  he  concluded  to  ask 
some  merchants  for  their  opinion,  and  they  told  him  that  it  would  be 
of  the  greatest  benefit  to  themselves  and  their  principals  in  Holland, 
that  it  would  increase  the  trade  for  the  best  of  the  colony  and  avoid 
all  commercial  disturbances  usually  caused  by  the  imposition  of  new 
duties,  if  he  would  act  with  his  usual  discretion  in  this  case  of  con- 
tinuing to  levy  a  duty  of  one  per  cent,  on  imported  wine  and  liquor 
from  either  the  selling  or  the  buying  party.  As  up  to  this  time  New 
Amsterdam  merchants  had  not  been  allowed  to  trade  outside  of  Dutch 
territory  in  America,  Europe,  Africa,  or  Asia,  and  the  increase  of 
population  in  New  Netherland  demanded  other  outlets  for  the  pro- 
ducts and  sources  for  the  necessary  commodities  of  the  country,  the 
directors  of  the  West  India  Company  therefore  finally  and  reluctantly 
consented  to  their  trying  the  "experiment"  of  foreign  trade  with 
France,  Spain,  Italy,  and  elsewhere ;  but  the  vessels  sent  out  to  these 
foreign  countries  had  to  return  with  the  cargoes  taken  there  to  New 
Netherland  or  Amsterdam,  and  furs  could  only  be  exported  to  Hol- 
land. This  permission  was  published  by  the  magistrates  of  the  city, 
March  9,  1660. 

The  repeatedly  mentioned  instructions  of  Stuyvesant  directed  him 
"first  of  all  to  establish  the  colonists  and  freemen  on  the  Island 'of 

l  N.  Y.  Col.  MSS.,  8 :  821.  to  the  street  southward  five  rods  six  feet  one 
The  original  of  this  early  deed  on  parchment,  of  inch,  according  to  the  measurement  by  the  sur- 
which  a  fac-simile  and  translation  are  given,  is  in  veyor  in  the  presence  of  Egbert  Woutersz  and 
the  possession  of  the  editor  of  this  work.  John  de  Kuyper  occurring  and  done  on  the  18th 
We  the  undersigned  Schepens  of  the  city  of  Am-  of  August  instant.  And  that  by  virtue  of  power 
sterdam  in  New  Netherland  declare  by  these  pres-  granted  to  him,  the  comparant,  on  February  7, 
ents  that  there  appeared  before  us  Adam  Brouwer,  1647,  by  the  Honorable  Council,  the  which  afore- 
atpresentlivingonLong  Island,  the  which  declared  said  house  and  lot  as  before  mentioned,  as  the 
to  transfer  and  convey  to  and  in  behalf  of  Dirck  same  is  built  upon,  inhabited,  and  set  apart,  he, 
Van  Schelluynen,  Notary  Public  and  Concierge  of  the  comparant,  doth  in  true  and  proper  owner- 
this  city,  a  certain  house  and  lot  situated  within  ship  transfer  and  convey  it  to  the  aforesaid  Dirck 
this  mentioned  city,  to  the  north  of  the  com-  Van  Schelluynen  with  all  such  action,  right,  and 
menced  canal,  between  the  lot  of  John  de  Kuy-  equity  as  he  himself  has  ruled  and  possessed  it, 
per  on  the  west  and  Egbert  Woutersz  on  the  east,  desisting  therefore  from  all  further  action,  right, 
wide  in  front  on  the  street,  with  free  passage  on  and  claim  of  ownership  which  by  him  the  comparant 
both  sides,  one  Rhineland  rod  four  feet  and  six  or  any  one  at  his  instance  might  be  made  upon  the 
inches,  thence  east  of  the  boundary  line  of  the  lot  aforesaid  house  and  lot,  with  promise  to  clear  the 
of  Henry  Jochemsz  straight  to  the  rear  of  the  gar-  same  from  all  liens  or  burdens  on  the  part  of  any- 
den  six  rods  nine  feet,  thence  eastward  to  the  body  in  the  world  which  could  be  brought  (re- 
fence  and  boundary  line  of  Egb.  Woutersz  three  serving  to  the  Lord  his  right)  as  acknowledging  for 
rods  six  feet  and  two  inches.  Along  the  same  the  bargained  price  according  to  contract  to  have 
boundary  northward  seven  rods  and  one  foot,  been  fully  satisfied  and  paid.  Declaring  further 
thence  westward  along  the  boundary  line  of  Dirck  to  hold  this  his  transfer  and  conveyance  firmly, 
Bensing's  lot  to  the  lot  of  Gerrit  the  miller,  where  truly,  and  irrevocably,  and  to  observe  and  corn- 
now  Jacob  the  brewer's  already  built-upon  lot,  plete  it,  under  the  pledge  and  submission  of  all 
three  rods  six  feet,  along  the  same  lot  southward  rights.  In  witness  whereof  are  these  presents 
four  rods  three  feet,  along  the  line  of  said  Gerrit  signed  by  the  cedent  as  also  by  the  Honorable  Sche- 
the  miller's  lot  again  westward  one  rod  seven  feet,  pens  Jacob  Strycker  and  Henry  Kip,  on  the  proto- 
and  thus  subsequently  along  the  boundaries  of  col  at  the  City  Secretary's  office,  this  19th  of 
Gerrit  and  Abram  the  millers'  lots  to  the  rear  of  August,  1656,  and  is  confirmed  by  the  affixing  of 
the  lot  of  John  de  Kuyper,  again  southward  five  rods  the  city's  seal. 

five  feet  and  four  inches,  thence  again  at  right  Agrees  with  the  aforesaid  proctocol. 

angles  running  eastward   one  rod  two  feet  and  JACOB  KIP,  Secretary, 
eight  inches,  and  thence  again  towards  the  front 


STUYVESANT,   THE    LAST    OF    THE    DUTCH    DIBECTOBS       261 

Manhattans,  and  to  grant  to  them  as  much  land  as  they  shall  be  able 
to  cultivate,  either  as  tobacco-plantations  or  with  grain  and  all  other 
crops  to  which  the  soil  is  adapted."  By  faithfully  carrying  out  this 
instruction  Stuyvesant  not  only  laid  the  foundation-stone  of  what  in 
our  days  has  become  one  of  the  great  staples  of  trade  —  namely,  the 
grain  trade  —  but  also  added  to  his  cares  in  administering  the  govern- 
ment of  the  province  and  of  the  city  at  the  same  time.  The  summer 
of  1649  had  yielded  only  a  poor  harvest,  and  cereals,  which  then  could 
not  yet  be  imported  in  sufficient  quantities  from  other  colonies, 
became  so  scarce  that  the  poorer  people  suffered  under  it.  After  long 
hesitation  Stuyvesant  finally  found  himself  compelled  to  forbid  by 
ordinance  of  November  8,  1649,  that  wheat  should  be  consumed  in 
malting  or  brewing.  A  few  years  later,  in  1653,  it  was  not  a  poor 
harvest,  but  the  preponderance  of  tobacco-cultivation,  combined  with 
greater  demand  for  grain  by  an  increasing  population,  which  created 
a  scarcity  of  breadstuffs.  As  a  remedy  and  preventive,  the  export  of 
cereals  was  forbidden,  brewers  were  again  ordered  not  to  consume 
grain  in  their  breweries,  and  the  tobacco-planters  received  instructions 
to  plant  as  many  hills  of  corn  as  they  did  of  tobacco.  This  measure, 
which  showed  that  Stuyvesant  had  really  the  well-being  of  what  he 
loved  to  call  his  a  subjects"  at  heart,  was  highly  commended  by  the 
directors  March  12,  1654 : l  "  The  order  given  by  you  that  no  hard 
grain  shall  be  used  for  baking  or  brewing  is  considered  a  timely 
one,  and  we  advise  that  on  similar  occasions  a  close  inquiry  be  made 
as  to  how  much  grain  is  held  in  the  country,  so  that  you  can  govern 
yourself  accordingly." 

New  Netherland  was  a  tobacco-growing  country  then,  and  tobacco 
formed  one  of  the  staples  of  export,  and  by  the  duty  paid  on  it  one  of 
the  important  items  of  revenue.  The  quality  of  New  Netherland 
tobacco  is  best  designated  by  an  ordinance  of  April  21,  1649,  issued 
in  conformity  with  a  rescript  of  the  directors  of  January  27th,  same 
year,  according  to  which  the  duty  on  New  Netherland  tobacco  was  to 
be  not  higher  than  that  paid  on  the  poorest  West  Indian,  i.  e.,  forty- 
five  stivers  (90  cents)  per  one  hundred  pounds.  Smokers  may  have 
found  this  New  Netherland  leaf  not  sufficiently  to  their  taste  to 
make  it  worth  while  to  continue  collecting  duties  on  it,  for  they 
were  abolished  April  4,  1652.2 

The  reports  of  Hudson  and  the  explorers  immediately  following  him 
had  spoken  of  the  abundance  of  fur-bearing  animals  in  the  new  coun- 
try. When  the  West  India  Company  was  organized,  the  trade  in  furs 
formed  a  point  of  so  great  consideration  that,  although  they  granted 
important  privileges  by  the  Freedoms  and  Exemptions  of  1629,  this 
trade  was  allowed  only  under  restrictions.  Private  parties  were  not 

l  N.  Y.  Col.  MSS.,  6 : 61.  2  Ib. ,  11 : 53. 


262  HISTOBY    OF    NEW-YORK 

to  deal  in  peltries  except  at  places  where  no  officer  of  the  Company 
was  resident,  and  then  they  had  to  bring  the  furs  to  Manhattan  and 
deliver  them  to  the  Director  for  shipment,  or  report  the  transaction 
for  the  assessment  of  duties,  which  were  one  florin  for  each  otter  or 
beaver-skin.  This  trade  in  furs  always  remained  more  or  less  a 
monopoly  of  the  Company.  Director  Kieft  ordered,  August  4,  1644, 
that  all  beaver-skins  should  be  marked  by  an  officer  specially  ap- 
pointed for  that  purpose,  and  exacted  a  duty  of  fifteen  stivers  (30 
cents)  for  each,  and  Stuyvesant,  in  renewing  this  order  on  July  4, 
1647,  made  it  still  more  stringent  by  forbidding  the  export  or  removal 
from  one  vessel  to  another  of  all  peltries  and  hides,  unless  first  entered 
in  the  Company's  office.  Stuyvesant's  ordinances  of  July  4, 1647,  and 
January  29,  1648,  did  not  materially  change  the  duties  on  furs  and 
hides,  but  he  was,  nevertheless,  rebuked  for  his  action  by  the  directors 
January  22,  1649 : l  "  We  are  surprised  by  the  change  of  duties  on  furs 
to  be  exported  from  New  Netherland.  In  our  opinion  it  would  have 
been  better  not  to  do  so.  No  good  can  come  of  it,  if  done  without  the 
knowledge  of  the  Assembly  of  the  XIX.  Even  circumstances  do  not 
warrant  your  action  in  taxing  these  goods  higher  than  before,  for 
beavers,  which  formerly  sold  at  eight  and  nine  florins,  have  gone  down 
to  six,  seven,  and  eight."  The  great  expenses  of  the  Company  for  the 
support  of  the  civil  government,  the  military,  the  church,  and  the 
school,  to  meet  which  the  revenue  was  not  sufficient,  led  the  directors 
to  reduce  the  duty  on  furs  to  eight  per  cent.,  or  about  thirteen  stivers, 
while  it  formerly  had  been  fifteen  stivers.  Stuyvesant,  as  in  duty 
bound,  promulgated  this  order  of  the  directors  by  an  ordinance, 
September  4,  1652,  but  added,  on  his  own  responsibility,  that,  as  the 
Director  and  Council  of  New  Netherland  also  needed  funds  besides 
the  eight  per  cent.,  the  merchants,  being  free  from  the  payment  of  stor- 
age, should  further  pay  four  stivers  (8  cents)  apiece  for  each  market- 
able skin.  The  records  of  Fort  Orange  (Albany)  give  us  an  idea  of 
how  great  value  this  fur  trade  was  to  the  Company,  by  stating  that 
46,500  beaver  and  otter-skins  were  shipped  from  there  to  New  Amster- 
dam in  1656.  The  attention  paid  to  this  trade  and  to  measures  to 
prevent  exports  with  evasion  of  duty  is  therefore  not  surprising. 

Beaver-skins  became  of  importance  in  New  Netherland  not  only  as 
an  article  of  trade,  but  in  the  course  of  time  also  as  a  circulating 
medium,  as  currency.  When  the  Dutch  took  possession  of  the  Island 
of  Manhattan  and  New  Netherland,  they  found  that  the  original  in- 
habitants used  as  money  small  white  or  black  beads  made  out  of  the 
shells  of  periwinkles  or  clams,  which  they  called  sewan  or  wampum. 
As  European  coins  of  gold,  silver,  or  copper  were  not  abundant  among 
the  first  settlers,  they  adopted  the  Indian  currency  as  their  own,  and 

IN.  Y.  Col.  MSS.,  11:14. 


STUYVESANT,    THE    LAST    OF    THE    DUTCH    DIRECTORS        263 


created  the  first  fiat  money  in  the  New  World,  which  had  course  not 
only  in  New  Netherland,  but  also  in  New  England,  where  it  was  called 
"  the  devil's  currency."  Although  calling  it  by  a  bad  name,  the  thrifty 
New  England  people  were  quite  willing  to  derive  pecuniary  advantages 
from  it  by  bringing  to  New  Amsterdam  inferior  wampum,  rough  and 
unpolished,  while  the  good,  known  as  Manhattan  wampum,  was  kept 
out  of  sight.  Wampum  was  generally  fifty  per  cent,  cheaper  in  New 
England  than  in  New  Netherland.  This  brought  forth  Kieft's  ordi- 
nance of  April  18,  1641,  by  which  it  was  forbidden  to  receive  or  pay 
out  unpolished  wampum  during  the 
following  month  of  May  at  a  higher 
rate  than  five  beads  equal  to  one 
stiver  if  strung ;  after  that  period 
six  beads  were  to  be  counted  equal 
to  one  stiver. 

Stuyvesantdid  not  at  first  attempt 
to  meddle  with  the  money  of  his 
province,  beyond  reaffirming  for- 
mer orders  and  deciding,  Novem- 
ber 30,  1647,  that  loose  wampum 
should  continue  to  pass  current; 
only  imperfect,  broken,  and  un- 
pierced  pieces  were  to  be  picked 
out  and  considered  as  bullion,  but 
should  be  received  at  the  Company's  office  as  before.  Counterfeiters 
were,  however,  as  clever  then  as  they  are  now ;  they  brought  into  cir- 
culation unperforated  beads,  made  of  stone,  bone,  glass,  horn,  and 
even  wood,  thereby  greatly  depreciating  the  real,  Indian  sewan.  The 
Director  saw  quickly  that  the  only  way  to  kill  this  counterfeiting  was 
to  declare  loose  or  unstrung  wampum  no  longer  legal  tender,  which 
he  did  by  ordinance  of  May  30,  1650,  making  two  classes  of  it,  the 
commercial  at  six  white  or  three  black  beads  equal  to  one  stiver, 
and  the  badly  strung  at  respectively  eight  or  four.  This  measure 
did  not  aid  the  community  much.  Everybody,  traders,  producers, 
and  consumers,  refused  to  take  badly  strung  wampum,  and  the 
scarcity  of  commercial  or  well-strung  beads  threatened  a  financial 
disaster.  The  formerly  cast-out  loose  and  badly  strung  tokens  had 
to  be  made  legal  tender  again,  September  14,  1650,  and  were  or- 
dered to  be  taken  in  the  daily  shopping  trade  up  to  twelve  florins 
($4.80) ;  if  sums  from  twelve  to  twenty-four  florins  were  handled,  one- 
half  had  to  be  good,  the  other  half  might  be  poor  wampum ;  in  sums 
from  twenty  to  fifty  florins,  the  ratio  was  one-third  poor  and  two- 
thirds  good;  when  larger  sums  were  in  consideration,  the  parties 
could  make  their  own  arrangements. 


GOVERNOR  STUYVESANT'S  SEAL. 


264  msTOBY  OF  NEW-YOBK 

Stuyvesant  had  not  yet  learned  that  even  his  authority  could  not 
give  fictitious  value  to  intrinsically  worthless  representatives  of  money, 
not  secured  by  valuable  deposits.  The  fluctuations  in  the  price  of 
wampum  continued  to  disturb  trade  so,  that  in  October,  1658,1  the 
Burgomasters  and  Schepens  of  New  Amsterdam  represented  to  the 
Director-General  and  Council  that  great  quantities  of  wampum  came 
from  New  England,  to  the  great  injury  of  the  city  and  advantage  of  the 
English  Colonies,  as  the  New  England  sort  advanced  this  currency, 
when  brought  here,  twenty-five  per  cent.  This  filled  the  place  so  much 
with  wampum  that  it  lost  in  value,  and  everybody  became  so  particular 
that  hardly  anything  could  be  bought  with  it.  They  requested,  there- 
fore, that  an  order  be  issued  fixing  the  rate  of  wampum  at  eight  white 
or  four  black  beads  for  one  stiver.  This  was  done  accordingly,2  but 
Stuyvesant  was,  for  once,  not  satisfied  with  his  own  action.  He 
called  on  the  magistrates  November  5,  1658,3  to  inquire  whether  they 
did  not  consider  it  advisable  to  restore  wampum  to  its  old  value,  of 
six  white  or  three  black  beads  for  one  stiver,  but  was  advised  by 
them  to  leave  it  at  the  lately  established  rate,  which  had  already  had 
the  effect  of  reducing  the  importation  of  New  England  wampum  and 
at  the  same  time  making  money  more  plentiful  among  the  poor  people. 
In  the  mean  time  Stuyvesant  had  entertained  a  plan  to  withdraw  wam- 
pum altogether  from  circulation  and  replace  it  by  European  coin. 
This  plan  is  first  spoken  of  and  discouraged  in  a  letter  from  the  direc- 
tors of  the  West  India  Company  of  January  27,  1649 :4  "You  think 
that  if  10,000  florins  in  small  coin  could  be  sent  over,  it  should  be 
done,  for  then  wampum  might  be  withdrawn  as  currency,  but  as  we 
are  not  in  condition  to  send  any  coin,  you  may  judge  that  it  is  not 
practicable."  This  first  failure  of  his  financial  plans  did  not  deter 
Stuyvesant  from  renewing  his  warfare  against  wampum ;  he  repeated 
his  attack  in  1650,  but  only  to  be  rebuffed  again,  although  his  superiors 
in  Amsterdam  seem  to  have  recognized  the  wisdom  of  the  proposed 
measure ;  they  write,  March  21,  1651 : 5  "It  is  as  yet  impossible  to 
satisfy  your  request  for  gathering  a  fund  in  small  coin  for  the  benefit 
of  private  individuals."  Seeing  that  he  could  expect  no  relief  in  this 
direction  from  the  Company,  he  allowed  his  repugnance  to  the  unse- 
cured and  unsecurable  fiat  money  to  carry  him  too  far  in  his  wish  to 
introduce  coin  in  New  Netherland.  We  learn  of  his  new  departure 
again  only  from  a  letter  of  the  directors  of  December  13,  1652 :6  "We 
are  very  much  surprised  that,  contrary  to  our  former  letters  and  with- 
out our  orders,  you  have  asked  private  parties  for  twenty-five  to  thirty 
thousand  guilders  in  Holland  shillings  and  double  stiver  pieces.  We 
do  not  at  all  approve  of  this,  for  we  have  not  yet  got  so  far  that  our 

l N.  Y.  Col.  MSS.,  8 :  1001.  2  Laws  of  N.  N.,  p.  357.  3  N.  Y.  Col.  MSS.,  8  :  1021. 

4  Ib.,  11 :  14.  5  n>.,  11 :  29.  6  n>. ,  11 :  57. 


STUYVESANT,   THE    LAST    OF    THE    DUTCH    DIKECTOKS        265 

officials  are  required  to  ask  credit  for  us  and  give  our  lands  as  security. 
If  anything  is  to  be  done,  you  have  to  write  to  us ;  we  shall  attend  to 
it."  We  can  imagine  how  the  floor  in  the  Governor's  room  in  Fort 
Amsterdam  resounded  from  the  impatient  stamping  of  his  wooden 
leg  when  he  read  this  letter. 

French-Indian  politics  opened  at  this  time  a  way  for  another  cur- 
rency, which  had  always  a  marketable  value — namely,  peltry.  The 
treaty  of  peace  between  the  Five  Nations  and  the  French  of  1653  had 
given  to  the  former  the  necessary  time  to  go  on  hunting  expeditions 
in  the  far  West,  and  bring  the  results  of  their  travels  to  the  Dutch 
market.  This  inspired  Stuyvesant  with  the  idea  of  adopting  beaver- 
skins  as  currency ;  he  made  them  receivable  for  duties  at  eight  florins 
($3.20)  a  piece  by  ordinance  of  September  27, 1656,  and  declared  them 
to  be  regular  currency  in  all  transactions  at  the  same  rate  a  few 
months  later,  January  3,  1657.  The  directors  approved  of  this  mea- 
sure tardily,  December  22,  1659,1  and  it  was  not  necessary  to  disturb 
the  money  market  by  a  new  valuation  until  December  28,  1662,  when 
twenty-four  white  or  twelve  black  beads  of  wampum  were  made  equal 
to  one  stiver,  and  beaver  rated  at  seven  florins.  Shortly  before  the  sur- 
render to  the  English,  September,  1663,  the  rate  was  further  reduced 
to  six  florins. 

It  has  been  said  above  that  financial  necessities  compelled  Stuyve- 
sant to  grant  to  the  village  of  New  Amsterdam  a  semblance  of  repre- 
sentative government,  and  thereby  plant  on  New- York  soil  the  seed  of 
a  government  of,  for,  and  by  the  people.  He  had  repeatedly  been 
told  by  the  home  authorities  "  to  use  despatch  in  the  repairs  of  Fort 
Amsterdam,"  but  as  the  means  to  carry  out  this  work  were  not  to  be 
found  in  the  Company's  treasure-chest,  he  was  to  ask  the  inhabitants 
for  aid.  For  a  man  of  Stuyvesant's  imperious  and  autocratic  charac- 
ter the  position  in  which  he  found  himself  now  cannot  have  been  a 
pleasant  one.  Positive  orders  to  do  this  work  from  one  side,  threaten- 
ing war-clouds  on  the  Indian  horizon  on  the  other,  no  money  to  spend 
for  the  needed  repairs,  and  the  people  unwilling  to  be  taxed  without 
their  own  consent.  "  Distrusting  the  wavering  multitude,  ready  to 
censure  him  if  war  should  break  out,"  Stuyvesant  called  for  advice 
upon  his  Council  and  was  told  that  his  fancied  prerogatives  must 
yield  to  popular  rights  by  conceding  representation  to  the  people. 

The  government  of  the  Netherlands  had  gradually  evolved  out  of  a 
conglomeration  of  self-governing  localities  or  towns.2  In  each  town 
a  "Tribunal  of  Well-born  Men,"  or  "Men's  Men,"  elected  by  the  in- 
habitants entitled  to  vote,  sat  as  Court  in  criminal  and  civil  cases, 
thirteen  being  the  quorum  for  the  former,  seven  for  the  latter.  This 
institution,  first  introduced  about  the  year  1295,  was,  in  1614,  changed 

IN.  Y.  Col.  MSS.,  13: 57.        2  See  "Johns  Hopkins  University  Studies,"  First  Series,  Vol.  2. 


266  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

to  the  Board  of  Nine  Men,  who  sat  together  in  all  cases.  Under  the 
stress  of  circumstances  Stuy  vesant  authorized  the  inhabitants  to  nomi- 
nate eighteen  "of  the  most  notable,  reasonable  honest,  and  respect- 
able of  our  subjects,  from  whom  we  might  select  a  single  number  of 
Nine  Men  to  confer  with  us  and  our  Council  as  their  Tribunes."1  Out 
of  the  eighteen  nominated  three  were  selected  to  represent  the  mer  • 
chants,  three  as  representatives  of  the  citizens,  and  the  remaining 
three  for  the  farmers.  Their  powers  and  duties  were  defined  in  the 
above  quoted  ordinance,  dated  September  25,  1647,  as  follows:  "They 
shall  exert  themselves  to  promote  the  honor  of  God  and  the  welfare  of 
our  dear  Fatherland  to  the  best  advantage  of  the  Company  and  the 
prosperity  of  our  good  citizens;  to  the  preservation  of  the  pure  Ee- 
formed  religion  as  it  here  and  in  the  churches  of  the  Netherlands  is 
inculcated.  They  shall  not  assist  at  any  private  conventicles  or  meet- 
ings, much  less  patronize  such  like  deliberations  and  resolves,  except  with 
the  special  knowledge  and  advice  of  the  Director-General  and  Council, 
and  on  his  special  order,  unless  only  when  they  are  convened  in  a  legit- 
imate manner  and  have  received  the  proposals  of  the  Director  and 
Council ;  then  they  have  liberty  to  delay  for  consultation  upon  such 
proposals  and  submit  their  advice  later;  provided  that  the  Director 
shall  have  the  right  to  preside  himself  at  such  meetings  or  appoint  a 
member  of  his  Council  as  President."  Three  of  the  Nine  Men,  alter- 
nating monthly,  were  to  sit  every  Thursday  with  the  Council,  when 
civil  cases  were  tried  by  it,  and  "parties  shall  be  referred  by  the  Di- 
rector to  them  as  arbitrators,  to  whose  decision  litigants  shall  be 
obliged  to  submit,  or,  if  not  satisfied,  pay  for  the  first  time  £1  Flemish 
($2.40),  before  an  appeal  can  be  taken  to  or  admitted  by  the  Council." 

It  was  but  a  scant  recognition  of  the  great  Aryan  principle — no 
taxation  without  representation;  but  scant  as  it  was  it  shows  that 
Stuyvesant  saw  he  could  not  well  suppress  an  institution  which  had 
become  a  familiar  necessity  to  all  Dutchmen  and  which,  moreover,  he 
had  been  ordered  by  his  instructions  to  introduce.  For  these  instruc- 
tions of  July  7,  1645,  said:  "Inasmuch  as  the  colonists  have  been 
allowed  by  the  Freedoms  to  delegate  one  or  two  persons  to  give  infor- 
mation to  the  Director  and  Council  concerning  the  state  and  condition 
of  their  colonies,  the  same  is  hereby  confirmed." 

The  newly  elected  board  of  the  people's  representatives  were,  how- 
ever, more  inclined  to  follow  the  instructions  given  to  Stuyvesant "  au 
pied  de  la  lettre  "  in  reporting  on  the  state  of  their  place  than  the  ordi- 
nance defining  their  powers  and  duties.  Almost  from  the  beginning 
of  the  settlement  on  the  banks  of  the  Hudson  the  lucrative  trade  in 
furs  brought  from  Fort  Nassau,  later  Orange,  and  further  north  and 
west,  had  attracted  what  the  permanent  merchants  of  New  Amster- 

l  Laws  of  N.  N. 


STUYVESANT,    THE    LAST    OF    THE    DUTCH    DIBECTOES        267 


STUYVESANT    GOING    TO    ALBANY. 


dam  called  "peddlers,  Scotch  or  Chinese  dealers" — that  is,  men  who 
carried  on  a  temporary  trade  in  furs,  procured  from  the  Indians  in  a 
furtive  manner,  and  who  then  quickly  left  the  country  without  bene- 
fiting it  by  improvements  of  the  soil.  The  Nine  Men,  on  behalf  of 
the  commonalty,  desired  to 
encourage  permanent  set- 
tlements on  the  Island  of 
Manhattan,  recognizing  the 
benefits  likely  to  accrue  in 
this  way  for  the  colony. 
They  therefore  laid  the  mat- 
ter before  the  Director  and 
Council,  with  suggestions 
for  a  remedy.  The  result 
was  an  ordinance,  March  10, 
1648,  which  confined  the 
trade  in  New  Amsterdam 
and  the  interior  to  permanent  resi- 
dents. Only  persons  who  had  taken 
the  oath  of  allegiance,  who  were 
rated,  at  least,  at  from  two  to  three 
thousand  guilders,  who  bound  themselves  to  remain  in  the  country 
four  successive  years,  and  who  "kept  fire  and  light"  at  their  own 
expense,  were  now  allowed  to  keep  a  shop  or  carry  on  a  retail  busi- 
ness. To  some  extent  this  was  a  victory  for  the  people's  representa- 
tives. In  their  next  attempt  to  influence  the  actions  of  Stuyvesant 
they  were  not  so  successful. 

The  revenue  laws  and  port  regulations,  to  which  the  excessive  im- 
port and  export  duties  must  be  added,  and  all  of  which  were  strictly 
enforced,  led  many  a  Dutch  skipper  and  his  supercargo  to  prefer  a 
New  England  port  for  the  disposal  of  his  European  goods  and  the 
purchase  of  furs.  Such  was  the  case  with  the  Saint  Beninio,  an  Am- 
sterdam ship,  which  Secretary  Van  Tienhoven  had,  on  occasion  of  an 
accidental  visit  to  New  Haven,  found  lying  at  anchor  there,  and  had 
learned  that  it  had  traded  in  this  port  for  a  month  without  having 
the  requisite  license  from  the  West  India  Company.  This  infringe- 
ment of  the  Company's  charter  the  owners,  Westerhuysen  and 
Goedenhuysen,  who  first  intended  to  come  from  New  Haven  to  New 
Amsterdam  upon  payment  of  the  usual  duties,  turned  into  an  open 
violation  of  the  revenue  laws  of  New  Netherland,  by  changing  the 
destination  of  the  ship  to  Virginia.  When  Stuyvesant  was  informed 
of  it  by  one  of  the  owners,  without  showing  his  papers  or  offering  to 
pay  duties,  he  immediately  determined  to  seize  the  ship,  as  she  lay  at 
anchor  in  New  Haven,  which  Stuyvesant  still  considered  to  be  the 


268  HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YOBK 

"  Roode  Bergh  "  in  New  Netherland.  He  had  some  soldiers  concealed 
on  board  a  ship  lately  sold  to  New  Haven  merchants  and  now  going 
to  be  delivered ;  these  soldiers  captured  the  Saint  Beninio  and  sailed 
away  in  her  to  Manhattan  before  the  surprised  New  Haven  people 
had  time  to  interfere.  This  bold  assertion  of  territorial  rights  in- 
volved a  question  of  international  law  which  this  is  not  the  place  to 
discuss,  further  than  to  say  that  as  that  law  held  "  Novae  terras  in 
possessionem  dantur  primo  occupanti "  (newly  discovered  lands  shall 
be  given  into  the  possession  of  the  first  occupant  [settler?]),  and  as 
the  Dutch  were  the  first  to  occupy  the  Versche  (Connecticut)  River  in 
1614,  Stuyvesant  was  justified  in  his  action  and  in  addressing  a  letter 
to  Governor  Eaton  at  "  New  Haven  in  New  Netherland."  We  have, 
however,  to  consider  Stuyvesant  here  only  in  his  relations  to  New 
Amsterdam,  and,  viewed  from  that  standpoint,  the  capture  of  the  Saint 
Beninio  was  a  mistake.  It  spread  an  alarm  in  the  commercial  locali- 
ties as  far  as  the  West  Indies  and  deterred  traders  from  coming  with 
their  ships  to  New  Netherland,  causing  heavy  losses  to  the  residents 
of  New  Amsterdam  and  consequent  dissatisfaction.  To  increase  the 
uneasy  feeling  of  the  Manhattan  people,  an  order  was  issued  calling 
in  all  debts  due  to  the  Company,  which  came  at  a  most  inopportune 
time.  The  inhabitants  had  lost  nearly  their  all  in  the  war  during 
Kieft's  time,  and  could  not  obtain  the  money  due  them  from  the  Com- 
pany, for  contracts  entered  into  by  the  same  administration.  Through 
the  Nine  Men  they  asked  the  Director  for  leniency  in  the  collection  of 
the  debts,  but  the  eloquence  of  the  Nine  was  unsuccessful,  the  Fiscal 
and  the  Receiver  were  ordered  to  continue  their  collections  and  to 
take  as  much  as  they  could,  leaving  the  balances  at  eight  per  cent, 
annual  interest.  Finally  the  Nine  Men  succeeded  in  effecting  a  com- 
promise, and  the  harsh  collections  were  for  a  time  suspended;  but  the 
dissatisfaction  of  the  people  was  not  allayed  by  this  temporizing 
measure,  and  it  was  decided  by  the  Nine  to  send  a  delegation  to  Hol- 
land with  a  complaint  against  the  maladministration  of  the  colony 
during  the  last  ten  years.  Stuyvesant  apparently  encouraged  them 
in  this  course,  but  at  the  same  time  made  it  a  condition  that  what- 
ever they  were  to  say  should  conform  to  his  wishes.  This  strategy 
defeated  the  plans  of  the  people,  and  when  the  English  settlers,  who 
had  until  now  cooperated  with  the  Dutch  in  this  movement,  withdrew, 

induced  to  it  probably  by  George  Baxter,  Stuy- 

vesant's  English  Secretary,  "  the  matter  went 
to  gleep » 

The  new  elections  added  to  the  Board  of  Nine  Men  Yonker  Adriaen 
Van  der  Donck,  the  proprietor  of  the  Colony  of  Colendonck,  which 
to-day  perpetuates  his  memory  under  the  name  of  Yonkers.  Under 
Van  der  Donck's  energetic  influence,  the  new  body  introduced  the 


STUYVESANT,    THE    LAST    OF    THE    DUTCH    DIEECTOES        269 

question  of  sending  delegates  to  Holland.  Stuyvesant  called  on  them 
to  tell  him  what  they  had  to  complain  of,  but  they  declined  to  do  so,  as 
such  a  course  "  was  not  based  on  any  sound  reason  "  and  would  defeat 
their  endeavors  to  benefit  the  country.  Several  members  of  the  pop- 
ular party  went  from  house  to  house,  to  collect  the  opinion  of  the 
commonalty  as  to  how  far  they  approved  of  the  project  and  what  they 
would  do  to  defray  the  necessary  expenses.  "  From  this  time  the  breast 
of  the  Director-General  became  inflamed  with  rage."  Stuyvesant 
vilified  the  men  whom  he  had  hitherto  classed  among  "  the  most 
honest,  the  most  fit,  the  most  experienced,  and  the  most  godly  in  the 
community,"  and  now  thought  "  hanging  was  too  good  a  punishment 
for  them."  His  strict  sense  of  justice,  however,  prevented  him  from 
tyrannical  proceedings  against  the  leaders  of  the  popular  party,  whom 
he  hoped  to  defeat  by  organizing  an  opposition  party  composed  of 
officers  of  the  militia  and  citizens  in  accord  with  him,  who  were  to  send 
another  delegation  to  Holland  for  consultation  "  on  important  points." 

For  the  purpose  of  having  all  the  evidence  necessary  for  their  case 
properly  arranged,  the  Nine  Men  considered  it  necessary  to  have 
memoranda  regularly  kept  for  the  "  journal "  to  be  submitted  to  the 
States-General.  Van  der  Donck,  Doctor  of  Laws,  was  charged  with 
this  task,  being  not  only  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Nine  Men,  but 
also  of  Stuyvesant's  Council,  and  therefore  the  best  fitted  to  know  the 
intentions  and  plans  of  Stuyvesant.  The  keeping  of  the  memoranda 
had  been  decided  in  a  secret  session  of  the  Board.  Van  der  Donck 
was,  for  reasons  of  secrecy,  lodged  with  another  of  the  Nine  Men,  but 
the  movement  became  known  nevertheless,  apparently  through  the 
landlord  of  Van  der  Donck.  Stuyvesant  learned  of  it,  seized  Van  der 
Donck's  piapers,  and  threw  him  into  prison  on  the  charge  of  lese-majesty. 
As  Van  der  Donck  was  a  member  of  the  Council,  and  intended  to  use 
knowledge  acquired  there  for  the  benefit  of  the  party  opposed  to  the 
Council,  such  a  charge  was  sustained  by  the  Court  specially  appointed 
to  try  him,  which  condemned  Van  der  Donck  to  expulsion  from  the 
Council  and  from  the  Board  of  Nine  Men. 

The  reversal  of  the  judgment  against  Kuyter  and  Melyn,  related  in 
the  previous  chapter,  their  return  to  New  Netherland,  and  the  reading 
in  church  of  the  decision  of  the  States-General,  recalling  Stuyvesant 
for  his  defense,  created  a  most  remarkable  excitement,  for  Stuyvesant 
concluded  and  declared  that  he  would  not  go  in  person,  but  send  an 
attorney  to  defend  his  sentence  passed  on  Kuyter  and  Melyn.  "I 
.honor  and  respect  the  States  and  shall  obey  their  orders,"  he  said, 
"but  I  shall  send  an  attorney  to  sustain  my  verdict." 

The  directors  of  the  West  India  Company  now  unwittingly  added 
fuel  to  the  smoldering  flames  of  popular  dissatisfaction.  Fearing  an 
outbreak  of  the  Indians,  unless  their  desire  for  arms  and  ammunition 


270  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

was  gratified,  they  had  intimated  to  Stuyvesant  that  they  thought  it 
"  the  best  policy  to  furnish  them  with  powder  and  ball  with  a  sparing 
hand."  Acting  hereupon,  Stuyvesant  ordered  a  case  of  guns  from 
Holland,  which,  upon  arrival,  was  landed  "in  broad  daylight,"  and 
turned  over  to  the  Commissary  of  the  fort.  This  gave  to  the  popular 
party  another  cause  of  complaint — namely,  that  Stuyvesant  was  their 
competitor  in  trade,  which  was  not  withdrawn  when  the  Director 
showed  the  pertinent  order  of  his  superiors. 

An  ordinance  issued  by  Kieft  for  the  purpose  of  authenticating 
legal  documents  before  the  Provincial  Secretary  was  now  reenacted 
by  Stuyvesant  "  for  the  purpose  of  cutting  off  the  convenient  mode  of 
proof."  His  fears  that  the  popular  party  would  after  all  succeed  in 
defeating  him  led  him  even  to  a  curious  interference  with  ecclesi- 
astical matters.  On  May  18,  1649,  he  went  to  the  house  of  Domine 
Backerus,  and  there  told  him  ex  officio  that  he  should  not  read  nor 
allow  to  be  read  from  the  pulpit  in  church  or  through  any  of  the 
church-officers  any  papers  concerning  politics  or  government,  unless 
duly  signed  by  the  Director  and  Secretary.1  All  these  preventive 
measures  had  only  the  effect  of  urging  the  opposition  party  more 
strongly  in  their  course.  The  Domine  soon  asked  for  his  discharge, 
and  after  receiving  it  returned  to  Holland  as  one  of  Stuy vesant's  most 
active  adversaries.  He  was  followed  by  the  three  delegates,  sent  by 
the  Nine  Men,  Adriaen  Van  der  Donck,  Jacob  Van  Couwenhoven,  and 
Jan  Evertsen  Bout,  who  carried  with  them  the  celebrated  "  Vertoogh 
van  Nieuw  Neclerlandt"  (Remonstrance  of  New  Netherland,  probably 
the  work  of  Van  der  Donck 2),  and  an  address  to  the  States-General, 
both  documents  signed  by  the  Board  of  Nine  Men  in  office  and  their 
predecessors.  This  Vertoogh,  although  written  for  political  purposes, 
is  one  of  the  most  important  works  for  the  history  of  New- York, 
as  it  begins  ab  ovo, — that  is,  with  the  discovery  of  the  country,  its 
boundaries,  etc., — tells  of  the  aboriginal  inhabitants,  both  human  and 
animal,  of  the  origin  of  the  West  India  Company,  and  the  conditions 
of  New  Netherland  up  to  date.  The  historian  of  to-day,  therefore,  owes 
to  Stuyvesant  a  debt  of  gratitude  for  having  given  cause  to  write  it. 

In  their  stringent  attacks  on  the  administration  of  the  province,  the 
remonstrants  seem  occasionally  to  have  forgotten  good  policy,  for 
they  strike  at  the  West  India  Company  through  its  agents.  "  In  our 
opinion,"  they  say,  "  this  country  will  never  flourish  under  the  govern- 
ment of  the  honorable  Company,  but  will  pass  away  and  come  to  an 
end  of  itself,  unless  the  Company  is  reorganized."  Some  of  their 
strictures  are  decidedly  unjust.  They  bewail  the  precarious  condition 
of  church  and  school,  and  have  not  a  good  word  to  say  about  Stuy- 
vesant's  praiseworthy  efforts  in  this  direction,  which  will  be  told  in  a 

l  N.  Y.  Col.  MSS.,  4  :  437.  2  Printed  in  Amsterdam,  1650,  quarto,  49  pp. 


STUYVESANT,   THE    LAST    OF    THE    DUTCH    DIRECTORS        271 


JVOVABELGICA      /  five    N    I    E     U     W 


r^^f^3ajESEte»W 

-'  *-    "^  r/1  >-^*^*-K^^'iM*^K^Kil 


ADRIAEN    VAN    DER    DONCK'S    MAP,    1656. 


272  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

later  chapter.  When  they  come  to  the  local  representatives  of  the  Com- 
pany, wo  find  them  severely  criticized.  "  The  country  ought  to  be 
provided  with  godly,  honorable,  and  intelligent  rulers,  who  are  not  indi- 
gent and  not  too  covetous.  A  covetous  governor  makes  poor  subjects. 
The  manner  in  which  the  country  is  now  governed  falls  severely  upon 
it  and  is  intolerable,  for  nobody  is  unmolested  or  secure  in  his  prop- 
erty any  longer  than  the  Director  pleases,  and  he  is  strongly  inclined 
to  confiscations."  Having  resolved  not  to  go  to  Holland  himself  in 
re  Kuyter  and  Melyn,  Stuyvesant  despatched,  a  fortnight  before  the 
delegates  sailed,  Cornelius  Van  Tienhoven  to  act  as  his  attorney, 
and  also  to  prepare  the  States-General  for  the  reception  of  the  Ver- 
toogli  and  counteract  it  by  previous  contradictory  reports.  Van  Tien- 
hoven was  "  cautious,  subtle,  intelligent,  and  sharp-witted,"  but  also 
quite  unscrupulous.  Having  been  in  the  Company's  service  in  New 
Netherland  since  1633,  he  knew  the  country  thoroughly.  He  took 
with  him  an  "  endorsement,"  given  at  George  Baxter's  instigation  to 
Stuyvesant  by  the  magistrates  of  the  English  settlement  at  Gravesend, 
in  which  they  expressed  their  admiration  of  and  confidence  in  Stuyve- 
sant's  "wisdom  and  justice  in  the  administration  of  the  common  weal." 

"  The  best-laid  plans  of  mice  and  men  gang  aft  aglee,"  says  the 
Scotch  poet,  and  Van  Tienhoven  had  to  bear  witness  to  its  truth. 
Although  he  had  left  two  weeks  in  advance  of  the  delegates,  and 
although  he  went  by  the  North  of  Ireland  to  avoid  the  scene  of  Kief  t's 
shipwreck,  he  arrived  after  his  adversaries,  who  had  sailed  straight  for 
the  Channel,  and  had  immediately  after  landing  placed  their  papers 
before  the  States-General.  A  committee  of  this  body  was  given  charge 
of  the  matter  to  receive  evidence  on  the  complaints  preferred,  with 
orders  to  report  speedily. 

Secretary  Van  Tienhoven  found  everything  ready  for  his  reply, 
and  prepared  without  much  delay  "  a  brief  statement  in  answer  to 
some  points  contained  in  the  written  deduction  of  Adriaen  Van  der 
Donck  and  associates,"  which  he  called  "  a  tissue  of  assertions  without 
proof."  He  confined  himself,  however,  exclusively  to  contradicting 
allegations  against  the  Company  or  the  Director,  of  which  only  those 
against  Stnyvosant  interest  us  here.  According  to  Van  Tienhoven, 
no  person's  goods  or  property  had  ever  been  confiscated  except  for 
violation  of  written  engagements.  Some  trading  skippers  might  fear 
confiscation,  and  therefore  not  come  to  New  Netherland,  but  only 
because  they  had  no  license  to  do  so.  If  Christians  are  treated  by 
traders  like  the  savages,  the  blame  cannot  be  laid  at  the  door  of  the 

The  map  on  the  preceding  page  was  published  Danckers.  "  multis  in  locis  emendata."   Danckers, 

in  connection  with  Van  der  Donck's  work  on  New  for  one  thing,  was  entirely  at  fault  as  to  the  course 

Netherland,  1(555,  of  which  a  fac-siniile  of  title  ap-  of  the  Delaware  River.     This  was  remedied  by 

pears  on  page  35.   It  was  a  copy  of  N.  J.  Visscher's,  Visscher.  and  hence  it  appears  tolerably  correct 

which  itself  was  an  alteration  of  one  by  Justus  upon  Van  der  Donck's  map.  EDITOR, 


STUYVESANT,   THE    LAST    OF    THE    DUTCH    DIRECTORS        273 


e 


m^K    Q«nrfc    *y   fcM*  &V»    ^<W>:  C-w^i^^Vv^S'  ,M»   fc^t^Wnl^X'n 

jffOiS^~****y  *Vof™  C^M^^^^Ic  ^.H,  ^^^o.iJ^^c^ 
fi^U  >^^w/^W>^*ir^t^C  ^*»U  ^T>>rt«in  'v^v-bojj. 

S  r*\      .         I  .1   *r    ,—v.     <      .  t        /       IV.  X^%     . 


fi^U  >hn?rw«), ^^y  V.V/M^S.^^V^^-^^^^  feaa*t-««4 

^^Jttco^  «^«.  Cxulwv  «»^>««Myi  »>MC  Jan  ^\s.Srt».^A»M.4^:  O iJl(  aP^J^i^ 

*H  Vo«  nuL^KQ-r*^K^^>«  ^(  V^^**    <Mto^(,  «n  ^^  Luf  fc^*Aa  C  '/ 

_   /        ^X  "  .  .  >  \^S  °.  c^        V 


LETTER    OF    BOARD    OP    NINE    MEN    ACCRKDITING    DEI^EGATES    TO    HOLLAND. 

VOL.  I.— 18. 


274 


HISTORY     OF    NEW- YORK 


Company  or  its  representatives,  but  rather  of  the  traders  and  agents, 
of  whom  several  have  signed  the  remonstrance,  for  they  charge  often 
200  to  300. per  cent,  advance  on  European  goods.  If  a  subaltern  juris- 
diction like  that  of  Rensselaerswyck  is  allowed  absolutely  to  banish 
from  the  colony  any  person  whose  absence  is  demanded  by  the  pub- 
lic good,  it  would  indeed  be  strange  if  the  supreme  government  of  the 
province  could  not  do  the  same  without  being  taken  to  task  for  it. 
Anybody  might  put  into  his  cellar  as  much  beer  or  wine  as  he 
pleased  free  of  excise,  for  his  own  family  use,  being  obliged  only  to 
report  the  quantity.  Tapsters  alone  were  excepted,  and  had  to  pay 
taxes  on  the  liquids  sold  by  them,  but  they  received  a  return  of  this 
outlay  by  selling  at  retail  to  travelers.  This  is  the  only  internal 
revenue  derived  by  the  Company  from  the  commonalty  besides  an 
export  duty  on  beavers  of  eight  per  cent.  Compared  with  the  bur- 
dens borne  by  the  New  England  people,  which  some  say  are  better 
off  in  respect  to  taxes,  the  reply  of  the  Secretary  says,  the  New  Eng- 
landers  are  much  heavier  taxed,  even  though  they  pay  no  import  or 
export  duties,  but  they  are  assessed  for  the  erection  and  support  of 
churches  and  schools,  for  the  salary  of  ministers  and  schoolmasters, 
for  the  construction  and  repairs  of  highways  and  bridges,  for  the  pay 
of  all  civil  and  military  officers,  and  for  the  expenses  of  quarterly  mag- 
istrates' meetings  and  the  yearly  convening  of  the  General  Assembly. 
The  charge  that  Fort  Amsterdam  was  in  a  bad  condition  was  met 
with  the  answer,  that  "  it  was  neither  the  business  nor  the  province 
of  the  people,  but  only  of  the  Company."  The  people  were  willing  to 
be  protected,  but  objected  to  paying  for  the  protection  by  either  labor 
or  ready  cash.  As  to  the  suggestion  that  the  Company  had  better 
give  up  New  Netherland,  it  was  almost  too  silly,  thought  Van  Tien- 


Letter  of  Board  of  Nine  Men  accrediting  dele- 
gates to  Holland. 

GREAT,  POWERFUL,  HIGH  AND  MIGHTY  SOV- 
EREIGNS: After  our  distressed  circumstances  had 
forced  and  obliged  us  to  represent  the  poor  condi- 
tion of  this  country  and  to  pray  for  redress  therein, 
we  considered  it  proper  to  delegate  also  some  per- 
sons whom  we  know  and  acknowledge  to  be  honor- 
able, honest,  and  trustworthy,  likewise  well  experi- 
enced in  and  acquainted  with  the  circumstances 
of  this  country,  in  order  that  they  may  furnish 
your  High  Mightinesses,  if  such  be  your  will  and 
pleasure,  with  further  information  and  explana- 
tion on  every  subject  and  circumstance,  and  also  to 
importune  your  High  Mightinesses  to  grant  season- 
able relief  and  aid.  We  therefore  hereby  humbly 
entreat  and  request  your  High  Mightinesses  to  be 
pleased  to  give  credence  in  all  things  that  they  may 
do  or  say  in  the  premises,  to  these  persons,  to  wit : 
Adriaen  Van  der  Donck,  Jacob  Van  Couwenhoven, 
and  John  Evertsen  Bout,  our  Delegates  and 
Agents ;  inasmuch  as  we  know  them  for  persons 
of  honor  and  of  good  name  and  fame,  also  right 
well  disposed  towards  the  interest  of  this  country. 


With  humble  reverence  we  pray  your  High  Mighti- 
nesses to  be  pleased  to  grant  them  a  favorable  au- 
dience, and  we  are  and  remain  your  High  Mighti- 
nesses' faithful  subjects.  We  have  in  addition 
presumed  to  send  your  High  Mightinesses  a  speci- 
men of  this  country's  products,  crops,  and  forage, 
most  humbly  praying  that,  according  to  our 
straitened  circumstances,  it  may  be  graciously 
accepted,  which  we  pray  God  also  to  grant,  to 
whose  keeping  we  ever  commend  your  High 
Mightinesses'  persons,  deliberations,  and  under- 
takings. Amen. 

In  the  name  and  on  the  behalf  of  the  Common- 
alty of  New  Netherland.     Done  July  26th,  1649, 
in  New  Amsterdam,  on  the  Island  Manhattans,  in 
New  Netherland. 
[Signed.]        AUGUSTIN  HERRMAN, 

ARNOLDUS  VAN  HARDENBERGH, 

OLOFP  STEVENSS, 

MACHYEL  JANSSEN, 

THOMAS  HALL, 

ELBERT  ELBERTSEN, 

GOVERT  LOOCKERMANS, 

HENDRICK  HENDRICKSE  KIP. 


STUYVESANT,    THE    LAST    OF    THE    DUTCH    DIRECTORS        275 

hoven,  to  give  an  answer  to  it.  The  Company  had  been  at  heavy 
expenses  formerly  in  conveying  people  and  cattle  there,  building 
forts,  buying  lands  from  the  Indians,  and  settling  assisted  immigrants 
on  these  lands  on  easy  terms.  Now  that  some  of  these  early  colonists 
have  "a  little  more  than  they  can  consume  in  a  day,"  they  ungrate- 
fully turn  upon  their  former  benefactors  and  want  to  get  rid  of  them, 
even  without  paying  for  bounties  received.  The  charge  of  neglect- 
ing to  support  church  and  school  was  shown  to  be  nugatory,  as 
the  place  of  the  late  Domine  Backerus  had  been  filled  shortly  after 
his  departure,  while  about  this  time  two  public  schools  existed  in 
New  Amsterdam. 

Van  Tienhoveri's  paper  was  referred  to  the  same  Committee  as  the 
Remonstrance.  The  Committee  reported  on  the  llth  of  April,  1650, 
"  a  remedy  which,"  they  thought,  "  should  satisfy  both  parties,  until 
further  provision  is  made."  The  remedy,  in  the  shape  of  a  "Pro- 
visional Order  for  the  government,  preservation  and  peopling  of  New 
Netherland,"  suggested  a  recall  of  Stuyvesant  and,  in  pursuance  of  a 
request  expressed  in  the  delegates'  address  to  the  States-General,  the 
introduction  in  New  Amsterdam  of  Burgher  or  municipal  govern- 
ment by  a  Schout,  two  Burgomasters,  and  five  Schepens.  The  Nine 
Men  were,  however,  to  continue  for  three  years  longer  and  have  jur- 
isdiction over  small  causes  between  individuals,  to  decide  definitively 
on  such  as  do  not  exceed  fifty  guilders,  and  if  more,  under  the  privi- 
lege of  appeal.  Stuyvesant  was  defeated,  and  had  to  suffer  the  further 
mortification  of  being  reminded  by  the  directors  that  they  "  had  told 
him  so."  The  order  for  his  recall,  Stuyvesant  declared,  he  would  not 
obey,  as  the  Company  was  opposed  to  it  and  had  directed  him  not  to 
pay  attention  to  anything  said  in  the  Provisional  Order.  The  quar- 
rel, instead  of  having  been  settled,  as  the  home  authorities  may  have 
thought,  grew  hotter,  because  Stuyvesant,  conscious  of  having  done 
what  he  considered  his  duty,  resented  the  treatment  received  at  the 
hands  of  the  States-General  and  made  the  people  of  New  Amsterdam 
feel  his  resentment. 

A  new  appeal  to  the  States-General  by  the  Nine  Men  was  sent 
over:  "We  have  seen  and  found  your  High  Mightinesses  our  kind 
and  loving  fathers,  who  have  taken  to  heart  the  pitiful  and  desolate 
condition  of  the  poor  commonalty  here,  for  which  we  cannot  suffi- 
ciently express  our  thankfulness  to  God  and  to  you.  But  the  non- 
arrival  of  reform,  the  neglect  of  Director  Stuyvesant  to  obey  your 
orders  though  they  have  been  communicated  to  him,  and  the  contin- 
uation of  affairs  in  the  same  sad  condition  already  submitted  to  you, 
compel  us  again  to  pray  your  High  Mightinesses  to  show  favor  to  us, 
for  we  cannot  undertake  anything  as  long  as  reforms  are  withheld. 
We  hope  you  will  give  us  a  good  and  wholesome  government." 


276  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

In  reply,  Stuyvesant  accused  the  returned  delegates  and  their  sup- 
porters of  fostering  discontent  in  New  Netherland,  of  endeavoring  by 
most  culpable  means  to  alienate  the  minds  of  the  unthinking  multi- 
tude, and  of  luring  them  from  their  allegiance  to  the  Company  and  its 
officers,  whom  they  thus  intended  to  deprive  of  everything.  With 
the  help  of  his  English  secretary,  Baxter,  he  succeeded  in  separating 
the  inhabitants  of  the  English  villages  on  Long  Island  from  their 
Dutch  fellow-colonists,  and  the  magistrates  of  Gravesend,  influenced 
as  before,  again  expressed  their  confidence  in  the  Director-General 
and  their  allegiance  to  the  West  India  Company,  to  which  they  added 
this  time  sentiments  of  hostility  to  the  Nine  Men. 

Now  we  see  Stuyvesant  in  a  peculiar  position.  The  supreme  Gov- 
ernment, whose  commission  as  Director-General  he  held,  had  recalled 
him ;  the  West  India  Company,  who  paid  his  salary  as  Director-Gen- 
eral, had  ordered  him  not  to  obey  the  order  of  recall ;  the  mass  of  his 
own  countrymen,  whom  he  was  sent  out  to  govern,  were  estranged 
from  him ;  and  he  had  to  look  for  sympathy  and  support  to  the  small 
part  of  the  community  belonging  to  a  nation  which  considered  the 
Dutch  as  invaders  of  their  territory.  On  these  supporters  he  had 
now  to  rely  in  his  boundary  negotiations  with  New  England,  and  by 
selecting  as  representatives  to  go  to  Hartford  for  conference  with  the 
English  commissioners  two  men  of  these  adherents,  opposed  to  the 
Nine  Men,  he  gave  to  his  adversaries  new  cause  for  complaints,  which 
now  included  the  accusation  that  by  his  English  representatives  he 
had  surrendered  to  the  New  England  people  more  territory  than 
might  have  formed  fifty  colonies,  that  he  had  ceased  to  consult  the 
assistants  given  him  by  the  Company,  Vice- Director  Van  Dincklagen 
and  Fiscal  Van  Dyck,  and  that  he  had  refused  to  fill  the  vacancies 
about  to  occur  in  the  Board  of  Nine  Men  by  six  of  them  legally  going 
out  of  office. 

Van  der  Donck,  who  had  remained  in  Holland,  was  again  the  spokes- 
man of  the  discontented  party  in  New  Amsterdam,  and  presented  to 
the  States-General  another  memorial,  January  14,  1651.  But  their 
High  Mightinesses  had  not  yet  arrived  at  a  decision  in  regard  to  the 
former  remonstrance,  the  "  Vertoogh,"  upon  which  with  the  other  pa- 
pers referred  to  it  the  Committee  had  reported  with  the  "  Provisional 
Order."  The  Committee's  report  had  been  sent  to  the  directors,  who 
answered  by  a  qualified  refusal  to  obey  the  suggestions  made  in  the 
"Provisional  Order."  Stuyvesant's  return  was  considered  unneces- 
sary; if  additional  information  were  needed,  the  Vice-Director,  Van 
Dincklagen,  could  come  and  give  it.  To  the  proposition  to  invest  the 
Nine  Men  with  the  privilege  of  trying  small  causes,  they  replied  that 
"  it  was  best  to  leave  the  administration  of  justice  in  New  Netherland 
as  it  then  stood."  All  the  papers  went  again  to  a  Committee  and 


STUYVESANT,    THE    LAST    OF    THE    DUTCH    DIRECTORS        277 

copies  of  them  were  sent  to  the  various  chambers  of  the  West  India 
Company.  We  have  here  little  more  to  do  with  the  negotiations 
than  to  say  that  finally  the  "Presiding  Chamber," — i.  e.,  the  Cham- 
ber of  Amsterdam, — to  whom  the  management  of  the  affairs  in  New 
Netherland  had  been  confided  at  the  organization  of  the  Company  by 
the  Assembly  of  the  XIX.,  saw  that  it  was  time  for  them  to  make 
concessions  or  else  lose  control  over  the  province.  Of  these  conces- 
sions the  most  important  was  that  they  consented  to  let  New  Am- 
sterdam have  a  "burgher  government."  The  citizens  were  to  be 
granted  the  privilege  of  electing  magistrates  "  as  much  as  possible 
according  to  the  custom  of  Amsterdam,"  which  was  ruled  by  a  body 
composed  of  a  Schout  or  Sheriff,  two  Burgomasters  or  Mayors,  and 
five  Schepens  or  Aldermen.  "  Every  attention  must  be  paid,"  wrote 
the  directors  to  Stuyvesant,  April  4,  1652,  "  to  honest  and  respect- 
able individuals,  who,  we  hope,  can  be  found  among  the  burghers. 
We  also  wish  that  the  men  elevated  to  office  be,  as  much  as  possible, 
persons  of  our  nation,  which  we  think  will  give  most  satisfaction  to 
the  inhabitants." 

The  above-named  officers  were-  to  sit  as  a  municipal  Court  of  Jus- 
tice, from  whose  decisions  appeals  could  be  taken  to  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  province.  The  Schout  was  to  be  the  law-officer  of  the 
city,  and  to  "preserve,  protect  and  maintain-  the  preeminences  and 
immunities  of  the  West  India  Company,"  as  far  as  these  had  been 
delegated  to  the  magistrates  of  the  city.  His  duties  were  both  ad- 
ministrative and  executive,  for  he  was  charged  with  the  execution 
of  all  judgments  given  by  the  municipal  court,  if  not  appealed,  "  ac- 
cording to  the  style  and  custom  of  the  City  of  Amsterdam." ' 

Before  Stuyvesant  could  receive  news  of  these  concessions  he  had 
himself  amplified  the  powers  of  the  Nine  Men  a  little  (April,  1652) 2  by 
giving  them  the  jurisdiction  suggested  in  the  "  Provisional  Order," 
while  the  States-General  acted  upon  another  suggestion  of  the  Com- 
mittee by  issuing  an  order  for  the  recall  of  Stuyvesant.  The  Am- 
sterdam Chamber  of  the  West  India  Company  declared  this  unexpected 
step  of  the  States-General  a  violation  of  their  charter,  and  in  a  letter 
of  April  27th  advised  him  not  to  hurry  in  his  arrangements  for  the 
voyage,  but  to  wait  further  orders.  Their  remonstrances  to  the 
States-General,  combined  with  the  necessity  of  having  an  experienced 
soldier  in  command  of  the  transatlantic  colony,  when  a  war  with 
England  was  threatening,  led  to  the  rescinding  of  the  order  of  recall. 
The  anticipated  war  began,  and  Stuyvesant  was  admonished  to  put 
New  Amsterdam  and  the  province  in  a  proper  state  of  defense ;  also 

i  The  writer  of  this  chapter  had  a  copy  of  the      sen  ted  it  to  the  State  Library  at  Albany,  but  it  can- 
Schoutroll  of  Amsterdam  made,  about  fourteen      not  now  be  found, 
years  ago,  by  a  friend,  then  in  Holland,  and  pre-         2  N.Y.  Col.  MSS.,  5:  38  and  41. 


278  HISTORY    OF     NEW-YORK 

to  avoid  any  collision  with  the  English  neighbors  east  and  south,  for 
only  then  could  Manhattan  prosper  and  the  "  ships  of  New  Nether- 
land  ride  on  every  part  of  the  ocean ;  then  numbers,  now  looking  to 
that  coast  with  eager  eyes,  will  be  induced  to  embark  for  your  is- 
land." These  Amsterdam  merchants  of  1652  might  have  been  proud  of 
their  far-sightedness,  could  they  have  seen  the  New  Amsterdam  of  1891. 

Stuyvesant  was  never  prompt  in  carrying  out  orders  given  at  Am- 
sterdam, when  his  own  judgment  and  knowledge  of  affairs  in  New 
Amsterdam  made  them  unadvisable,  but  he  would  yield  to  circum- 
stances, especially  when  these  had  a  military  character.  To  carry 
out  the  orders  of  his  superiors  in  regard  to  the  defenses  of*  New  Am- 
sterdam, he  needed  the  cooperation  of  the  people,  which  could  only 
be  obtained  by  the  concession  of  the  demanded  popular  government. 
The  manner  in  which  he  granted  this  concession  is  characteristic  of 
the  man.  The  Amsterdam  Chamber  of  the  West  India  Company 
had  decided  that  the  citizens  of  New  Amsterdam  should  be  allowed 
to  elect  their  magistrates,  but  Stuyvesant  did  not  think  proper  to  go 
quite  so  far.  By  a  proclamation  of  the  2d  of  February,  1653,  he  in- 
formed the  people  that  henceforth  they  were  to  be  ruled  by  two 
Burgomasters  and  five  Schepens  appointed  by  him;  the  Island  of 
Manhattan  became  the  City  of  New  Amsterdam,  even  though  the 
municipal  court  was  not  complete,  as  no  Schout  of  the  city  had  been 
appointed.  Cornells  Van  Tienhoven,  the  Company's  Fiscal,  was  di- 
rected to  act  for  the  city  as  law-officer.  Another  infringement  on 
the  privileges  of  the  new  magistrates  was  that  they  were  denied  the 
right  to  appoint  their  Secretary,  although  the  form  of  government  of 
Amsterdam  had  been  prescribed,  and  in  the  latter  the  Burgomasters 
had  appointed  the  City  Secretary  ever  since  their  own  office  was  es- 
tablished. Stuyvesant  appointed  Jacob  Kip  to  the  office,  promising 
that  if  the  directors  should  send  out  a  man  for  the  place,  he  (Kip) 
should  be  given  another  office  with  an  equally  good  yearly  salary  of 
two  hundred  and  fifty  florins  ($100).1 

The  functions  of  the  new  magistrates  were  at  first  purely  judicial. 
They  sat  every  two  weeks  as  a  Court  of  Sessions  for  the  trial  of  minor 
causes.  The  Court  opened  at  nine  in  the  morning,  and  adjourned  at 
noon.  Absentees  from  the  bench  were  fined  in  a  sliding  scale,  six 
stivers  (12  cents)  for  the  first  half-hour,  twelve  stivers  for  the  second, 
and  forty  stivers  for  not  coming  at  all.  The  administrative  and  legis- 
lative duties  were  as  yet  limited.  When  Stuyvesant  thought  fit  to 
issue  an  ordinance  of  this  nature,  specially  relating  to  the  city,  he 
called  on  the  Burgomasters  and  Schepens  for  their  opinions,  and  in 
this  manner  laid  the  foundations  of  many  of  our  modern  institutions. 

During  the  first  few  months  after  the  organization  of  the  city  gov- 

l  N.  Y.  Col.  MSS.,  5  :  99. 


STUYVESANT,    THE    LAST    OF    THE    DUTCH    DIRECTORS        279 

ernment,  nothing  occurred  to  mar  the  relations  of  the  Director-Gen- 
eral with  the  new  magistrates.  They  conferred  together  about  the 
means  to  defend  the  city  in  case  of  an  anticipated  attack,  as  has 
been  told  above;  funds  were  raised  with  the  aid  of  the  magistrates 
for  the  same  purpose ;  but  colonial  politics,  matters  relating  to  the 
then  existing  war  between  the  Netherlands  and  England,  disturbed 
the  friendly  relations.  An  appeal  to  the  directors  concerning  protec- 
tion of  the  Long  Island  towns  was  talked  of,  but  before  sending  it  a 
remonstrance  was  presented  to  the  Director  and  Council,  which  im- 
mediately widened  the  little  rift  into  a  great  breach  between  the  two 
governing  bodies.  This  breach  was  increased  by  stubbornness  on 
both  sides.  The  magistrates  refused  to  fulfil  their  promise  to  pro- 
vide funds  for  the  repairs  of  the  fort,  and  were  supported  in  their  re- 
fusal by  a  meeting  of  burghers  at  the  City  Hall,  August  2, 1653,  where 
it  was  resolved  "  not  to  contribute  anything  until  the  Director  should 
surrender  the  whole  of  the  wine  and  beer  excise."  Stuyvesant  would 
not  yield,  but  the  lack  of  funds  in  the  treasury  at  last,  in  November, 
compelled  him  to  a  surrender.  The  revenue  from  the  excise  was,  how- 
ever, not  large  enough  to  defray  all  the  public  expenses,  and  in  another 
meeting  the  burghers  declared  their  readiness  to  submit  to  a  tax  levy 
and  "  to  obey  the  Burgomasters  and  Schepens  in  all  things,  as  good 
subjects  are  in  duty  bound." 

Stuyvesant,  it  seems,  had  not  surrendered  the  whole  excise  revenue, 
and  was  now,  November  19th,  told  by  the  magistrates,  that  either  he 
must  give  up  the  entire  excise,  as  then  collected  by  the  Company,  or 
they  would  resign.  But  110 ;  no  further  concessions  were  made  nor 
was  the  collective  resignation  accepted.  The  meditated  appeal  to  the 
directors  had  received  fresh  incentives,  and  was  despatched  on  the  24th 
of  December,  1653,  demanding  power  to  administer  the  city  "  accord- 
ing to  the  form  of  government  of  Amsterdam,  as  far  as  possible,"  the 
right  of  electing  a  City  Schout  or  of  nominating  candidates  for  the 
succession  of  all  the  magistrates.  The  appeal  further  asked  for  a 
surrender  of  the  whole  excise  and  the  authority  of  imposing  taxes 
and  of  leasing  the  ferry  to  Breuckelen,  to  have  a  city  seal,  and  be 
provided  with  arms  and  ammunition  for  the  defense  of  the  place  in 
case  of  attack.  The  directors  answered  with  a  lecture  to  Stuyvesant 
and  another  to  the  magistrates.  Stuyvesant  was  told  that  he  had 
not  acted  vigorously  enough  against  the  ringleaders  of  the  mob,  and 
-should  not  have  condescended  to  answer  their  protests  by  counter- 
protests.  "  For  as  it  is  the  height  of  presumption  in  the  people  to 
protest  against  the  government,  so  the  rulers  prostitute  their  authority 
when  they  pay  only  wordy  attention  to  it  and  dare  not  punish  them  as 
they  deserve."  The  Burgomasters  and  Schepens  were  commanded  to 
keep  quiet  and  allow  themselves  to  be  ruled  by  their  government 


280 


HISTORY     OF     NEW-YORK 


without  resistance,  also  not  to  meddle  in  affairs  of  state  which  did 

not  concern  them. 
The  popular  party  was,  however,  victorious,  and  it  was  Stuy vesant's 

disagreeable   duty   to  communicate   his   own  defeat  to  the  victors. 

"For  good  rea- 
sons and  for  the 
sake  of  peace,"  he 
writes  to  the  Bur- 
gomasters and 
Schepens,  July 
21,  1654,1  "we 
have  resolved  not 
further  to  exam- 
ine what  has  been 
done  by  you  and 
for  the  present 
not  to  make  any 
change.  It  has 
been  decided  that 
we  shall  summon 


GOV.   STUYVKSANT'S  HOME, 
"THE  WHITEHALL,"  iG58. 


you    to 
before 


appear 
us,     the 


ministers  of  the  gospel  being  present,  and  then  to  address  you 
earnestly  in  regard  to  the  errors  in  your  remonstrance  to  us  and 
the  Lords-Directors  of  the  Company.  The  Director  shall  admonish 
you  and  recall  to  your  minds  the  obedience  and  respect  due  to  your 
superiors  in  authority.  Then,  the  matter  having  been  dismissed, 
the  letter  from  the  Lords- Directors  will  be  delivered  and  their  good 
intentions  communicated  to  you." 

The  "  good  intentions  "  were  the  more  or  less  qualified  concessions  of 
the  demands  made  in  the  appeal.  The  city  was  to  have  its  Schout, 
but  his  appointment  should  remain  in  the  hands  of  the  Director  and 
Council.  The  excise  on  beer  and  wine  was  granted  to  them,  but  they 
wTere  to  pay  the  public  salaries.  The  authority  of  levying  taxes 
"  without  offending  the  commonalty  "  was  given,  subject  to  the  con- 
sent of  the  local  authorities.  A  seal  and  a  City  Hall  were  promised, 
but  for  arms  and  ammunition  they  must  apply  to  the  Director  and 
Council.  The  directors  had  themselves  chosen  the  first  Schout,  Joachim 
Pietersen  Kuyter,  and  sent  out  a  commission  for  him,  but  his  scalp  was 
already  adorning  the  belt  of  an  Indian.  Stuyvesant's  first  appointee, 
Jacques  Cortelyou,  a  surveyor  by  profession,  declined  to  act,  and  it  is 
questionable  whether  this  appointment  would  have  been  confirmed 
by  the  directors,  for  they  write  on  hearing  of  it,  November  23, 1654  r 


1  N.  Y.  Col.  MSS..  5:306. 


2  Ib.,  12:  17. 


STUYVESANT,    THE    LAST     OF     THE    DUTCH    DIRECTORS        281 

"  The  man  whom  you  have  appointed  Schout  of  New  Amsterdam  is 
unknown  to  us,  and  we  hope  he  is  capable ;  but,  as  we  had  suggested 
somebody  else,  the  respect  due  from  you  to  us  required  that  you 
should  have  told  us  why  you  did  not  appoint  him."  Upon  the 
refusal  of  the  office  by  Cortelyou,  Stuyvesant  did  not  consider  him- 
self bound  to  appoint  another  City  Schout,  but  he  let  Van  Tienhoven 
attend  to  the  duties  of  this  office  as  before.  The  directors  silently 
acquiesced  in  it,  for  in  their  letter  of  April  26,  1655,1  accompanying 
instructions  for  this  officer,  they  do  not  revert  to  him  by  name,  but 
say,  "Let  the  Fiscal  provisionally  perform  the  duties  of  the  Schout's 
office,  even  though  we  have  been  very  much  in  doubt  concerning  this 
decision,  considering  the  manifold  and  grave  complaints  against  him. 
You  must  admonish  him  to  treat  the  people  well  and  to  endeavor  to 
give  satisfaction." 

The  peace  reestablished  by  these  concessions  to  the  demands  of 
the  popular  party  could  not  be  a  lasting  one,  for  privileges  asked  for 
after  the  appeal  had  been  forwarded  to  Holland,  January  26,  1654, — 
namely,  the  right  to  make  double  nominations,  from  which  the  Di- 
rector should  select  the  successors  of  the  active  magistrates,  and 
compensation  for  their  official  services, — had  partly  been  refused  by 
Stuyvesant,  who  "  for  the  sake  of  peace  and  harmony,  as  well  as  for 
the  welfare  of  the  city,"  continued  the  sitting  officials  for  another 
year,  filling  only  two  vacancies  caused  by  death  and  removal ;  but 
he  allowed  a  salary  of  three  hundred  and  fifty  florins  ($140)  to  each 
of  the  two  Burgomasters  and  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  florins  to  each 
of  the  five  Schepens,  as  they  were  "  for  the  most  part  such  persons 
as  must  maintain  their  houses  and  families  by  trade,  farming,  or 
mechanical  labor."  This  refusal  and  the  lecture  given  them  on  the 
21st  of  July  rankled  in  the  breasts  of  the  magistrates,  and  Stuy- 
vesant soon  gave  them  an  opportunity  to  retaliate.  He  called  on 
them,  August  2,  1654,  for  the  means  of  maintaining  the  civil  and 
ecclesiastical  officers  and  of  supporting  the  military  forces;  also 
for  an  accounting  of  the  city's  revenues.  The  magistrates  ex- 
pressed their  willingness  to  meet  their  share  of  three  thousand 
florins,  one- fifth  of  the  sum  required  to  pay  the  loan  for  repairing 
public  works,  and  sent  in  their  accounts,  which  showed  that  the  sal- 
aries of  the  preachers  had  not  been  paid,  as  promised,  and  that  a 
considerable  sum  had  been  paid  to  Francois  le  Bleue,  the  legal  agent 
who  had  taken  the  last  appeal  to  Holland.  There  were  found  other 
items  which  Director  and  Council  refused  to  allow,  and,  taking  the 
non-payment  on  one  side  and  disallowed  payments  on  the  other  for  a 
pretext,  they  again  took  charge  of  the  excise  for  the  benefit  of  the 
Company.  This  time  the  magistrates  thought  it  best  to  give  way,  in 

l  N.  Y.  CoL  MSS.,  p.  18. 


282  HISTORY     OF    NEW-YORK 

order  to  save  the  right  of  the  excise  to  the  city.  They  could  not  well 
retract  a  promise  made  a  month  before,  June  13,  1654,1  that  when 
called  upon  they  "as  good,  faithful,  and  obedient  citizens"  would 
contribute  as  much  towards  paying  expenses,  past  and  to  come,  as  the 
means  of  the  city  allowed.  The  action  taken  by  prominent  mer- 
chants of  the  city  may  also  have  influenced  the  magistrates.  These 
merchants  had2  told  the  Director  and  Council  that  they  saw  the 
country  in  general,  but  more  especially  New  Amsterdam,  was  in  dan- 
ger, which  delay  only  increased.  They  were  willing  to  make  com- 
mercial sacrifices  and  loan  the  money  needed  to  Stuyvesant  on  his 
word,  but  the  money  so  raised  should  be  administered  by  a  com- 
mittee of  three  citizens,  selected  from  six  whom  the  Burgomasters 
and  Schepens  were  to  nominate. 

The  magistrates  now  offered  to  pay  the  salaries  of  the  city  officers, 
of  one  preacher,  of  one  schoolmaster,  and  some  minor  officials,  but 
Stuyvesant  remained  obstinate  on  the  question  of  allowing  the  officers 
of  the  city,  whose  term  was  about  to  expire,  to  nominate  their  suc- 
cessors ;  and  he  returned  the  excise  to  the  city.  During  his  absence 
in  the  West  Indies,  from  December  24,  1654,  to  July  11,  1655,  the 
Council  became  lenient  in  other  respects.  They  promised  to  pay  for 
necessary  repairs  of  the  Stadthuys  (the  City  Hall)  on  Coenties  Slip, 
February  23,  1655,3  and  before  granting  to  Daniel  Litschoe  the 
right  to  drive  piles  along  his  water-front  on  the  East  River,  near  the 
foot  of  the  present  Broad  street,  they  desired  to  hear  what  petitioner's 
neighbors  had  to  say  about  it.  When  Cornelis  Schut  asked  the  Coun- 
cil for  repeal  of  an  order  given  by  Burgomasters  and  Schepens,  to 
remove  his  salt,  stored  in  the  Stadthuys,  he  was  told  the  building 
belonged  to  the  city;  Council  had  therefore  no  longer  any  jurisdiction 
over  it.4  William  Teller  asked  that  the  City  Grate  on  the  East  River, 
near  the  foot  of  the  present  Wall  street,  and  the  road  might  be  repaired, 
but  was  referred  to  the  magistrates,  as  the  authorities,  to  have  their  sur- 
veyor examine  the  case.5 

Complaints  to  the  directors  of  the  Company  did  not  bring  forth  the 
desired  changes.  The  resumption  of  the  excise  by  Stuyvesant  for  the 
benefit  of  the  provincial  treasury  was  approved,  and  the  magistrates 
were  again  lectured,  May  26, 1655 G :  "  Good  regents  are  bound  to  take 
care  of  the  lands,  cities,  and  people  in  their  charge  and  to  protect  them 
against  violence  and  offense  by  outside  enemies  and  neighbors.  Like- 
wise, a  good  community  is  bound  to  help  in  carrying  the  burdens  arising 
out  of  the  support  of  good  government.  You  must  know  how  much 
trouble  and  expense  we  have  had  before  we  could  bring  the  City  into 
the  present  condition,  but  nevertheless  you  have  so  far  failed  to  find 

i  N.  Y.  Col.  MSS.,  5 :  273.  2  ib.,  p.  279.  3  n>.,  6 :  17. 

4  Ib.,  p.  29.  5  Ib.,  p.  53.  6  Ib.,  12 :  23. 


STUYVESANT,    THE    LAST    OF    THE    DUTCH    DIRECTORS        283 

any  subsidies  among  the  citizens  for  paying  your  expenses,  which  is 
not  only  contrary  to  the  maxims  of  well-governed  cities  and  countries 
but  also  against  the  policy  of  this  State.  We  are,  therefore,  com- 
pelled to  come  to  the  conclusion  that  we  cannot  wait  any  longer  unless 
we  wish  to  see  the  city  of  so  much  promise  for  the  future  fall  into  ruins, 
and  having  considered  how  to  obtain  assistance,  we  impose  the  follow- 
ing tax : 

For  each  morgen  (two  acres  English),  10  stivers  (20  cents)  yearly. 
For  each  head  of  horned  cattle,  20  stivers  (40  cents)  yearly. 
From  the  rent  of  houses,  the  20th  penny.1 

Although  this  order  will  be  communicated  to  you  by  the  Director- 
General  and  Council,  we  have  nevertheless  informed  you  directly  of 
it  so  that  you  may  not  only  set  a  good  example  to  the  community  in 
raising  subsidies,  but  also  animate  them  to  do  their  duty  for  the  best 
of  the  City." 

It  may  be  that  the  easy  victory  gained  over  the  Swedes  on  the  Dela- 
ware in  September,  1655,  or  the  apparent  submission  of  the  Burgo- 
masters in  asking  for  the  appointment  of  Orphan  masters  to  take  care 
of  widows  and  orphans  and  their  property  "  as  it  is  done  at  home," 
had  quieted  Stuyvesant's  imperiousness,  or  something  else  had  influ- 
enced him ;  at  all  events  on  the  18th  of  January,  1656,  he  issued  an  order 
for  the  election  of  Burgomasters  and  Schepens  according  to  the  "in- 
structions granted  to  this  City,"  to  be  held  on  the  day  of  Marine  Can- 
dlemass,  as  at  home,  and  in  the  surrounding  villages.3  Some  rather 
obnoxious  conditions  as  to  who  might  be  elected,  and  the  presence  of 
a  member  of  Council  at  the  nomination,  resulted  in  precisely  what 
Stuyvesant  had  wished  to  avoid.  Men  not  to  his  taste  who  had  for- 
merly opposed  him  were  nominated,  and  he  found  herein  an  excuse  to 
suspend  the  new  order  and  continue  last  year's  magistrates  in  office 
for  another  year. 

The  Burgomasters,  who  had  formerly  been  laggards  in  paying  to 
the  Directors  and  Council  what  they  had  promised  to  pay,  found  now 
that  the  same  shoe  could  also  pinch  their  financial  toe.  They  com- 
plain, February  1,  1656,4  that  many,  yea,  the  majority,  of  those  who 
voluntarily  subscribed  funds  for  paying  the  city's  present  debts  and 
future  expenses  had  failed  to  do  so.  They,  as  treasurers  of  the  city, 
now  were  prevented  from  having  necessary  repairs  carried  out,  and 
asked  Stuyvesant's  assistance  in  forcibly  collecting  the  subscriptions ; 
but  they  were  told  that  as  Burgomasters  and  Schepens  they  had  suf- 
ficient authority  to  compel  unwilling  subscribers  to  fulfil  their  promises. 

It  has  been  already  stated  that  as  early  as  1648  Stuyvesant  made 
an  order  concerning  who  should  and  who  should  not  be  allowed  to 

1  Laws  of  N.  N.,  p.  187.  2  N.  Y.  Col.  MSS. ,  6  :  113.  3  Ib.,  p.  222.  <  Ib.,  p.  263. 


284  HISTORY     OF    NEW-YORK 

trade  within  the  Province,  but  the  order  having  been  vetoed  by  the 
directors  of  the  Company,  "the  Scotchmen  [i.  e.,  unlicensed  peddlers]  in- 
creased in  numbers,  who  come  and  go  every  year,"  say  the  magistrates, 
January  22,  1657,1 "  with  the  ships  from  Fatherland,  who  upon  arrival, 
refusing  to  sell  their  goods  here,  take  them  to  Fort  Orange  [Albany] 
or  elsewhere,  and  having  disposed  of  them  there,  leave  the  country  as 
soon  as  possible,  so  that  this  place  not  only  derives  no  benefits  from 
such  persons,  but  also  great  damage  is  done  to  this  community,  be- 
cause even  eatables,  brought  from  Fatherland,  had  to  be  bought  at 
Fort  Orange  last  summer,  being  cheaper  there  than  here.  Such  trade 
is  directly  contrary  to  Article  12  of  the  Privileges  granted  to  this 
place,  according  to  which  the  staple  right  for  the  whole  of  New  Neth- 
erland  is  vested  in  the  Island  of  Manhates,  reserved  as  the  Company's 
Colony ;  and,  considering  the  burdens  and  taxes  borne  by  the  commun- 
ity and  the  services  done  by  them  as  well  during  the  English  trouble 
as  at  every  other  occasion,  we,  the  Burgomasters  and  Schepens,  ask 
to  be  granted  some  privileges,  the  first  one  of  which  is  the  Burgher 
Right,  found  in  every  well-governed  city.  We  request  that  nobody 
shall  be  allowed  to  keep  shop  here  except  people  known  to  be 
citizens  of  this  place,  and  that  no  person  not  having  real  prop- 
erty and  living  here  may  trade  in  the  surrounding  country.  We 
further  request  that  people  coming  from  the  Fatherland  or  else- 
where to  live  and  trade  here  shall  be  compelled  to  pay  for  their 
Burgher  Right  in  this  City." 

Stuyvesant  had,  by  slow  process,  come  to  the  conviction  that  he 
lacked  the  physical  power  to  rule  the  City  of  New  Amsterdam  and 
the  Province  of  New  Netherland  by  his  will.  He  had  made  several 
concessions  to  popular  government  not  yet  mentioned,  which  briefly 
stated  were :  executions  of  judgments  by  the  magistrates  through  the 
City  Marshal  according  to  Amsterdam  custom ; 2  fees  to  the  city's  offi- 
cers for  recording  deeds  and  other  public  documents ; 3  extension  of 
jurisdiction  allowing  the  City  Court  to  pass  sentence  to  the  extent  of 
whipping  and  branding  in  all  cases  of  misdemeanor  and  criminal  of- 
fenses of  a  minor  character  and  to  execute  the  same,  unless  appeal 
was  taken.4  Now  he  even  went  so  far  as  to  recognize  by  one  of 
his  Ordinances  "the  faithful  and  voluntary  services  and  the  sub- 
mission to  burthens"  evinced  by  the  citizens,  and  without  much 
delay  granted  the  prayer  of  the  magistrates  for  the  introduction  of 
the  important  Dutch  rule  of  "  Burgher  Right,"  which  conveyed  not 
only  commercial  but  also  political  and  legal  privileges,  although  since 
1652,  by  the  division  into  Great  and  Small  Burgher  Right,  it  had  lost 
some  of  its  significance.  The  Ordinance  granting  it  to  the  City  of 

l  N.  Y.  Col.  MSS.,  8 :  427.        2  Laws  of  N.  N.,  p.  186.  What  Amsterdam  custom  was  see  in  Rooseboom,. 
"  Becueil  van  Verscheydene  Keuren,"  p.  34.        3  Laws  of  N.  N.,  p.  266.        *  n>.,  p.  301. 


STUYVESANT,    THE    LAST    OF    THE    DUTCH    DIRECTORS        285 

New  Amsterdam  decreed  that  the  Great  Burgher  Bight   could  be 
given   to : 

1.  Former  and  actual  members  of  the  Provincial  Government. 

2.  Former  and  actual  Burgomasters  and  Schepens. 

3.  Ministers  of  the  Gospel. 

4.  Commissioned  officers,  the  Ensign  included. 

5.  All  who  may  apply  for  it  and  pay  fifty  florins. 

6.  All  the  descendants  in  the  male  line  of  the  foregoing. 

To  Small  Burgher  Eight  were  entitled : 

1.  All  who  had  resided,  keeping  fire  and  light,  in  the  city  for  one 

year  and  six  weeks. 

2.  All  born  in  the  city. 

3.  All  who   have  married,  or  may  hereafter   marry,  native-born 

burghers'  daughters. 

4.  All  who  now,  or  hereafter,  keep  shop  and  carry  on  business,  on 

application  and  payment  of  twenty-five  florins. 

5.  All  employees  in  the  Company's  pay,  and  new-comers  who  may 

intend  to  settle  elsewhere,  provided  they  do  so  within  six  weeks 
after  arrival. 

The  money  to  be  obtained  from  this  source  was  to  go  into  the 
City  Treasury  and  to  be  used  chiefly  for  the  fortifications.  The 
privileges  granted  to  the  great  burgher  were  much  more  important 
than  those  of  his  poorer  neighbor.  Only  men  of  the  great  burgher 
class  were  eligible  to  office ;  they  were  exempt  from  watch  and  other 
military  duty  during  one  year  and  six  months,  and  could  not  person- 
ally be  arrested  by  any  of  the  inferior  courts.  The  small  burgher 
had  only  the  privilege  of  paying  his  fees  and  attending  to  his  business. 
The  list  of  1657  gives  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  names  of  persons 
who  applied  and  received  their  papers. 

The  next  step  in  the  evolution  of  municipal  government  was  an 
order  of  the  Director  and  Council,  March  6,  1657,1  regulating  the 
financial  administration :  "  Whereas  the  Burgomasters  in  office  have 
to  attend  not  only  to  the  business  of  their  position  for  the  benefit  of 
the  City,  but  also  to  their  private  affairs,  the  duties  of  a  Treasurer 
shall  henceforth  be  taken  care  of  by  the  Burgomaster  last  going  out 
of  office." 

Nothing  having  disturbed  the  relations  between  Stuyvesant  and 
the  magistrates  during  the  year  1657,  the  right  to  nominate  their  suc- 
cessors was  conceded  to  the  magistrates,  January  28,  1658.  But  now 
the  creation  of  classes  among  the  citizens  introduced  an  unexpected 

IN.  Y.  Col.  MSS.,  6:469. 


286  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

inconvenience,  for  among  the  twenty  great  burghers  qualified  for  elec- 
tion were  the  Director-General  himself,  the  resident  Domine,  and  some 
women,  and  the  number  of  eligible  persons,  from  whom  seven  were  to 
be  chosen,  had  dwindled  below  that  number,  and  the  already  unpopular 
classification  had  to  be  modified.  But  as  yet  the  election  of  a  Schout  was 
denied,  and  Councilor  Mcasius  De  Sille  continued  to  act  for  the  city. 
The  management  of  the  municipal  finances  furnished  the  next 
cause  for  trouble,  for  although  the  city  had  its  Treasurer,  his  accounts 
were  subject  to  auditing  by  the  Director  and  Council.  In  a  commu- 
nication to  the  city  magis- 
trates of  January  22,  1658, l 
Stuyvesant  and  Council  say 
that  the  accounts  for  the  pre- 
ceding year  are  very  defec- 
tive and  unreliable,  "  for  the 
items  on  the  debtor  side  have 
no  day  nor  datum  to  show 
when  the  money  was  re- 
ceived, and  it  is  presumed 
that  more  has  or  ought  to 
have  been  received  by  the 

ANIMALS  ON  MANHATTAN,  FROM  VAN  DER  DONCK. 

tax  levy;  besides,  there  are 

wanting  the  accounts  for  rent  due  up  to  now, — ie.,  the  middle  of 
December,  or  three-quarters  of  the  year, —  which  would  amount  to 
about  four  thousand  florins.  As  to  the  expenses,  there  are  many  items 
defective  and  not  allowable,  which  need  further  explanations."  The 
explanations  given  by  the  Burgomasters,  February  19,  1658,2  were 
unsatisfactory,  and  the  magistrates,  although  thinking,  as  they  said, 
that  they  had  acted  for  the  best  of  the  city,  were  sent  back  to  their 
Hall,  to  find  better  excuses.  They  had  not  improved  their  position 
by  asking  on  the  day  when  the  preceding  communication  was  under 
consideration  in  the  Council  that,  on  account  of  "  the  scantiness  of 
the  City's  revenues  and  the  many  necessary  repairs  to  public  works," 
the  income  from  the  Weighhouse  might  be  turned  into  the  municipal 
Treasury,  "  according  to  the  good  custom  of  the  Fatherland."3  They 
were  told :  "  The  weighing  of  goods  is  regalia  belonging  to  the  Su- 
preme Authority  or  the  Patroons,  and  the  request  can  therefore  not  be 
granted.  It  is  practicable  at  home,  both  in  cities  and  in  villages, 
where  State  or  Communal  works  are  erected,  because  required  or 
ornamental,  to  call  for  the  money  to  erect  on  the  inhabitants  for 
whose  benefit  they  are  intended,  without  diminishing  the  general  reve- 
nues, which  you,  Burgomasters  and  Schepens,  have  for  some  time 
been  trying  and  still  endeavor  to  do  by  asking  for  this  or  that  domain 

l  N.  Y.  Col.  MSS.,  p.  665.  2  ib.,  p.  738.  3  n,.,  p.  675. 


STUYVESANT,    THE    LAST    OF    THE    DUTCH    DIRECTORS        287 

of  the  Company  or  for  the  imposition  of  taxes  on  Company's  or  citi- 
zens' property.  To  give  our  consent  to  such  proceedings  would  lay  us 
open  to  deserved  blame."  This  controversy  over  municipal  finances 
and  their  administration  was  settled  by  a  brevi  manu  threat  of  Stuy- 
vesant,  that  if  the  city's  accounts  could  not  be  kept  in  better  order, 
the  Company's  receiver  or  some  other  proper  person  would  be  charged 
with  this  duty. 

The  question  of  appointing  a  Schout  for  the  city,  instead  of  having 
him  elected  like  the  other  magistrates,  had  in  the  mean  time  not  been 
settled.  Stuyvesant  continued  to  impose  his  appointees  on  the  city, 
and  the  magistrates  rebelled  by  refusing  to  recognize  Resolved  Wal- 
dron,  the  Deputy  Schout  appointed  in  May,  1658.  Upon  his  complaint 
over  this  treatment,  Burgomasters  and  Schepens  were  told  that  they 
must  recognize  him  as  such,1  but  they  managed,  in  a  quiet  manner,  to 
have  their  own  way.  They  sent  Pieter  Tonneman,  late  Schout  of 
Breuckelen  and  the  other  Dutch  villages  on  Long  Island,  as  their 
choice  to  the  Amsterdam  directors,  and  in  April,  1660,  he  triumphantly 
returned  with  his  commission  as  Schout  of  New  Amsterdam,  and  took 
his  seat  on  the  bench  till  now  occupied  by  De  Sille. 

No  internal  political  strife  disturbed  the  few  remaining  years  of  the 
life  of  the  City  of  New  Amsterdam  before  she  had  to  take  the  present 
name  of  New- York,  a  more  or  less  unwilling  bride  of  the  English 
usurper.  But  some  changes  in  its  institu- 

tions  must  be  noted.    The  inhabitants  were 

,.,,    .    T  ,  .          f 

still  jealous  on  the  subject  01  residence, 

and  at  their  request  Stuyvesant  modified 
the  law  regarding  it  so  that  persons  who  absented  themselves  from  the 
city  for  four  months  "  without  keeping  fire  and  light "  there  should 
lose  their  Burgher  Eight. 

Foreign  politics  began  to  exert  its  influence  on  the  relations  be- 
tween Stuyvesant  and  the  magistrates  of  the  city  during  the  last 
year  of  his  Directorate.  Charles  II.  had  ascended  the  throne  of  Eng- 
land, and  was  beginning  to  think  with  how  much  ingratitude  he 
could  requite  the  hospitality  extended  to  him  during  his  exile  in  the 
Netherlands.  Under  a  grant  from  him  to  his  brother  James,  Duke  of 
York  and  Albany,  the  English  were  taking  possession  of  the  Dutch 
towns  on  Long  Island,  and  New  Amsterdam  was  threatened  by  a  like 
fate,  to  which  in  its  poor  state  of  defense  it  would  easily  have  fallen  a 
victim.  When  Stuyvesant  sought  the  advice  of  the  Burgomasters  and 
Schepens  how  to  avert  such  a  disaster,  they  recommended  that  "  the 
capital,  adorned  with  so  many  noble  buildings  at  the  expense  of  the 
good  and  faithful  inhabitants,  principally  Dutchmen,"  should  be 
thoroughly  fortified,  and  that  troops  in  sufficient  number  should  be 

i  N.  Y.  Col.  MSS.,  p.  1015. 


288  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

enrolled  to  protect  New  Amsterdam  and  the  province,  which  would 
soon  become  an  emporium  to  the  Fatherland.  But  it  was  not  to  be ; 
in  order  that  the  United  States  should  arise,  and  that  New- York 
should  become  the  "  emporium  "  of  the  Western  World,  it  was  neces- 
sary that  New  Netherland  should  be  united  to  the  other  English 
colonies  in  its  neighborhood. 

We  have  so  far  seen  Stuyvesant  in  his  relations  to  New  Amsterdam 
as  the  representative  of  the  directors  of  the  West  India  Company  in 
military,  commercial,  and  political  matters,  but  there  remains  yet  the 
administrator  in  matters  of  importance  to  the  city  seen  from  the 
communal  point. 

The  letter  of  November  14,  1647,  quoted  above,  dated  "  in  our  bed- 
room," closes  with  the  recommendation  to  the  Nine  Men  to  advise 
him  in  regard  to  proper  regulations  about  fires,  "  which  might  break 
out  here  as  well  as  in  other  places.  It  must  be  done  with  the  least 
expense  and  damage  to  the  community."  Two  months  later,  January 
23  and  28,  1648,  he  issued  an  ordinance,  appointing  fire-wardens  and 
forbidding  the  use  of  wooden  chimneys  in  the  houses  between  the 
fort  near  the  present  Bowling  Green  and  the  Fresh  Water,  now  occu- 
pied by  the  Tombs  and  neighborhood.1  Fines  imposed  on  persons 
who  persisted  in  using  wooden  chimneys,  or  in  whose  house  a  fire  broke 
out,  were  to  be  applied  to  the  purchase  of  fire-ladders,  buckets,  and 
hooks.  The  unfortunate  citizen  whom  fire  visited  had  not  only  to 
suffer  loss  of  goods,  but  also  to  pay  twenty-five  florins  ($10)  for  the 
pleasure  of  it.2  In  September  of  the  same  year  the  powers  of  the  fire- 
wardens were  enlarged,  and  they  were  directed  to  visit  every  house 
and  see  that  the  chimneys  were  properly  cleaned,  because  fires  had 
occurred  in  two  places,  occasioned  by  the  negligence  of  certain  per- 
sons who  were  in  the  habit  of  leaving  their  chimneys  uncleaned  and 
of  paying  no  attention  to  their  fires.3 

In  a  place  the  houses  of  which  were  mostly  wooden,  the  enforce- 
ment of  rules  for  the  prevention  of  fires  can  never  be  called  too  harsh, 
but  in  this  case  Stuyvesant  seems  to  have  been  over-lenient.  We 
have  no  distinct  record  of  any  fire  breaking  out  in  the  mean  time, 
except  during  the  Indian  invasion  of  1655,  when  not  the  best- regulated 
fire  department  could  have  done  anything,  but  Stuyvesant  allowed  ten 
years  to  pass  before  his  attention  was  again  called  to  this  matter. 
The  former  ordinances  had  fallen  into  oblivion,  the  possibilities  of 
destruction  of  the  whole  city  had  increased,  because  the  wooden 
houses  were  covered  with  thatched  roofs,  still  had  their  wooden  chim- 
neys, and  stood  in  close  proximity  to  inflammable  haystacks.  A  new 
ordinance  of  December  15,  1657,4  ordered  a  change  of  roofs  and  chim- 
neys and  a  removal  of  the  dangerous  hayricks,  etc.  The  city  magis- 

i  N.  Y.  Col.  MSS.,  4  :  38  and  41.  2  Laws  of  N.  N.,  p.  82.  3  Ib.,  p.  102.  *  Ib.,  p.  322. 


STUYVESANT,    THE    LAST     OF    THE    DUTCH    DIEECTOBS        289 


trates  were  authorized  to  demand  from  every  house,  whether  small  or 
large,  one  beaver  or  eight  florins  ($3.20)  in  wampum,  and  to  procure 
from  the  Fatherland  with  this  money  two  hundred  and  fifty  leathern 
fire-buckets,  also  to  have  some  fire- 
ladders  and  hooks  made.  To  main- 
tain this  establishment  they  may 
yearly  collect  a  chimney  tax  of  one 
florin  for  each.  The  promptness 
with  which  the  magistrates  carried 
out  this  order  must  have  convinced 
Stuyvesant  that  government  by 
and  for  the  people,  limited  though 
it  was  in  1657,  could  accomplish 
more  than  he  had  supposed.  The 
hooks  and  ladders,  made  by  work- 
men in  the  city,  were  soon  placed, 
as  required  by  the  ordinance,  "  at 
the  corners  of  the  streets,  in  public 
houses  and  other  places  convenient 
of  access."  The  difficulties  attend- 
ing the  purchase  in  and  transport 
from  the  Netherlands  of  fire-buck- 
ets induced  the  Burgomasters  to 
try  whether  they  could  not  be  made  in  New  Amsterdam.  Several 
shoemakers  were  called  to  a  meeting  in  the  Council  chamber  of  the 
City  Hall,  August  1,  1658,  and  two  of  them,  Remout  Remoutsen  and 
Arian  Van  Laer,  agreed  to  make  one  hundred  and  fifty  buckets  out  of 
tanned  leather,  for  six  florins  two  stivers  ($2.44)  each,  by  All  Saints' 
Day.  When  delivered  and  numbered  on  the  20th  of  January,  1659, 
they  were  distributed  so  that  fifty  of  them  were  placed  in  the  City 
Hall,  twelve  at  the  inn  of  Daniel  Litschoe  (near  the  intersection  of  the 
present  Broad  and  Pearl  streets),  another  dozen  at  the  house  of  Abra- 
ham Verplank  in  the  Smit's  Valey  (near  the  present  Custom  House), 
and  at  other  convenient  places  to  the  number  of  ten  or  twelve  at  each. 
The  Fire  Department  of  New- York  was  established,  and  can  claim  to 
be  one  of  the  oldest  institutions  of  the  city ! 

The  other  department  to  whose  watchful  energy  the  protection  of 
life  and  property  is  confided  —  the  Police  —  is  not  one  of  Stuyvesant's 
creations,  although  he  issued  ordinances  for  such  protection,  among 
them  the  ordinance  of  May  31,  1647,  against  fighting  with  knives,  a 
frequent  occurrence  in  those  days;  of  June  27, 1652,  against  fast  driv- 
ing through  the  streets,  which  made  it  punishable  for  the  drivers  to  sit 
or  stand  in  their  conveyances;  of  October  9,  1652,  against  shooting 
with  firearms  at  partridges  and  other  game  within  the  limits  of  the 
VOL.  L— 19. 


290  HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YORK 

city.1  A  temporary  night-watch  was  established  by  the  magistrates 
in  1653,  when  the  disagreements  with  the  New  England  people  sug- 
gested a  possible  attack.  The  whole  body  of  citizens  of  suitable  age 
was  then  called  into  service,  with  headquarters  at  the  City  Hall. 

The  restoration  of  friendly  relations  made  such  a  large  force  for 
night  duty  unnecessary,  but  the  previous  alarm  had  in  various  ways 
demonstrated  that  a  night  police  would  be  an  assistance  to  the  Fire 
Department.  After  consultation  with  the  Council  of  War,  composed 
of  the  Director  with  Council  and  the  chief  officers  of  the  troops,  the 
Burgomasters  and  Schepens  resolved  to  apply  for  the  organization  of 
a  "ratelwacht"  of  four  or  six  men,  whose  duty  should  be  to  go  about 
the  city  at  night,  announcing  to  the  night-prowling  evil-doer  their 
whereabouts  by  a  rattle  and  by  calling  out  the  hour.  This  resolution 
was  suggested  "by  consideration  of  the  small  accommodation  and 
convenience  for  the  citizens'  watch  (dissolved  by  the  same  resolution), 
and  likewise  because  of  the  great  cost  of  fire  and  light  for  the  same, 
making  it  burdensome  upon  the  citizens  to  sustain  them  during  the 
winter."  The  Director  and  Council  gave  consent  to  this  organization, 
but  there  the  movement  rested,  probably  because  no  men  could  be 
found  to  take  upon  themselves  the  duties  of  these  new  officers  until 
October,  1658,  when  the  Burgomasters  made  an  arrangement  with 
nine  men,  who  undertook  to  watch  in  detachments  of  four  every  night 
for  the  pay  of  twenty-four  stivers  (48  cents)  each  per  night,  a  gift  of  one 
or  two  beavers,  and  two  hundred  to  three  hundred  sticks  of  firewood. 
The  rules  and  regulations  drawn  up  for  the  guidance  of  this  ratelwacht 
have  more  to  say  about  what  the  watchmen  are  not  to  do  and  the  fines 
therefor  than  about  their  duties.  One  rule  then  made  is  still  in  force, 
though  more  in  the  spirit  than  in  the  letter.  It  says:  "If  a  watch- 
man receive  any  sum  of  money  as  a  fee,  he  shall  give  the  same  to  the 
captain,  and  this  fee  so  brought  in  shall  be  paid  to  the  City  treasurer ." 
These  guardians  of  the  night  were  paid  by  a  monthly  tax  of  fifty 
stivers  ($1.00),  payable  by  each  house  in  the  place. 

Up  to  the  time  of  Stuyvesant's  arrival  at  New  Amsterdam  little  re- 
gard had  been  paid  to  the  boundary-lines  of  the  various  lots.  Owners 
of  such  lots  had  arbitrarily  built  beyond  their  lines  into  the  streets;  we 
see  the  result  of  it  to-day  in  the  crooked  lines  of  some  streets  in  the 
oldest  part  of  the  city.  Stuyvesant  took  immediate  steps  to  remedy 
this  evil,  by  appointing  surveyors  of  streets  and  buildings,  who  were 
given  power  to  prevent  the  erection  of  unsightly  and  improper  build- 
ings in  the  streets,  to  regulate  the  street  lines  according  to  the  land 
patents,  and  to  supervise  the  streets  generally.  People  were  not  al- 
lowed to  build  without  first  having  notified  these  surveyors  of  their 
intentions  and  submitted  their  plans.2  Of  Stuyvesant's  next  endeavor 

l  Laws  of  N.  N.,  pp.  60, 128, 138.  2  Ib.,  p.  74,  July  25,  1647. 


STUYVESANT,  THE  LAST  OF  THE  DUTCH  DIRECTORS   291 

to  have  the  streets  in  good  order,  by  forbidding  the  felling  of  trees 
across  and  the  putting  of  stones  into  the  streets,  we  know  only  through 
references  made  to  it  in  an  ordinance  of  April  9,  1658,  which  says, 
"All  streets,  paths,  and  highways  are  to  be  properly  maintained,  con- 
structed, cleaned,  and  kept  passable  according  to  the  Ordinance  of 
May  23, 1650."1  Another  ordinance  gives  us  a  picture  of  how  the  streets 
of  New  Amsterdam  may  have  looked  at  that  time.  "  The  roads  and  high- 
ways here,"  it  says,  "  are  rendered  difficult  of  passage  for  wagons  and 
carts  on  account  of  the  rooting  of  the  hogs;  therefore,  it  is  ordered 
that  the  inhabitants  put  rings  through  the  noses  of  all  their  hogs.  It 
has  been  seen  that  goats  and  hogs  are  daily  committing  great  damage 
in  the  orchards  and  plantations  around  Fort  Amsterdam ;  therefore,  it 
is  ordered  that  these  animals  be  kept  in  mclosures." 2 

In  November,  1655,,  the  city  magistrates  moved  in  a  direction  which 
greatly  improved  the  appearance  and  condition  of  New  Amsterdam. 
They  wrote  to  the  Director-General  and  Council  that  refugees  (prob- 
ably Swedes  from  the  Delaware)  and  others,  who  had  come  with  the 
intention  of  a  permanent  settlement,  had  asked  for  building-lots  on 
which  they  might  erect  dwelling-houses.  The  magistrates  therefore 
suggested  that  a  proper  survey  of  the  city  might  be  made,  to  know 
what  lots  could  be  given  out.  Stuyvesant  and  Council  understood 
the  situation  and  appointed  the  regular  street-surveyors  with  Burgo- 
master Allard  Anthony  and  Councilor  La  Montagne  a  committee  for 
the  survey  of  all  lots ;  and  lest  any  person  should  take  possession  of 
land  without  legal  authority,  this  committee  was  empowered  to  make 
a  price  for  each  lot ;  from  their  decision  an  appeal  could  be  taken  only 
to  the  Director  and  Council. 

The  survey,  accompanied  by  a  map  now  unfortunately  lost,  was  laid 
before  the  Council  in  February,  1656.3  The  streets  had  been  laid  out 
as  they  should  run,  and  marked  out  with  stakes.  People  who  be- 
lieved themselves  injured  by  it  could  apply  for  redress  to  the  Burgo- 
masters, who  were  given  power  to  make  compensation.  Others  who 
were  ready  to  build  could  have  lots  at  appraised  value,  but  the  original 
owners  were  preferred  in  the  distribution,  if  the  vacant  lots  owned 
by  them  did  not  touch  the  street  line,  until  payment  had  been  made 
therefor  according  to  valuation  and  until  necessity  required  the  dis- 
posal of  them  to  others,  no  other  vacant  lots  being  on  hand.  The 
Burgomasters  were  to  determine  what  streets  and  lots  were  first  to  be 
built  on.  This  law  was  not  as  effective  as  the  authorities  hoped, 
although  the  records  of  land  patents  show  us  that  the  applications  for 
lots  in  New  Amsterdam  became  very  numerous  after  February,  1656. 
The  Burgomasters  having  this  matter  specially  in  charge  held  for 
some  time  daily  sessions  in  the  City  Hall,  to  settle  disputes  between 

l  Col.  MSS.,  16  :  3.  2  Laws  of  N.  N.,  p.  342.  3  n>.,  p.  219. 


292  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

their  officials  and  the  citizens,  and  the  record  of  their  proceedings 
gives  us  an  insight  into  the  administration  of  municipal  affairs  in 
Stuy  vesant's  day.  We  read,  for  instance :  "  Jean  Videt  asks  for  per- 
mission to  build  on  the  land  heretofore  given  to  Daniel  Turneur,  which 
has  not  been  built  on. —  Refused,  because  a  corner  house  should  be 
built  on  that  lot,  while  Videt  only  intends  to  build  small  houses  on  it." 

The  before  quoted  law,  even  if  not  as  effective  as  hoped  for,  had 
done  enough  to  make  Stuyvesant  congratulate  himself  and  the  city 
on  "  the  blessed  increase  of  the  population  and  of  the  trade "  and  to 
enlarge  upon  the  beauties  of  a  well-regulated  city  with  good  dwelling- 
houses  and  large  gardens.  There  were,  however,  still  vacant  lots 
within  city  limits  in  January,  1658.1  All  these  lots  were  now  taxed 
at  the  rate  of  the  fifteenth  penny  of  their  value,  as  appraised  by  the 
owners,  who  were  allowed  this  privilege  to  avoid  complaints  of  too 
high  a  valuation.  The  Burgomasters  were  allowed  to  take  any  vacant 
lot  at  the  owner's  valuation,  if  not  built  upon,  and  grant  it  to  another 
man.  The  tax  ceased  as  soon  as  a  house  was  built,  but  no  dwelling- 
houses  were  to  be  built  near  or  under  the  walls  and  gates  of  the  city. 

Of  only  a  few  streets  are  the  dates  when  they  were  first  paved 
known.  There  ran,  and  still  runs,  a  street  from  Whitehall  to  Broad 
street,  called  by  the  Dutch  the  Brouwer  (Brewer)  street,  from  several 
breweries  lying  on  it.  The  people  living  on  this  street  petitioned  the 
Burgomasters,  March  15, 1657,  to  have  it  paved  with  cobble-stones,  as 
it  was  becoming  more  and  more  unfit  for  travel.  It  is  supposed  that 
this  was  the  first  street  paved  in  New  Amsterdam,  and  that  the  name 
which  it  has  now,  of  Stone  street,  was  given  to  commemorate  this 
event.  The  expenses  for  the  work  were  assessed  on  the  residents  in 
the  street.  The  Winckel  (Shop)  street,  which  is  now  closed,  but  ran 
from  Broad  street  diagonally  through  the  blocks  where  the  Mills 
Building  and  the  United  States  Custom  House  now  stand,  was  paved 
like  Brugh  (Bridge)  street  in  1658. 

The  busy  crowd  now  daily  surging  up  and  down  Broad  street  will 
scarcely  believe  that  two  hundred  years  ago  cargoes  of  various  kinds 
were  being  loaded  in  and  unloaded  from  vessels,  which  then  could  and 
did  come  as  far  up  as  where  Exchange  Place  now  enters  into  Broad 
street.  On  the  east  side  of  it  was  the  Prince's  Graft,  extending  into 
Beaver  street,  with  ten  or  twelve  dwelling-houses  on  it.  A  city  ordi- 
nance of  1660  tells  us  that  it  was  a  creek  going  into  the  Heere  Graft 
(Broad  street),  and  that  the  roads  on  both  sides  of  this  run  of  water 
were  ordered  to  be  paved,  each  resident  paving  the  portion  before  his 
own  door.  The  Heere  Graft  presented  the  conveniences  of  a  landing- 
place  without  the  expenses  of  a  dock,  and  therefore  the  authorities 
took  especial  care  in  preserving  its  banks  and  keeping  the  bottom 

l  Laws  of  N.  N.,  p.  325. 


STUYVESANT    THE    LAST    OF    THE    DUTCH    DIRECTORS        293 

clear.  Artificial  sidings  of  wood  to  prevent  the  caving  in  of  the  banks 
were  commenced  in  1657,  and  at  the  same  time  ordinances  against 
throwing  filth  and  offal  into  the  water  of  the  Heere  Graft  were  issued, 
with  heavy  penalty  for  their  violation.  This  work,  on  which  only 
three  laborers  were  employed  during  the  open  season,  was'  completed 
in  1659,  and  then  the  Deputy  Schout,  or  Sheriff,  was  made  "  Officer  of 
the  Graft,"  whose  duty  it  was  "  to  see  that  the  newly  made  graft  was 
kept  in  order,  that  no  filth  was  cast  into  it,  and  that  boats,  canoes,  and 
other  vessels  coming  into  it  were  laid  in  order.  A  petition  of  resi- 
dents along  the  Graft  was  presented  to  the  Burgomasters  and  Sche- 
pens  in  1660,  asking  that  the  street  might  be  paved  with  key-stones. 
It  was  so  ordered,  and  the  residents  were  called  upon  to  pay  2792 
florins  ($1096.80)  for  the  work.  This  made  the  street  one  of  the 
most  considerable  thoroughfares  for  commerce  and  trade,  a  character 
which  it  has  not  lost  yet,  although  the  call  "Ahoy,"  coming  across  the 
water,  is  no  longer  heard  in  it.  A  bridge  crossed  it  near  its  outlet  at 
the  junction  with  Bridge  street,  and  possibly  there  were  other  pas- 
sages over  it  along  its  course. 

At  or  near  the  intersection  of  Bridge  street  and  the  Graft  stood  the 
principal  buildings  of  interest  to  the  merchant,  the  Weighhouse,  the 
Company's  Storehouses,  and  there  was  the  place  where  merchandise 
was  taken  in  or  discharged.  We  must  again  read  original  records  to 
understand  the  use  and  conveniences  of  this  place,  called  the  "Hoofd" 
(head),  to  the  merchants  and  people  of  the  city.  The  Burgomasters 
and  Schepens  write  to  the  Director-General  and  Council,  October  9, 
1658 :  "  Much  inconvenience  arises  to  the  burghers  and  inhabitants 
here  at  this  time  from  the  condition  of  the  floating  dock  at  the  bridge 
where  they  have  before  this  landed  with  little  trouble  their  goods  and 
merchandise,  and  could  easily  load  and  unload  vessels  coming  up  to 
it ;  we  request  you  therefore  to  allow  that,  for  their  own  accommoda- 
tion, these  merchants  and  inhabitants  may  make  a  hoist  for  loading 
or  unloading  yachts,  sloops,  and  schooners ;  also,  that  you  will  make 
a  tariff  of  fees  for  the  use  of  it."  The  answer  was  short  but  favora- 
ble, although  it  had  taken  the  Council  more  than  a  month  to  frame  it. 
It  says,  November  14,  1658:  "The  petitioners  have  permission  to 
make  a  good  and  substantial  hoist,  after  the  finishing  of  which  they 
shall  receive  for  every  load  that  this  crane  shall  handle  eight  stivers 
(16  cents),  less  quantities  in  proportion."  . 

The  Heere  Graft  had  an  inlet  running  westward  into  that  part  of 
our  present  Beaver  street  which  is  between  Broad  and  Whitehall 
streets.  Does  its  name  come  from  beavers  having  been  found  as  its 
denizens  by  the  first  settlers,  or  from  the  trade  in  beaver-skins  being 
mostly  carried  on  here  ?  The  character  of  the  soil  along  the  banks 
of  this  inlet  suggests  that  during  wet  seasons  this  thoroughfare  must 


294 


HISTOBY    OF     NEW-YORK 


have  been  almost  impassable.  It  was  not  made  a  respectable  street  in 
Stuyvesant's  time. 

On  the  north  side  of  Fort  Amsterdam,  and  almost  under  its  walls, 
was  a  grass  plot  which  some  of  the  very  oldest  inhabitants  of  modern 
New- York  recollect  as  the  gathering-place  of  the  beau  monde  in  their 
younger  days.  From  this  Bowling  Green  a  wide  but  thinly  populated 
street  stretched  up  the  hill  to  the  north.  It  was  the  principal  street 
to  go  out  of  the  city  through  the  "  Landpoort,"  the  gate  in  the  wall 
standing  along  Wall  street.  Its  name,  Heeren  straat  (the  Gentlemen's 
street),  indicated  that  even  then  it  was  considered  as  the  principal 
street  of  the  city,  and  it  is  so  now  as  Broadway.  The  houses  facing 
Bowling  Green,  which  had  in  earlier  days  been  the  town  market- 
place, were  called  hence  the 
Marckvelt  (Marketfield),  and 
from  it  the  Marckvelt  Steegie, 
now  Marketfield  street,  led  to 
the  Heere  Graft. 

The  street  then  most  thickly 
settled  was  behind  the  fort,  and 
has  not  changed  its  name  of 
Pearl  street,  but  it  extended 
only  from  State  to  Whitehall 
streets.  Starting  from  its  begin- 
ning at  the  corner  of  State 
street  stood  a  number  of  houses, 
fronting  the  bay ;  between  these 
houses  and  the  river  banks  ran 
a  road  called  "Het  Water"  (the  Water).  Next  to  Broadway  in  impor- 
tance was  a  thoroughfare  leading  from  the  bridge  over  the  outlet  of 
the  Heere  Graft  along  the  East  River  to  the  Water  Gate,  the  egress 
from  the  city  near  the  present  crossing  of  Wall  and  Pearl  streets. 
In  1661  this  Hooghe  (High)  street  contained  forty-one  dwelling- 
houses,  several  small  shops,  and  the  City  Hall.  Wall  street,  so  called 
because  the  palisades  stood  along  the  south  side  of  it,  was  then  not 
the  busy  street  which  it  is  to-day.  By  law  no  dwelling-houses  could 
be  built  there.  There  were  in  New  Amsterdam  only  three  more 
streets,  the  Smits  Valey,  now  South  William  street,  following  a  val- 
ley which  descended  into  the  East  River,  the  Smee,  and  the  Glass- 
makers  streets,  the  precise  location  of  which  has  been  lost. 

William  Beekman,  later  Vice-Director  of  the  colony  on  the  South 
or  Delaware  River,  received  by  patent  of  June  20,  1655,1  land  beyond 
the  Fresh  Water  or  Kalck  Hoeck  or  Collect,  and  soon  after  had  trouble 
with  his  neighbors,  who  claimed  a  right  of  way  through  his  land  for 

i  Patents  H.  H.,  p.  55. 


THE    WATER    GATE,    FOOT    OP    WALL    STREET. 


STUYVESANT,    THE    LAST    OF    THE    DUTCH    DIEECTOBS        295 

their  cattle  pasturing  on  the  Commons,  which  they  said  had  been  done 
even  before  their  time.  This  was  probably  the  beginning  of  Beek- 
man  street,  which  for  many  years  to  come  remained  outside  of  the 
city  and  was  not  made  a  street  until  1734. 

In  March,  1658,  it  had  been  resolved  to  make  a  settlement  at  the 
northeastern  end  of  the  Island  of  Manhattan,  "  for  the  promotion  of 
agriculture  and  as  a  place  of  amusement  for  the  citizens  of  New  Am- 
sterdam." This  settlement,  New  Haerlem,  has  remained  a  place  of 
amusement  until  the  present  day,  and  the  road  which  the  Director 
and  Council  then  promised  the  inhabitants  to  build  is  now  one  of  the 
great  arteries  of  busy  life,  known  as  the  Bowery  and  Third  avenue. 

The  southern  end  of  Manhattan  Island  has  grown  in  width  from  the 
North  to  the  East  Eiver  since  the  day  when  Director-General  Stuy- 
vesant  ruled.  High  tides  would  bring  the  water  nearly  up  to  the 
City  Hall,  fronting  the  East  River  near  the  head  of  the  present  Coen- 
ties  Slip.  The  access  to  the  City  Hall  was  under  such  conditions 
most  inconvenient,  and  this  gave  occasion  for  the  construction  of  a 
siding  of  wood,  protecting  the  shore  by  preventing  the  land  from 
being  washed  out  and  by  its  height  serving  as  a  barrier  against  the 
overflow  of  water.  This  siding,  the  "  Schoeyinge,"  at  Coenties  Slip 
was  begun  in  1655.  In  August  of  that  year  "  Sybout  Claesen  made 
representation  that  he  had  been  employed  to  build  the  Schoeyinge, 
but  that  the  water  prevented  the  work." 

The  people  living  on  that  road  along  the  East  River  which  is  now 
Pearl  street  suffered  in  their  private  capacity  as  citizens,  as  much  as 
the  frequenters  of  the  City  Hall,  from  the  inconvenience  of  having  the 
waves  of  the  river  dash  up  to  their  very  doors.  Upon  their  represen- 
tation the  Magistrates  ordered  therefore,  early  in  1656,  that  this  lining 
should  be  continued  from  the  City  Hall  to  the  Water  Gate,  near  where 
Pearl  and  Wall  streets  now  meet.  This  work  was  to  be  done  by  the 
owners  of  the  lots  running  down  to  the  river,1  but  the  order  men- 
tioned above  was  not  generally  complied  with,  as  the  following  ordi- 
nances of  the  Burgomasters  and  Schepens,  September  25, 1656,2  tell  us: 
"Whereas  the  Schoeyinge  is  as  yet  only  made  near  the  Water  Gate  at 
the  East  River,  it  is  necessary,  not  only  for  the  good  of  the  City  in 
general,  but  specially  for  the  benefit  of  the  people  living  there  along 
the  Strand,  that  it  be  immediately  completed.  The  Burgomasters  and 
Schepens  therefore  ordain  that  all  persons  who  have  houses  or  lots 
along  the  river  between  the  City  Hall  and  the  Water  Gate  forthwith 
proceed  to  build  up  and  line  the  same  with  boards  before  their  respec- 
tive lots,  under  a  penalty  of  twenty-five  florins  ($10)  if  not  done." 

This  was  the  beginning  of  the  lateral  territorial  expansion  of  Man- 
hattan Island  into  the  East  River,  which  we  cannot  follow  up  here,  as 

l  N.  Y.  Col.  MSS.,  8 :  305,  310.  2  "  New  Amsterdam  Records,"  not  paged. 


296  HISTOBY    OF    NEW-YOBK 

the  further  encroachments  on  the  water  on  both  sides  of  the  island 
took  place  at  later  dates.  The  land  immediately  and  daily  washed 
by  the  river  across  the  road  between  the  houses  and  the  water 
was  mostly  granted  to  the  owner  of  the  opposite  lot  fronting  on  the 
street,  on  condition  that  if  it  should  be  needed  for  a  wall  or  a  breast- 
work in  the  city's  fortifications  as  much  as  was  required  should  be 
given  up  for  that  purpose.  Daniel  Litschoe,  the  innkeeper  at  the 
foot  of  Broad  street,  was  the  first  to  take  advantage  of  the  rule  con- 
cerning such  land  on  the  water's  edge,  and  he  was  also  the  first  to 
build  a  wharf  into  the  water  and  lay  the  foundation  of  future  encroach- 
ments upon  the  East  River. 

Solicitude  for  the  Company's  revenues  to  be  derived  from  duties 
seems  to  have  been  the  reason  for  the  port  regulations  of  July  4, 1647, 
which  directed  vessels  under  fifty  tons  burden  of  every  nationality 
desiring  to  anchor  under  the  Manhattans,  to  do  so  in  front  of  the  city 
between  Capske  Point,  the  rocks  over  which  Castle  Garden  is  built, 
and  the  guide-board  near  the  City  Tavern,  later  the  City  Hall,  at 
Coenties  Slip ;  larger  ships  were  to  lie  further  up  to  the  second  guide- 
board  near  the  Smits  Valey  (William  street).  Goods  were  not  to  be 
discharged  until  entry  had  been  made  at  the  Custom  House,  and  then 
not  between  sunset  and  sunrise.  Nine  years  later  the  anchorage 
ground  in  the  East  River,  as  allotted  in  1647,  had  grown  too  small, 
and  it  became  necessary  to  open  such  a  place  in  the  North  River ;  the 
space  in  front  of  and  near  the  Beaver  path  was  so  designated. 

The  intercourse  between  New  Amsterdam,  the  Esopus  District, 
Fort  Orange,  Fort  Nassau  on  the  Delaware,  and  the  Long  Island 
towns  did  not  yet  warrant  the  establishment  of  postal  facilities.  But 
already  in  1652  the  directors  of  the  Company  have  occasion  to  write 
to  Stuyvesant  concerning  transatlantic  mails,  for  which  New- York  is 
now  the  great  starting-point.1  "For  the  accommodation  of  private 
parties,"  they  say,  "  who  often  give  their  letters  for  New  Netherland 
to  one  or  the  other  sailor  or  free  merchant,  from  which  practice  result 
many  delays  in  the  delivery  of  letters  and  subsequent  losses  to  the 
writers  and  their  friends  there,  the  letters  being  laid  in  the  bottom 
of  chests  or  the  bearers  going  to  other  places,  we  have  fastened  a  box 
at  the  New  Warehouse,  where  we  now  hold  our  meetings,  for  the  col- 
lection of  all  letters,  to  be  sent  out  by  the  first  ship  sailing.  We  have 
deemed  it  advisable  to  inform  you  thereof,  so  that  you  may  do  the 
same  in  New  Netherland  and  send  the  letters,  for  the  sake  of  greater 
safety,  in  a  bag  addressed  to  us.  We  shall  hand  them  to  whom  they 
belong.  People  expecting  letters  usually  come  to  the  Warehouse." 
Stuyvesant  may  have  considered  this  an  unnecessary  innovation,  or 
may  have  feared  that  accusations  against  him  would  by  such  facilities 

IN.  Y.  Col.  MSS.,  11:71. 


STUYVESANT,    THE    LAST    OF    THE    DUTCH    DIRECTORS        297 


THE    SCHOEYINGE    ALONG    THE    EAST    RIVER. 


only  so  much  surer  reach  his  superiors;  he  evidently  paid  no  attention 
to  the  directors'  suggestion,  for  in  November,  1654,1  they  write:  "-Some 
time  ago  great  complaints  were  made  to  us  about  the  bad  delivery  of 
private  letters  coming  from 
New  Netherland,  which  often 
are  kept  back  two  or  three 
weeks,  or  are  not  delivered  at 
all,  thereby  causing  great  in- 
conveniences to  merchants 
and  others;  therefore,  we  di- 
rect you  hereby  to  have  a  box 
or  case  made  for  collecting 
such  letters,  then  to  have  them 
well  packed,  and  to  give  them 
to  the  supercargoes  of  the  ships 
sailing  hitherward  with  orders 
to  deliver  the  packages  to  us  for  distribution."  It  was  necessary  to 
repeat  this  order  in  September,  1655,  and  to  suggest  that  the  letter- 
box be  affixed  at  the  Company's  Storehouse  or  some  other  convenient 
place.3 

Although  from  the  earliest  time  of  settlement  on  Manhattan  Island 
grain  was  cultivated,  the  right  to  turn  such  grain  into  flour  or  grits,  as 
well  as  the  right  to  produce  building  material  by  sawing  the  trees 
found  on  the  island  into  the  required  lumber,  had  remained  a  preroga- 
tive of  the  Company.  A  sawmill,  probably  worked  by  the  tide  in  the 
river,  was  erected  on  Nooten  Island.  Stuyvesant  found  this  mill  com- 
pletely ruined  and  useless,  and  in  January,  1648,  he  and  the  Council 
resolved  that  the  best  advantage  of  the  Company  required  it  to  be 
dismantled  by  removing  the  ironwork  from  it  or  burning  the  whole.4 
The  grist-mill  had  always  been  an  expensive  burden  to  the  Company 
through  frequent  and  extensive  repairs,  which  the  rent  for  it  did  not 
pay.  Here  also  Stuyvesant  made  a  change,  by  appointing  a  miller, 
August  15, 1648,5  at  forty  florins  ($16)  monthly  wages,  who  was  ordered 
not  to  grind  any  grain  for  which  no  certificate  from  the  Controller  of 
the  Mill  Revenue  was  produced.  William  Bogardus,  son  of  the  famous 
Anneke  Jans,  was  promoted  to  this  place  of  Controller  from  a  clerk- 
ship in  the  Company's  offices,  September  27, 1656.°  The  experiment 
running  the  mill  directly  for  account  of  the  Company  did  not  pay,  and 
in  March,  1658,  it  was  resolved  to  let  it  again  to  the  highest  bidder,  if 
possible.  No  highest  bidder  seems  to  have  appeared,  for  a  few  weeks 
later  the  monopoly  of  milling  was  voluntarily  given  up  by  Stuyvesant, 


IN.  Y.  Col.  MSS.,  12:  17. 

2  The  Schoeyinge,  or  Siding  of  Boards,  was  built 
by  Stuyvesant  along  a  portion  of  the  East  River 
shore  and  completed  in  1656. — EDITOR. 


3N.  Y.  Col.  MSS.,  p.  31. 

4  Ib.,  4:355. 

5  Ib.,  p.  409. 

6  Ib.,  8:223. 


298  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

when  Abraham  Pietersen,  a  miller,  petitioned  that  the  permission 
given  him  in  September,  1657,  to  put  up  a  watermill  at  the  Fresh 
Water,  might  be  so  far  extended  that  he  could  set  it  up  on  the  Strand. 
A  simple  "  Fiat,  ut  petitur  "  (Let  it  be  done,  as  asked)1  was  the  answer. 

As  another  chapter  will  state  the  manner  in  which  Stuyvesant  took 
care  of  the  spiritual  welfare  of  his  "  good  subjects,"  only  what  he  did 
for  their  bodily  conditions  will  be  related  here.  The  Company  had 
from  the  beginning  of  settlement  kept  a  surgeon  in  the  colony  at  their 
expense  to  look  after  the  health  of  their  employees.  Soon  after  Stuy- 
vesant's  arrival  the  directors  found  that  many  free  men — i.  e.,  not  in 
pay  of  the  Company  —  emigrated  to  the  colony  on  the  Hudson,  and 
doubts  arose  in  their  minds  whether  they  should  further  keep  a  medi- 
cal man  in  their  service  or  allow  all  who  wished  to  practise  their  pro- 
fession independently.2  Three  such  practitioners  are  known  to  have 
made  pills  and  sold  Vienna  drink3  to  the  good  people  of  New  Amster- 
dam in  1652.  They  petitioned  the  Director  and  Council,  February  12, 
1652,  that  only  they  should  have  the  right  to  shave,  but  were  told  that 
properly  shaving  was  not  a  surgeon's  business,  but  only  an  incidental 
appendage  of  it,  and  that  no  one  could  be  prevented  from  serving  him- 
self nor  from  assisting  a  friend  as  long  as  it  were  done  out  of  courtesy 
and  not  for  pay,  nor  an  open  shop  kept  for  the  purpose,  which  is  here- 
by forbidden.4  But  these  surgeons  of  New  Amsterdam  were  pro- 
tected against  competition  by  ships'  barbers,  who  had  committed  great 
mistakes  in  surgical  treatment  of  some  patients  on  shore.  They  were 
henceforth  not  allowed  to  treat  shore  patients  without  the  knowledge 
and  consent  of  the  city's  surgeons. 

Master  Jacob  Hendricksen  Varrevanger  had  for  some  time  been  the 
Company's  surgeon,  and  as  such  found  that  soldiers  and  other  em- 
ployees of  the  Company,  when  sick,  could  not  have  the  care  their  ill- 
ness required.  "  He  is  sorry  to  learn,"  he  says  in  a  report  to  Director 
and  Council,  December  12,  1658 5,  "that  such  sick  people  must  suffer 
much  through  cold,  inconveniences,  and  the  dirtiness  of  the  people  who 
have  taken  the  poor  fellows  into  their  houses,  where  bad  smells  and 
filth  counteract  all  health-producing  effects  of  the  medicaments  given 
by  him,  the  surgeon.  Death  has  been  the  result  of  it  in  several  cases, 
and  more  deaths  will  follow."  He  requests,  therefore,  that  by  order 
of  the  Director  and  Council  a  proper  place  might  be  arranged  for  the 
reception  of  such  patients,  to  be  taken  care  of  by  a  faithful  person, 
who  is  to  assist  them  bodily,  with  food,  fire,  and  light :  soldiers  to 
pay  for  it  out  of  their  wages  and  rations  —  Company's  negroes  to  be 
attended  at  Company's  expense,  or  as  thought  most  advisable.  He 
was  directed  to  look  up  such  a  place  and  person,  and  report.  The 

l  N.  Y.  Col.  MSS.,  pp.  774,  800.  2  Ib.,  11 : 18.  3  Rhubarb,  senna,  and  port-wine. 

*  N.  Y.  Col.  MSS.,  5  :  18.  5  Ib.,  8 :  1062. 


STUYVESANT,    THE    LAST    OF    THE    DUTCH    DIEECTOES        299 


Letter  from  Director  Stuyvesant 
to  Ensign  Smith  at  Esopus  : 

Honorable,  Valiant  [Sir]  :  We  re- 
ceived by  the  yacht  of  Dirck  Smith 
your  favor  of  the  5th  of  April,  from 
which  we  learned  of  your  expedi- 
tion against  the  savages  which  (al- 
though you  suffered  no  loss,  and 
did  them  also  little  damage)  we  still 
approve,  and  you  must  continue 
these  proceedings  cautiously,  when 
they  return  in  such  manner,  espe- 
cially after  the  plowing  and  sowing 
has  been  done,  the  accelerating  of 
which  we  urge  upon  you  most  ear- 
nestly, and  that  this,  the  one  and 
the  other,  may  be  done  with  more 
order  and  safety,  we  shall  send  you 
herewith  25  to  26  soldiers,  among 
whom  are  two  volunteers,  accord- 
ing to  the  inclosed  list,  besides  also 
some  provisions,  among  them  an 
anker  of  brandy  and  one  of  strong 
water,  to  be  issued  according  to 
your  discretion  to  t,hose  who  may 
need  it  and  are  sick.     As  to  the 
three  horses  killed  in  the  last  af- 
fair, their  owners  shall  receive  a 
proper  and  fair  indemnity  or  be 
supplied  in  time  with   others  in 
their  place.    You  must  by  occasion 
inquire  from  the  prisoners  where 
the  women  and  children  of  the  sav- 
ages keep  themselves,   also  what 
savages  of  other  tribes  give  assist- 
ance to  the  Esopus,  and  furnish  us 
as  far  as  possible  with  the  names 
of  these  savages,  and  give  us  at 
every  occasion  pertinent  informa- 
tion and  report.     If  you  should  re- 
quire still  more  seed-corn  and  there 
is  time  enough  to  get  it  into  the 
ground,  please  to  inform  me  by  the 
first  opportunity.    No  more  for  the 
present.    I  commend  you  to  God's 
protection  with  my  greetings. 
Your  affectionate  friend, 

P.  S. 
Adii,  15th  April,  1660. 


STUYVESANT'S  LETTER,  iceo. 


300  HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YOEK 

first  hospital  of  New- York  was  established,  and  on  the  20th  of  Decem- 
ber, 1658,  Hilletje  Wilbruch,  the  wife  of  Cadet  Tobias  Wilbruch,  was 
appointed  its  matron  with  a  yearly  salary  of  one  hundred  florins. 
The  same  Master  Varrevanger,  with  his  colleagues  Kierstede  and 
Jacob  N.,  held  the  first  coroner's  inquest,  in  February,  1658,  on  the 
body  of  Bruyn  Barentsen,  who  had  been  beaten  by  Jacob  Eldersen, 
but  they  found  the  beating  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  death,  as,  after 
receiving  it,  Bruyn  had  been  able  to  row  across  to  Breuckelen. 

Stuy  vesant  was  not  a  "  teetotaler " ;  in  fact,  no  apostle  of  the  doc- 
trine of  total  abstinence  had  as  yet  arisen  in  his  days.  Nevertheless  he 
kept  a  watchful  eye  on  the  liquor  traffic  in  New  Amsterdam,  as  well 
as  in  the  whole  province,  with  twofold  intentions,  the  one  moral  and 
the  other  financial.  He  had  been  only  a  few  days  at  the  seat  of  his 
new  government,  when,  on  May  31,  1647,  he  issued  an  ordinance 
against  tippling  during  the  hours  of  divine  service,  which  was  followed 
by  one  of  July  1,  1647,  against  the  sale  of  liquor  to  Indians,  under  a 
penalty  of  five  hundred  florins.  The  seller  was  to  be  held  responsible 
for  all  the  injuries  and  damages  inflicted  by  a  red  man  when  under 
the  influence  of  liquor.  After  the  bell  had  announced  the  hour  of 
nine  in  the  evening,  no  intoxicating  drinks  were  to  be  sold  to  any  one. 
A  few  days  later,  July  4th,  he  pointed  out  through  the  medium  of  a 
new  ordinance  how  the  revenue  could  derive  benefits  from  the  traffic 
in  wine  and  liquor. 

There  are  no  means  of  knowing  how  productive  this  excise  on 
wine,  beer,  and  distilled  waters  became,  but  it  appears  as  if  Stuyve- 
sant  were  not  satisfied  with  the  operations  of  his  ordinance  after  a 
trial  of  eight  months,  for  on  the  10th  of  March  he  issued  a  new  one 
to  regulate  the  taverns,  by  which  each  tavern-keeper  was  obliged  to 
register  his  name  in  the  Company's  office  and  take  out  a  license. 
Within  a  week  twelve  tavern-keepers  obeyed  this  order,1  but  an  order 
of  July  8,  1648,2  makes  it  evident  that  these  twelve  were  not  all  the 
men  who  came  within  the  provisions  of  the  ordinance,  for  it  says : 
"  The  excise  on  beer  and  wine  is  not  promptly  paid ;  therefore  ordered, 
that  the  Receiver  shall  not  issue  an  excise  license  to  any  one  until  he 
has  paid  for  it."  Licenses  to  keep  a  tavern  were  much  more  quickly 
withdrawn  than  to-day ;  no  political  influence  helped  the  tavern- 
keeper,  if  any  disturbance  happened  at  his  place  which  showed  that 
liquor  was  the  cause  of  it.  Gerrit  Jansen  Clomp  had  been  drinking 
at  the  house  belonging  to  Abraham  Pietersen,  and  in  a  quarrel  with 
his  boon  companions  had  been  killed.  Result :  the  license  of  Abraham 
Pietersen,  to  sell  liquor  for  use  in  his  house  or  to  be  carried  away,  is 
according  to  custom  withdrawn  until  further  orders.3  Before  the  ex- 
cise was  resigned  to  the  officers  of  the  city,  the  Director  and  Council 

l  N.  Y.  Col.  MSS.,  4 :  372.  2  ib.,  p.  392.  3  n>.,  p.  398. 


STUYVESANT,    THE    LAST    OF    THE    DUTCH    DIKECTOBS        301 

were  called  upon  to  decide  the  question  whether  patent  medicines 
came  within  the  operation  of  excise  duties.  Pieter  Le  Feber,  a 
French  Huguenot,  had  petitioned  for  permission  to  sell  certain  waters 
prepared  by  him  for  medicinal  uses.  The  desired  permit  was  given, 
but  the  Council  were  in  doubt  about  the  legality  of  their  action,  be- 
cause brewers,  wholesale  dealers,  including  distillers,  were  usually 
not  allowed  to  keep  a  tavern  arid  sell  beer  or  wine  at  retail.  But  as 
the  petitioner  claimed  many  virtues  for  his  decoction,  an  exception 
was  made  in  his  favor,  and  he  might  sell  his  wonderful  water  at 
wholesale  and  retail  in  his  house.  Here  we  have  the  forerunner  of  our 
present  patent  medicines,  established  at  New  Amsterdam  in  1653.' 

The  incorporation  of  the  City  of  New  Amsterdam  had  naturally 
thrown  heavy  financial  burdens  on  the  Burgomasters  and  Schepens. 
In  a  conversation  with  them,  Stuyvesant  had  promised  that  from 
November  1,  1653,  the  excise  on  liquors  should  be  paid  into  the  City 
Treasury  and  no  longer  to  the  Company.  But  the  month  had  nearly 
expired  without  a  written  fulfilment  of  the  promise.  Anxious  for 
their  standing  before  the  community,  the  magistrates  wrote  to  the 
Director  and  Council  on  the  25th  of  November:  "The  Director- 
General  has  on  the  llth  inst.  verbally  promised  us  that  the  excise 
on  wine  and  beer,  hitherto  paid  to  the  Company,  should  be  paid  to 
us  from  the  first  of  November;  we  have  therefore  called  in  some 
of  the  principal  citizens  and  inhabitants  to  inform  them  thereof.  But 
as  no  ready  money  is  on  hand  and  is  much  needed,  we  asked  whether 
the  community  would  be  willing  to  submit  to  such  taxes  as  we  should 
find  necessary  for  the  support  of  the  City,  which  they  all  answered 
in  the  affirmative.  However,  we  have  not  yet  received  a  document 
concerning  the  excise,  although  we  have  spoken  to  you  about  it  several 
times,  and  now  request  once  more  a  proper  grant  of  the  excise  on  beer 
and  wine,  as  formerly  paid  to  the  Company,  except  on  what  is  sent  to 
Fort  Orange ;  the  more  so  as  we  have  informed  the  community  of  the 
matter  and  would  become  a  laughing-stock  for  everybody  if  now  it 
were  refused.  If  any  mishap  should  be  the  consequence  of  such 
refusal,  then  we  must  beforehand  declare  ourselves  innocent  thereof, 
and  also  say  that  without  means  we  cannot  exist  and  must  let  all  work 
go  to  ruin."2  Difficulties  arose,  which  have  been  spoken  of  in  another 
part  of  this  chapter,  and  to  smooth  them  over  Stuyvesant  finally 
consented  to  grant  to  the  municipality  the  excise  on  beer  and  wine 
"  consumed  within  the  City,"  but  the  conditions  of  keeping  the  public 
works  in  repair,  and  paying  the  salaries  of  civil  and  ecclesiastical 
employees,  were  such  that  early  in  the  following  year  the  magistrates 
had  to  petition  again,  and  this  time  for  an  increase  of  liquor  taxes, 
including  a  tax  on  exported  wine  and  beer.  This  was  at  once  granted.3 

1 N.  Y.  Col.  MSS. ,  5 : 143.  2  Ib. ,  p.  144.  3  Ib.,  5 : 211. 


302 


HISTORY     OF    NEW-YORK 


STUYVESANT  TEARING  THE  LETTER. 


With  the  surrender  of  the  excise  to  the  city,  Stuyvesant's  care  for 
a  proper  execution  of  the  law  connected  with  the  liquor  traffic  had  by 
no  means  fallen  asleep.  An  ordinance  of  August  24, 1654,  against  the 
sale  of  liquor  to  Indians  shows  that.1  Drunken  Indians  found  in  the 
streets  of  the  city  were  to  be  imprisoned  until  they  told  who  had  sold 
them  the  fire-water,  and  in  such  cases  Indian  evidence  was  made  ad- 
missible. The  financial  affairs  of  the  city  were,  however,  not  such 
that  the  conditions  under  which  the  excise  was  surrendered  could 
easily  be  fulfilled.  The  salaries  of  the  clergymen  had  not  been  paid, 
but  the  magistrates  had  used  the  city's  money  to  send  and  to  support 
in  Holland  their  agent,  Le  Bleeuw,  to  work  against  Stuyvesant,  who 
therefore  determined  to  resume  the  excise  and  farm  it  out  for  the 

i  Laws  of  N.  K,  p.  182. 


STUYVESANT,    THE    LAST    OF    THE    DUTCH    DIRECTORS        303 

Company's  advantage.  This  brought  in  after  the  disaster  of  1655 
5030  florins  ($2012),  and  the  money  arising  from  this  source  did  not 
again  flow  into  the  City  Treasury  until  in  February,  1664.  The 
threatened  invasion  by  the  English  was  gradually  assuming  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  dangerous  probability.  Stuyvesant  called  upon  the 
municipal  officers  for  advice  and  aid,  and  these  offered  to  appropriate 
all  revenues  and  also  to  raise  a  loan,  if  the  excise  was  again  given  up 
to  the  city.  Director  and  Council  agreed,  upon  condition  that  the 
city  should  enlist  two  hundred  militiamen  and  support  one  hundred 
and  sixty  regular  soldiers.  This  was  the  force  which  was  to  repel  the 
English  invader,  coming  with  four  men-of-war,  mounting  ninety-two 
guns,  and  manned  by  four  hundred  and  fifty  soldiers  besides  the  regu- 
lar crew.  Small  as  his  means  of  defense  were,  Stuyvesant  was  too 
much  of  a  soldier  to  surrender  willingly  without  a  shot  fired  or  a  blow 
struck.  Only  upon  the  representation  of  prominent  citizens  of  New 
Amsterdam,  who  pointed  out  to  him  the  uselessness  of  the  necessarily 
ensuing  bloodshed,  he  lowered  the  orange,  white,  and  blue  flag  over 
Fort  Amsterdam  before  the  blood-red  banner  of  England. 

The  scene  immediately  preceding  the  change  of  flags  floating  over 
Fort  Amsterdam  deserves  to  be  commemorated  by  a  skilful  painter's 
brush.  Such  a  picture  would  show  us  Stuyvesant  furiously  stamping 
the  floor  with  his  wooden  leg,  while  he  reads  and  tears  to  pieces  the 
letter  sent  him  by  Nicolls,  demanding  a  surrender  of  the  province ;  it 
would  show  us  Stuyvesant,  surrounded  by  the  clergymen  and  magis- 
trates of  New  Amsterdam,  who  implore  the  irate  soldier  not  to  let  the 
question  be  decided  vi  et  armis,  but  to  submit  to  the  inevitable;  it 
would  show  us  the  citizens  suddenly  ceasing  their  work  on  the  pali- 
sades for  the  defense  of  the  Stadthuys  (City  Hall)  and  coming  to  the 
fort  to  support  their  magistrates. 

Another  picture,  growing  out  of  the  first,  should  make  us  see  Stuy- 
vesant marching  out  of  the  gate  leading  into  Broadway,  at  the  head 
of  his  handful  of  soldiers,  fully  armed  and  equipped,  the  drums  beat- 
ing, the  colors  flying,  and  the  matches  lighted.  Thus  New  Amsterdam 
ceased  to  exist  on  that  morning  of  the  8th  of  September,  1664,  and 
New- York  arose  on  its  memory. 

The  history  of  Director  Stuyvesant  after  the  surrender  can  be  told 
in  few  words.  He  was,  by  order  of  the  States-General,  recalled  to 
Holland  to  make  a  report  of  his  administration.  He  arrived  at  The 
Hague  in  October,  1665,  and  after  consideration  of  the  papers  sub- 
mitted by  the  late  Director-General  of  the  late  New  Netherlands  and 
by  the  directors  of  the  West  India  Company,  was  allowed,  in  1668,  to 
return  to  the  city  the  growth  of  which  had  taken  such  considerable 
strides  during  his  administration.  He  settled  on  the  farm,  or  bouwery, 
which  he  had  bought  several  years  before,  covering  that  part  of  the 


304 


HISTORY    OF    NEW- YORK 


present  city  which  lies  between  Third  avenue,  the  East  River,  Sixth, 
and  Sixteenth  streets.  His  house,  standing  to  the  west  of  St.  Mark's 
Church  in  Tenth  street,  was  destroyed  by  fire  in  1777,  but  the  pear- 
tree  which  he  brought  with  him  on  his  return  to  New- York  survived 
the  house  by  nearly  a  century.  It  stood  for  many  years,  guarded 
against  goats  and  other  destructive  animals  by  an  iron  fence,  on  the 
corner  of  Thirteenth  street  and  Third  avenue,  whence  the  tooth  of 
age  finally  compelled  its  removal  in  1867.  Besides  the  careful  cultiva- 
tion of  his  farm,  "  he  interested  himself  in  church  affairs  and  in  city 
improvements,  grew  sociable  and  companionable,  frequently  dined 
his  English  successor  at  his  country-seat,  and  rendered  himself  very 
dear  to  his  family  and  friends."1  About  eight  years  after  the  surren- 
der he  died.  The  tablet  placed  upon  the  vault  where  his  ashes  rest 
gives  us  only  an  approximate  date  of  his  death,  167£, — that  is,  between 
the  1st  of  January  and  25th  of  March,  1672, — and  as  his  age  eighty  years. 
And  thus  passed  away,  full  of  days  and  of  honors,  the  man  whom 
Bancroft  describes  as  "the  brave  and  honest  Stuyvesant,  .... 
a  soldier  of  experience,  a  scholar  of  some  learning,"  and  "  promoted  for 
his  services  "  to  the  government  of  this  province.2 

l  Lamb,  "  History  of  New- York,"  1  :  216. 
2  Bancroft,  "  History  of  the  United  States,"  1 :  507  (Edition  of  1883). 


ufriisVa5rCfit^  bufud. 

3PETR.US  STVYVESANT 

teC»M-4in 6tMrr«ll  Governor  mOnJo)'  Ahisfcerctarn 

IitNri»Kefli«rtancl  wow  ca.iu.cl  HtH=Xmk 
AndfiwDu.tcKW«nlnoCi4lSl«>^s.!)U«f.A.D.l67i 

5h^,      A?ed  8»  Tea(*s 


STUYVESANT,   THE    LAST    OF    THE    DUTCH    DIRECTORS       305 


CITIZENS  OF  NEW  AMSTERDAM  IN  1657. 
The  Great  Citizens.— 2Q. 


John  La  Montagne, 

John  Giles  Van  Brugh, 

Henry  Kip, 

Isaac  Kip, 

Director-General  Stuyvesant, 

Rev.  John  Megapolensis, 

Jacob  Gerritsen  Strycker, 

John  Vigne, 

Mrs.  Cornelius  Van  Tienhoven, 

Henry  Van  Dyck, 


Henry  Kip,  Jr., 
Capt.  Martin  Crigier, 
Charles  Van  Bruggh, 
Jacob  Van  Couwenhoven, 
Laurence  Cornelisen  Van  Wei, 
John  Pietersen  Van  Bruggh, 
Cornelius  Steenwyck, 
William  Bogardus, 
Daniel  Litschoe, 
Peter  Van  Couwenhoven. 


The  Small  Citizens.—  204. 


Isaac  De  Foreest, 
Warnaer  Wessels, 
Nicholas  Langvelthuysen, 
John  De  Jonge, 
Jacobus  Backer, 
Peter  Cornelisen  Van  Veen, 
Peter  Jacobsen  Buys, 
Abram  Nichels, 
Peter  Schabank, 
Matthew  d'Vos, 
John  Rutgersen, 
Caspar  Stymets, 
Peter  Jansen, 
Joachim  Beeckman, 
Arent  Isaacksen, 
Frederick  Flipsen, 
Jacob  Mens, 
Dirck  Van  Schelluyne, 
Cornelius  Jansen, 
Evert  Dirksen, 
Thomas  Pietersen, 
Peter  Casparsen  Van  Naerden, 
Gerrit  Pietersen, 
Henry  Harmensen, 
William  Jansen, 
Henry  Van  Bommel, 
David  Wessels, 
Paul  Van  Beeck, 
Cornelius  Jansen  Clopper, 
Idan  Videt  Frans, 
Garret  Fullwever, 
Lambert  Huybertsen  Mol, 
Michael  Jansen, 
Joost  Tennissen, 
Jacob  Claessen, 
Claes  Carstensen, 
Ryndert  Peter  Van  Bolfaert, 
Andrew  Hoppen, 
Arent  Lourizen, 

Trina  (Tryntje)  Hendricksen  (widow), 
Henry  Willemsen, 
Joost  Goderis, 
Michael  Paulizen, 
Conrad  Ten  Eyck, 
Aldert  Coninck, 
Rynhout  Rynhoutsen, 
VOL.  I.— 20. 


John  Hendricksen, 

Jacob  Hugers, 

Henry  Pietersen  Van  Hasselt, 

Barent  Gerritsen, 

Jacob  Hendricksen  Varravanger, 

Peter  Kock, 

Matthew  Capito, 

Abram  Jacobsen, 

Luke  Eldersen, 

Rynier  Gaichos  Van  list, 

Jacob  Calf, 

Nicholas  Backer, 

Jacob  Will.  Van  Bos, 

Henry  Hendricksen, 

Claes  Pietersen  Kos, 

Jacob  Leendertsen  Vandiegrist, 

John  Cornelisen  Buys, 

Henry  Jansen  Van  Schulckwyck, 

John  Lubbertsen, 

Resolved  Waldron, 

John  Jansen, 

Wessel  Everts, 

Egbert  Van  Borsum, 

Abram  Verplanck, 

John  De  Prie, 

Govert  Coersten, 

John  Peeck, 

Randel  Huiort, 

Laurence  Andrew  Van  Boskerck, 

Garret  Gerritsen  Van  Vriesland, 

Thys  Lubbertsen, 

Egbert  Gerritsen, 

Abram  Lubbertsen, 

Haey  Oelfers, 

John  Pietersen  Van  Struckhuysen, 

Cornelius  Hendricksen, 

Rynier  Wisselpenningh, 

Christian  Barentsen, 

Peter  Stoutenborg, 

Harman  Smeeman, 

Egbert  Woutersen, 

Leonard  Aerden, 

John  Jansen  Langendyck, 

Andrew  De  Haes, 

Claes  Tysen, 

Francis  Jansen  Van  Brestee, 


306 


HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 


Peter  Andriezen, 

John  Jacobsen, 

John  Nagel, 

Barent  Egbertsen, 

John  Dircksen, 

Adrian  Vincent, 

Isaac  Teene, 

John  Beck, 

Barent  Jacobsen  Cool, 

Hans  Dreper, 

Adolph  Pietersen, 

Frederick  Arentsen, 

Claes  Thyssen, 

Tosyn  Briel, 

Sybrant  Jansen, 

Luke  Dircksen, 

Stoffel  Eldersen, 

Jacob  Lennizen, 

Henry  Hendricksen, 

Sybout  Clasen, 

Thomas  Frans, 

Claes  Bordingh, 

Simon  Felle, 

Arian  Woutersen, 

Louis  Pos, 

Joachim  Bruynsen, 

Thomas  Lambertsen, 

Nicholas  De  Meyer, 

Evert  Duyckingh. 

Abrain  Rycken, 

John  Corneliseu  Van  Hoqrn, 

John  Jansen, 

Paul  Heymans, 

Thomas  Sanderson, 

William  Pietersen, 

Nicholas  d'la  Plyne, 

Andrew  Jochemsen, 

John  Heudricksen, 

Peter  Lourensen, 

Francois  Allard, 

Claes  Van  Elslant,  Sr, 

Teunis  Tomazen, 

John  Schryver, 

John  Gerritsen, 

John  De  Perie, 

Abram  Pietersen, 

Claes  Paulizen, 

Cornelius  Van  Langvelt, 

Francis  Soselje, 

John  Evertsen, 

Peter  Jacobs  Marius, 

Myndert  Barentsen, 

John  Cornelisen  Van  Vlensborgh, 

Andrew  Andriesen,  of  Sweden, 

Garret  Jansen  Roos, 

Roelof  Jansen, 


William  Kaeck, 

Albert  Jansen, 

Bartel  Jansen, 

George  Ham, 

Peter  Pietersen, 

Hans  Kierstede, 

Samuel  Edsal, 

Frederick  Lubbertsen, 

William  Sim  son, 

Garret  Cornelissen, 

Mrs.  John  Huygen  (widow), 

Jacob  Teunisen, 

Abram  Clock, 

Albert  Leendertsen, 

John  Hendricksen  Van  Gunst, 

John  Pietersen, 

Nicholas  Verleth, 

Harry  Bresar, 

Jacob  Walnigh. 

Borger  Jorisen, 

Matty  Wessels. 

Henry  Arentsen, 

Dirck  Fiecken, 

Harry  Piers, 

Jacobus  Pryn, 

Jacob  Stoffelsen, 

Andrew  Clasen, 

Henry  Jansen, 

Claes  Pietersen, 

Henry  Barentsen, 

Pel  gram  Klock, 

Reynich  Gerritsen, 

George  Van  Vorst, 

William  Claessen, 

Aert  Willemsen, 

Claes  Jansen  Ruyten, 

Harman  Douwensen, 

Henry  Volckertsen, 

Wolfert  Gerritsen, 

Dirck  Clasen, 

Jurian  Blanck, 

Solomon  La  Chair, 

Claes  Jansen, 

Francis  Jansen, 

Carsten  Diers, 

Hubert  Hendricksen  Van  Keuren, 

Harman  Hendricksen, 

Hans  Albertsen, 

Abram  d'la  Nooy, 

Luke  Andriesen, 

Arian  Symonzen, 

Peter  Rudolphus, 

Isaac  Greverair, 

John  Hutchinson, 

Philip  Jansen, 

Augustine  Herrman. 


CHAPTER  VIII 


EICHARD   NICOLLS,    THE   FIEST   ENGLISH   GOVERNOR 

1664-1668 


OF-THE 
TOWNE  OF.MANNADO£ 


ICHARD  NICOLLS,  by  the  right  of  conquest,  became 
Governor  of  New- York  on  the  29th  of  August,  1664.  He 
was  welcomed  by  the  Dutch  civic  authorities  whom  he  re- 
tained in  office,  and  his  first  act  was  to  direct  that  the  city 
should  henceforth  bear  its  new  name ;  it  was  no  longer  "New  Amster- 
dam," but  "  New- York,"  and  the  fort  was  named  "  Fort  James."  Thus 
our  city  perpetuates  the  memory  of  the  /? 

last  of  the  Stuarts.  But  it  also  recalls  CjO zC/n  as>r(L  7~i  LsCsCrCfy 
the  York  or  Eboracum  of  the  Eoman 

period  in  Britain,  of  the  historic  city  whose  libraries  and  schools  in 
the  days  of  Alcuin  and  Charles  the  Great  began  the  civilization  of 
modern  Europe. 

Richard  Nicolls,  the  new  Governor,  had  been  the  confidant  and  faith- 
ful follower  of  the  royal  Stuarts.  He  was  born  in  1624  at  Ampthill 
in  Bedfordshire ;  his  father,  a  lawyer,  had  married  a  daughter  of  Sir 


308  HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YOEK 

George  Bruce.  Nicolls  studied  at  the  university,  was  a  good  scholar, 
but  in  the  civil  war  joined  the  royalist  forces  and  commanded  a  troop 
of  horse.  He  fled  with  the  Stuarts  to  the  continent,  became  attached 
to  the  service  of  the  Duke  of  York,  and  fought  by  his  side  in  the 
French  armies.  He  came  back  to  England  at  the  Restoration,  was  a 
member  of  the  duke's  household,  and  was  trusted  by  him  in  his  most 
important  affairs.  Of  Nicolls's  private  character  we  know  little.  It  is 
difficult  to  see  how  any  honorable  man  could  have  remained  the  friend 
and  follower  of  James  Stuart,  or  could  have  joined  in  an  expedition 
so  plainly  dishonest  and  piratical  as  was  that  against  the  Dutch  in 
New  Amsterdam.  But  Nicolls  seems  at  least  to  have  been  more 
humane  and  prudent  than  most  of  the  dependents  of  the  royal  court. 
He  gave  to  the  Dutch  the  most  liberal  terms  of  surrender.  He  neither 
robbed  nor  massacred ;  he  seems  to  have  made  little  profit  from  his 
conquest ;  and  he  returned  to  Europe  to  die  in  the  service  of  his  mas- 
ter, the  duke,  in  the  second  Dutch  war,  faithful  to  the  end.  To  the 
Dutch  inhabitants  Nicolls  proved  a  gentle  master,  and  evidently  won 
their  good  will.  No  one  was  injured  in  person  or  property.  The 
Court  of  Burgomasters  and  Schepens  met  on  the  day  after  the 

capitulation,  and  the  business  of  the 

city  went  on  as  usuaL  The  Dutch 

officials  wrote  an  account  of  the 
surrender  to  the  West  India  Company,  in  which  they  very  plainly 
complained  of  the  little  care  it  had  taken  for  their  protection,  and 
Stuy vesant  sent  a  defense  of  his  own  conduct  and  a  representation  of 
the  helpless  state  in  which  he  had  been  left.  The  ship  Gideon  car- 
ried away  the  Dutch  garrison,  together  with  these  memorials  of  dis- 
aster, and,  provided  with  a  pass  from  Nicolls,  bore  the  evil  tidings  to 
the  directors.  Their  utter  neglect  of  the  defense  of  New  Amsterdam 
is  certainly  almost  unaccountable.  Had  they  sent  a  few  frigates  to 
its  aid,  and  some  Dutch  troops,  its  fall  might  have  been  delayed,  but 
not  averted.1  Nicolls,  too,  dismissed  the  troops  from  Long  Island 
and  the  east,  who  had  been  so  eager  for  the  plunder  of  the  city  and 
whose  loud  threats  from  the  "  Ferry  "  on  the  Brooklyn  side  had  carried 
terror  to  the  quiet  citizens.  He  promised  rewards  to  all  who  had  taken 
up  arms  for  "their  King  and  country";  he  thanked  the  Massachu- 
setts delegates,  and  he  declared  that  he  would  soon  summon  deputies 
from  the  Long  Island  towns  to  discuss  matters  relating  to  its  peace 
and  prosperity.  The  government  of  the  province  was  renewed  by 
the  appointment  of  English  officials.  Captain  Matthias  Nicolls,  of 
Islip,  Northamptonshire,  who  had  come  with  him  from  England,  a 
lawyer,  was  made  secretary  of  the  province.  The  Council  was  com- 
posed of  Englishmen ;  Delavall,  an  Englishman,  was  made  collector 

i  For  an  explanation  of  this  neglect,  see  p.  107. 


RICHAKD    NICOLLS,    THE    FIRST    ENGLISH    GOVERNOR         309 

of  the  port,  but  the  Dutch  city  officials  were  to  retain  their  places  for 
.six  months  or  more  and  administer  justice  as  usual. 

The  city  of  New- York,  as  it  was  now  to  be  called,  embraced  the 
whole  of  Manhattan  Island.  Its  population  at  the  surrender  was 
about  fifteen  hundred,  chiefly  Dutch.  An  engraving  remains  of  the 
appearance  of  the  small  town,  and  a  contemporary  description  of 
New  Netherland  explains  and  illustrates  the  picture.  The  island  was 
covered  with  woods,  meadows,  fens  and  lakes,  and  some  lofty  hills. 
What  is  now  the  Battery  was  then  only  a  reef  of  numerous  rocks 
often  covered  by  the  tide.  Broadway,  an  Indian  path,  ran  over  the 
highland  from  the  Battery  to  the  Park.  The  river  on  the  west  came 
up  to  the  hill  on  which  stands  Trinity  Church.  The  East  River  flowed 
along  Pearl  or  Great  Dock  street  almost  to  Broadway.  On  the  nar- 
row point  of  highland  extending  from  Wall  street  to  the  Battery  was 
the  site  of  the  infant  city. 

In  the  illustration  of  1664  we  see  a  few  houses  gathered  near  what  is 
now  Whitehall,  another  group  above,  perhaps  along,  Broad  street; 
the  fort,  an  earthen  work  of  rude  construction,  forms  the  center  of 
the  town.  Above  its  waUs  rose  the  square  church  steeple,  the  double 
roof  of  the  building,  a  windmill,  and  the  roofs  of  houses.  It  stood 
where  State  street  now  runs  in  front  of  the  Battery,  on  a  rising 
hill.  A  gallows  and  a  whipping-post,  we  are  told,  were  raised  at  the 
foot  of  Whitehall.  A  few  Dutch  vessels  are  anchored  in  the  harbor. 
A  huge  rock  rises  out  of  the  river  near  what  is  now  the  South  Ferry. 
The  rocky  shore  around  the  fort  is  without  wharves  or  piers;  the 
rocks  are  the  only  landing-places ;  a  rowboat  is  seen  sculling  over 
what  is  now  Front  and  South  streets ;  an  inlet  offers  a  safe  harbor  in 
Broad  street,  and  a  canal  and  brook  open  a  way  into  the  heart  of  the 
settlement.  In  the  interior  of  the  island  were  farms  and  bouweries. 
Broadway  or  the  Heereweg  led  through  the  rich  land  of  Domine 
Bogardus ;  and  the  Bowery,  another  Indian  track,  passed  through 
hill  and  dale  to  the  marshy  fields  where  Stuy  vesant  hid  in  his  gloomy 
retirement.  A  pleasant  refuge  from  the  cares  and  toils  of  his  European 
home  must  New  Amsterdam  have  seemed  to  the  Dutch  immigrant 
accustomed  only  to  his  native  fens  and  level  lowlands,  his  narrow 
fields  slowly  won  from  the  stormy  sea  by  incessant  labor  and  guarded 
by  his  patient  vigilance.  Here  in  Manhattan  and  its  neighborhood  he 
seemed  to  live  in  luxurious  plenty.  The  fertile  soil,  the  chronicler 
tells  us,  produced  all  the  fruits  and  vegetables  of  Holland  in  unri- 
valed excellence.  Apples,  pears,  peaches,  plums,  cherries,  quinces, 
medlars  throve  better  than  at  home.  Vines  grew  wild  everywhere,  and 
there  was  an  abundance  of  blue  and  white  grapes ;  a  wine  was  already 
made  from  them  equal  to  any  Rhenish  or  French.  All  the  vegetables 
known  to  the  Dutch  filled  the  gardens  of  the  settlers;  corn  grew 


310  HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YOBK 

rapidly;  the  virgin  soil  was  suited  to  every  kind  of  plant  or  treer 
and  flowers  of  pleasant  odors  and  rare  beauty  adorned  the  scene. 

In  Holland  meat  was  seldom  used  by  the  poor,  and  fish  formed  the 
chief  food  of  the  people ;  the  herring-busses  from  the  North  Sea  fed 
the  crowded  ports  and  busy  cities.  But  here,  in  New  Amsterdam, 
even  the  poor  lived  in  abundance.  Venison  was  so  plenty  that  sheep 
were  scarcely  raised ;  fowls,  turkeys,  geese,  ducks,  pigeons  were  easily 
obtained ;  hogs  fattened  upon  Indian  corn  were  thought  to  yield  the 
"sweetest  pork."  And  the  cattle  and  horses  did  well  on  the  salt 
meadows ;  the  oysters  of  the  bays  were  already  famous ;  fish  of  all  the 
finest  kinds  filled  the  waters ;  the  climate  was  dry  and  healthful, 
although  cold  in  winter,  hot  in  summer.  But  the  picture  of  ease 
and  plenty  drawn  by  the  early  travelers  to  New  Netherland  must 

have  seemed  almost  an  earthly  paradise 
to  tne  IGSS  fortunate  Europeans.  It  was 
^  so  real  as  to  win  back  Stuyvesant  to  his 
bouwery  and  to  console  the  Bayards,  Beekmans,  and  their  Dutch 
contemporaries  under  the  rule  of  their  alien  governors.  No  one  was 
willing  to  go  back  to  the  Fatherland. 

It  was  Nicolls's  aim  to  soothe  and  win  the  support  of  his  new  subjects 
by  a  perfect  religious  toleration.  The  Dutch  ministers  were  allowed 
their  stipends  and  their  pleasant  homes  on  Beaver  and  Pearl  streets 
undisturbed.  The  usual  services  were  performed  in  the  church  built 
by  Kieft  in  the  fort.  But  it  was  arranged  that  after  the  Dutch  ser- 
vice was  over,  the  Episcopal  should  be  read  by  the  chaplain  of  the 
English  forces;  and  for  thirty  years,  we  are  told,  this  practice  was 
observed,  the  two  religious  bodies  occupying  the  same  building.  But 
the  Governor  had  more  difficult  duties  to  perform :  he  was  to  secure 
the  submission  of  the  wide  tract  of  territory  reaching  from  the  Hud- 
son to  the  Delaware,  over  which  he  was  expected  to  enforce  the 
English  rule.  To  assure  the  control  of  the  Hudson  an  expedition  was 
sent  up  in  September,  under  Colonel  Cartwright,  to  reduce  to  obedi- 
ence the  Dutch  settlements  at  Esopus,  Fort  Orange,  and  Bensselaers- 
wyck.  In  our  golden  autumnal  days  the  English  for  the  first  time 
sailed  up  the  broad  river,  beside  the  Palisades,  through  the  deep 
shadows  of  the  Highlands,  and  reached  after  a  weary  voyage  the 
Dutch  fort  and  settlements.  No  resistance  was  made ;  the  town  was 
named  "  Albany,"  a  garrison  was  placed  in  it ;  Van  Eensselaer  was 
not  disturbed  in  his  possessions,  but  was  required  to  take  out  a  new 
title,  or  to  prove  his  claim  in  New- York.  With  Cartwright  went 
Willett  of  Plymouth,  who  was  to  aid  him  in  treating  with  the  Indians, 
and  Captain  Breedon ;  his  two  military  aides  were  Captains  Manning 
and  Brodhead.  The  only  opposition  they  met  with  at  Albany  was 
from  the  Dutch  councilor  De  Decker,  who  was  afterwards  summarily 


RICHARD    NICOLLS,    THE    FIRST    ENGLISH    GOVERNOR         311 

banished  from  the  province  by  Nicolls.    On  their  way  down  the  river 

they  landed  at  Esopus,  and  were  well  received.    They  made  little 

change  in  the  officials:  William  Beekman  was  retained  in  office  as 

sheriff  and  Thomas  Chambers  as  com- 

missary;    Captain   Brodhead   and   an 

English  garrison  were  left  in  charge 

of   the  fort.      So  peaceful  had  been 

the  change  to  the  English  rule  that  no  one  had  yet  any  reason  to 

complain. 

Unfortunately  the  expedition  sent  to  enforce  the  submission  of 
Delaware  was  not  so  free  from  blame.  Sir  Eobert  Carr,  the  least 
reputable  of  the  four  commissioners,  was  placed  in  command.  He 
wanted  wholly  Nicolls's  prudence  and  self-restraint.  After  a  long  and 
weary  voyage  around  the  capes  of  Delaware  Bay,  the  frigates  arrived 
in  front  of  Amstel, —  now  Newcastle, —  the  chief  fort  of  the  Dutch. 
Carr  summoned  it  to  surrender ;  a  part  of  the  garrison  would  have 
yielded,  but  the  Commander  Hinnoyossa  refused  to  capitulate.  With 
less  than  fifty  men  he  resolutely  held  the  fort.  The  English  ships 
opened  their  broadsides  upon  it,  the  English  soldiers  stormed  the 
works,  and  the  place  was  taken  by  assault.  Three  of  the  Dutch  were 
killed  and  ten  wounded.  Then  began  a  barbarous  pillage  and  sack  of 
the  Dutch  settlement ;  Carr  seized  upon  the  farms  of  Dutch  officials, 
and  kept  one  for  himself ;  one  he  gave  to  his  son,  and  others  to  his 
officers.  He  sold  the  Dutch  soldiers  into  slavery  in  Virginia ;  he 
sacked  the  village  of  the  Mennonites,  and  robbed  them  of  all  their  poor 
possessions.  He  even  declared  himself  independent  of  Nicolls  and 
sole  governor  of  Delaware.  When  Nicolls  and  his  colleagues  heard 
of  his  conduct,  they  at  once  sent  orders  to 
him  to  return.  But  he  refused.  And  Nicolls 
went  himself  to  Delaware  in  November,  to 
repair  the  wrong.  He  rebuked  Carr  and  obliged  him  to  give  up  part 
of  his  plunder ;  but  he  was  still  left  for  a  time  in  charge  of  the  place. 
The  name  was  changed  to  Newcastle  and  a  garrison  stationed  in  it 
under  Captain  John  Carr,  the  son  of  the  commissioner.  Delaware 
was  for  several  years  a  part  of  the  province  of  New- York. 

The  next  important  act  of  the  governor  was  to  determine  the  eastern 
boundary  of  New- York.  His  wise  foresight  led  the  way  to  the  com- 
promise by  which  all  future  disputes  were  settled.  Under  the  charter 
of  1664,  granted  by  Charles  to  James,  the  Connecticut  River  was  made 
the  eastern  limit  of  his  territory,  and  New- York  would  thus  embrace 
more  than  half  of  Connecticut,  a  large  part  of  Massachusetts,  includ- 
ing the  Berkshire  region,  and  all  Vermont.  But  Connecticut,  by  its 
earlier  charter  of  1662,  was  entitled  to  all  the  land  to  the  Pacific 
ocean, — "the  South  Sea,"  as  it  was  called, — or  at  least  to  the  borders 


312 


HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 


of  the  Dutch ;  and  now  it  pointed  out  to  the  commissioners  that  to 
limit  its  boundary  to  the  Connecticut  River  would  deprive  it  of  the 
best  portion  of  its  domain.  The  Connecticut  government,  under  Gov- 
ernor John  Winthrop,  had  in  fact  laid  out  for  itself  an  extensive  prov- 
ince ;  it  ruled  over  all  the  east  end  of  Long  Island  ;  it  claimed 
control  over  "  The  New  Haven  Colony "  and  Stamford,  and  it  had 
even  intruded  its  officials  into  Westchester  County  and  occupied  a 
part  of  New  Netherland.  But  under  Stuyvesant  a  line  was  drawn 
limiting  it  on  the  west.  New  Haven,  under  Davenport's  guidance, 
still  refused  to  submit  to  the  Hartford  government,  and  Stamford 

professed  to  be  independent  of  both. 
The  quarrel  between  the  rival  set- 
tlements was  at  its  height  when 
Nicolls,  by  his  prudent  compromise, 
founded  the  present  State  of  Con- 
necticut. 

It  furnishes  a  comic  element  in 
history  to  trace  the  easy  assurance 
with  which  the  kings  of  this  early 
age  bestowed  whole  empires  of  wild 
lands  upon  their  relatives  or  depen- 
dents and  fixed  the  title  to  property 
to  which  they  themselves  had  no 
possible  right ;  it  may  be  equaled  or 
surpassed  perhaps  in  our  own  day  by  the  readiness  with  which  the 
European  powers  have  hastened  to  parcel  among  themselves  vast 
districts  of  the  interior  of  Africa  and  the  coasts  of  New  Guinea. 
Charles  II.,  in  1662,  had  plainly  granted  to  Connecticut  a  tract  of 
land  reaching  across  the  continent ;  in  1664  he  revoked  his  gift  and 
had  presented  the  larger  part  of  Connecticut  to  the  Duke  of  York. 
No  one  ventured  to  doubt  the  royal  prerogative.  Connecticut,  un- 
like Massachusetts,  was  too  weak  or  timid  to  oppose  the  will  of  the 
King.  Her  officials  pleaded  chiefly  the  ruin  that  must  follow  to 
their  trade  should  the  grant  be  confirmed.  They  showed  their  ear- 
lier charters  and  claims.  But  they  appealed  to  the  better  feelings 
of  the  commissioners  and  found  a  friend  in  Nicolls.  Had  he  insisted 
on  the  plain  words  of  the  patent  New- York  would  have  gained  a 
large  territory.  But  he  represented  to  his  master  the  injustice  of  de- 
spoiling Connecticut  of  the  better  part  of  its  lands,  and  induced  his 
associates  to  yield  to  his  arguments.  It  was  decided  that  a  line 
should  be  drawn  as  nearly  as  possible  twenty  miles  east  of  the  Hudson. 

l  The  fort  was  at  the  confluence  of  the  Fishkill  tively  defenseless  there.  But  Stuyvesant  dis- 
(now  Brandywine)  and  Christina  Creek.  It  had  appointed  this  expectation,  and  erected  four  bat- 
been  supposed  that  no  one  would  think  of  attack-  teries  over  against  this  vulnerable  side.  EDITOR. 
ing  it  on  the  land  side,  for  it  was  left  compara- 


VICINITY    OF    FORT    CHRISTINA.1 


BICHAED    NICOLLS,   THE    FIBST    ENGLISH    GOVEBNOB         313 


This  decision  gave  a  new  impulse  to  the  growth  of  Connecticut. 
New  Haven  colony,  to  the  disgust  of  Davenport,  yielded  its  claim  to 
independence,  and  was  absorbed  in  the  Hartford  government.  Even 
Stamford  submitted,  and  Connecticut,  united  and  peaceful,  was  enabled 
to  bear  its  part  in  the  Indian  wars  that  followed  and  to  produce  some 
of  the  rarest  intellects  that  have  helped  the  prosperity  of  the  New 
World.  But  still  greater  results  followed  from  the  example  of  Nicolls. 
New- York  yielded  the  same  boundary  to  Massachusetts  that  it  had 
given  to  Connecticut:  the  line  was  not  run  until  1787,  and  when  the 
dispute  arose  between  New- York  and  the  settlers  in  Vermont  as  to 
their  rival  titles  —  the  well-known  controversy  of  the  New  Hampshire 
grants — New- York  appealed  to  the  charter  of  1664  and  the  settlers 
chiefly  to  the  line  of  twenty  miles 
east  of  the  Hudson  which  had  been 
laid  down  by  Nicolls  and  his  associ- 
ates. New- York  abandoned  its  claim 
with  a  graceful  compromise,  and  in 
1790  Vermont  came  into  the  Union, 
the  only  State  that  had  ever  from  its 
first  settlement  condemned  slavery  as 
a  crime. 

At  the  same  time  that  Connecticut 
received  this  addition  to  its  territory 
it  was  deprived  of  its  authority  on  the 
islands.  All  except  Block  Island  were 
included  in  the  grant  to  the  duke. 
All  Long  Island  with  Nantucket  and 
Martha's  Vineyard  were  joined  to 
New- York.  Even  Fisher's  Island  was 
held  to  belong  to  it.  But  the  change 
of  government  was  distasteful  to  the  people  of  Southold  and  the 
Hamptons :  they  preferred  the  free  institutions  of  Connecticut. 

It  was  a  sight  of  singular  interest  when  in  October,  1664,  the  chief 
citizens  of  New  Amsterdam  came  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  that 
made  them  subjects  of  the  British  crown.  At  first  they  offered 
some  opposition,  fearing  they  must  renounce  wholly  their  connection 
with  the  fatherland ;  but  Nicolls  assured  them  that  every  article  of 
the  capitulation  should  be  strictly  observed,  and  they  yielded.  The 
chief  citizens  within  five  days  hastened  to  take  the  oath.  Stuyvesant 
and  the  two  Dutch  clergymen  led  the  way;  Beekman,  the  three  Bay- 
ards, Van  Rensselaer,  and  other  leading  citizens  followed:  in  all  two 
hundred  and  fifty  of  the  Dutch  inhabitants  swore  allegiance  to  the 
English  king.  Many  did  so,  no  doubt,  unwillingly ;  some  refused ;  but 
the  city  authorities  joined  in  a  letter  of  compliment  to  the  Duke  of 


<O^7  &n?D }  taken  fooii<£- 


314  HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YOKK 

York,  praising  the  "wise  and  intelligent"  Nicolls,  and  asking  that 
their  commerce  might  be  as  free  from  burdens  as  that  of  Boston. 
Nicolls  was  now  sole  master  of  an  immense  territory.  He  called  the 
province  "New- York";  Long  Island  was  named  "Yorkshire,"  and  to 
the  fertile  lands  across  the  Hudson  he  gave  the  name  of  "Albania." 
Thus  everywhere  the  faithful  follower  strove  to  perpetuate  the  mem- 
ory of  the  Duke  of  York  and  Albany. 

Meanwhile  the  news  of  the  capture  of  New  Amsterdam  had  reached 
Europe,  and  De  Witt  sent  over  an  order  to  the  ambassador,  Van  Gogh, 
in  London,  to  demand  its  restitution  from  the  King.  Charles  listened 
to  him  with  impatience,  denied  the  title  of  the  Dutch  to  New  Nether- 
land,  and  prepared  for  war.  Downing,  the  English  envoy  in  Holland, 
sent  an  insolent  memorial  to  the  States-General.  De  Witt  insisted 
that  "New  Netherland"  must  be  restored.  He  sent  out  De  Ruyter  with 
a  strong  fleet  to  recover  the  Dutch  settlements  on  the  African  shore, 
taken  by  the  English ;  and  Charles  in  turn  ordered  his  fleet  to  seize 
Dutch  merchantmen  wherever  they  could  be  found.  Teddernan,  the 
English  commander,  attacked  the  Bordeaux  fleet  and  made  many 
prizes.  On  November  21st  Pepys  writes :  "  The  war  is  begun :  God 
give  a  good  end  to  it."  A  fine  English  fleet  put  to  sea  with  the  Earl 
of  Sandwich  on  board.  But  Pepys  tells  us  the  English  had  now 
begun  to  fear  the  Dutch  as  much  as  they  had  once  contemned  them. 

The  West  India  Company,  enraged  at  the  loss  of  their  fine  posses- 
sions in  the  New  World,  now  sent  a  summons  to  Peter  Stuyvesant  and 
his  secretary,  Van  Ruyven,  to  come  home  and  explain  the  causes  of 
the  surrender.  Stuyvesant  went  in  May  to  Holland.  He  carried  with 
him  a  certificate  of  good  character  from  the  burgomasters  and  sche- 
pens  and  a  long  defense  of  his  own  conduct.  He  threw  the  blame  of 
the  loss  of  the  colony  on  the  West  India  Company,  who  had  left  it 
without  any  means  of  defense,  without  a  single  ship  of  war,  and  with 
only  a  few  barrels  of  powder.  He  pointed  out  his  own  helpless  con- 
dition when  the  English  besieged  him — cut  off  from  all  succor,  left 
alone  upon  the  hostile  continent,  surrounded  by  foes  on  land  and  sea. 
He  said  he  would  rather  have  died  than  surrender.  He  yielded  only 
to  the  prayers  of  the  inhabitants  and  to  save  women  and  children 
from  the  terrors  of  assault.  To  all  his  arguments  the  directors  of  the 
Company  replied  by  violent  charges  of  cowardice  and  treason.  They 
asserted  that  he  should  have  fired  his  guns  upon  the  hostile  fleet  and 
sent  his  troops  to  dislodge  the  few  companies  at  the  "  Ferry."  But 
Stuyvesant  was  evidently  right.  He  saved  the  city  from  sack  and 
perhaps  destruction.  The  Dutch  were  too  few  to  resist  the  forces  of 
New  and  Old  England,  and  the  fate  of  New  Netherland  was  not  to  be 
averted.  Stuyvesant,  after  two  years'  absence,  came  back  to  New- 
York  to  his  fond  wife  and  children,  his  fine  bouwery,  and  wide  pos- 


RICHARD    NICOLLS,    THE    FIBST    ENGLISH    GOVERNOR         315 


sessions.  While  in  Europe  he  had  prevailed  on  the  English  king  to 
allow  several  ships  to  carry  goods  between  Holland  and  New-York  — 
a  seasonable  relief  to  its  trade.  He  lived  in  retirement  the  remainder 
of  his  life.  He  planted  the  pear-tree 
on  the  Bowery  which  some  of  us 
have  seen.  He  died  at  a  great  age, 
and  lies  buried  in  the  vaults  of  St. 
Mark's  Church. 

But  his  successor  began  now  to 
feel  the  cares  and  weight  of  his  wide 
command.  De  Euyter  was  at  sea, 
and  every  moment  a  powerful  Dutch 
fleet  might  be  looked  for  in  the  har- 
bor. Nicolls  repaired  the  ancient  fort 
and  would  have  quartered  his  sol- 
diers on  the  citizens,  but  the  officials 
interposed,  and  provided  that  each 
citizen  should  pay  a  weekly  sum  for 
their  support.  Stuyvesant  paid  four 
guilders  a  week,  others  three  and 
two.  Yet  the  soldiers  suffered  va- 
rious hardships,  and  Nicolls  com- 
plains that  owing  to  the  poverty  of 
the  city  they  slept  on  straw  and  had 
scarcely  a  tolerable  bed.  Trade  had 
nearly  ceased,  yet  Nicolls  was  obliged  to  impose  new  taxes.  He  was 
engaged  in  preparing  a  system  of  laws  for  the  province ;  he  divided 
Yorkshire  or  Long  Island  into  districts  or  ridings  with  Staten  Island 
and  Westchester,  and  appointed  a  sheriff  and  justices  to  hold  "  Courts 
of  Sessions."  He  obliged  the  Dutch  inhabitants  to  renew  their  titles 
to  land  in  the  name  of  the  Duke  of  York.  He  seized  on  all  the 
property  of  the  Dutch  West  India  Company. 

Nicolls,  a  bachelor  of  about  forty,  was  a  scholar,  fond  of  quoting 
Latin,  and  wrote  letters  that  are  full  of  good  sense  and  good  feeling. 
His  mind  was  active,  his  knowledge  considerable,  and  in  the  leisure 
moments  of  his  first  winter  in  New- York  he  employed  himself  in 
planning  a  code  of  laws  for  his  wide  domain  that  should  be  in  unison 
with  the  wishes  of  the  duke  and  not  displeasing  to  the  people.  On 
one  point  the  duke  had  insisted — there  should  be  no  trace  of  a  popular 
assembly.  He  probably  remembered  the  vigorous  measures  of  the 
Long  Parliament  and  felt  a  natural  dread  of  popular  rule.  Nicolls 
formed  his  constitution  and  laws  upon  the  principle  of  a  perfect  des- 
potism. All  officials  were  to  be  appointed  by  the  Governor ;  all  taxes 
were  laid,  all  laws  were  imposed  by  him.  There  were  to  be  no  elec- 


316  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

tive  magistrates.  There  could  be  no  opposition  to  his  autocracy.  He 
was  endowed  with  more  complete  authority  than  any  Persian  satrap 
or  Turkish  bey, — a  despot,  but  a  benevolent  one. 

In  producing  his  digest  he  had  studied  the  laws  of  Massachusetts 
and  Connecticut  and  borrowed  their  best  traits.  He  was  humane,  and 
insisted  that  every  one  else  should  be  so;  perfect  religious  freedom 
he  granted  to  all ;  he  would  have  wrong  done  to  no  one.  His  code 
was  arranged  in  alphabetical  order,  like  the  New  England  codes,  and 
was  known  generally  as  the  "  Duke's  Laws."  The  Court  of  Assize  met 
in  New- York  City;  trials  were  by  jury;  each  person  was  assessed 
according  to  his  property ;  all  land  was  held  by  license  from  the  duke, 
and  all  persons  were  required  to  take  out  new  patents  and  pay  a  fee 
when  the  seal  was  affixed;  all  conveyances  were  to  be  recorded  in 
New-York.  These  are  only  a  few  of  the  leading  articles.  When  his 
code  was  ready,  Nicolls  summoned  a  deputation  from  all  the  towns  on 
Long  Island  to  meet  at  Hempstead  on  the  last  day  of  February  and 
listen  to  the  new  plan  of  government.  The  deputies,  full  of  expecta- 
tion, came  punctually  to  the  meeting.  There  were  Dutch  from  the  Hoi- 
laud  towns,  English  from  the  east  end, — a  respectable  list  of  names, 
many  of  whose  descendants  are  still  known  in  their  ancient  seats. 
Nicolls,  as  Governor,  began  the  proceedings  by  reading  his  commission 
and  distributed  among  the  deputies  his  code  of  laws.  They  no  doubt 
received  it  with  eager  interest.  But  great  was  the  disappointment  of 
those  who  had  lived  under  the  Connecticut  charter  and  elected  their 
own  rulers.  They  asked  to  be  allowed  to  choose  their  own  magis- 
trates, but  Nicolls  showed  them  the  duke's  instructions  by  which  all 
officers  of  justice  were  to  be  selected  by  the  Governor  alone.  The 
deputies  found  that  they  had  only  assembled  to  hear  the  laws  of  an 
autocrat.  They  passed  a  loyal  address  to  the  Duke  of  York  and 
separated.  Nicolls  proceeded  to  appoint  sheriffs  and  other  officers 
for  the  various  towns ;  but  the  people  murmured :  they  felt  that  their 
liberty  was  gone. 

To  amuse  them  or  himself  the  Governor  introduced  the  favorite 
sport  of  the  English,  and  founded  the  Hempstead  race-course.  The 
broad  plain  around  the  town  offered  a  level,  convenient  site,  well 
covered  with  soft  grass:  it  was  known  as  "Salisbury  plain."  The 
race-course  was  called  "Newmarket,"  after  that  famous  scene  of 
license  in  England.  Nicolls  gave  a  cup  to  be  run  for  at  the  annual 
meeting  in  June.  Newmarket  has  long  passed  away,  but  Long  Island 
has  always  been  famous  for  its  fine  horses,  its  races,  and  its  bold  riders, 
male  and  female:  they  may  well  trace  their  origin  to  the  sport-loving 
Governor  of  the  seventeenth  century. 

Besides  the  conquest  of  New  Netherland,  the  four  commissioners 
were  intrusted  with  a  duty  almost  equally  ignoble.  They  were  to 
take  away,  if  possible,  the  charters  and  liberties  of  New  England.  Two 


BICHAKD    NICOLL8,    THE    FIEST    ENGLISH    GOVEENOR         317 

separate  instructions  had  been  given  them, — one  to  be  shown  publicly, 
the  other  to  be  known  only  to  themselves.  In  the  first  the  King  ex- 
pressed his  warm  affection  for  his  New  England  subjects,  directed  his 
commissioners  to  consult  their  wishes,  win  their  regard,  and  act  as 
arbiters  of  their  differences  and  disputes.  In  the  second  and  secret 
one  they  were  instructed  to  induce  them  to  give  up  their  charters,  to 
allow  their  governors  and  officials  to  be  appointed  in  England,  and 
to  reduce  them  to  an  entire  and  perfect  obedience  to  the  crown.  It 
seems  that  by  some  unknown  means  the  Massachusetts  officials  had 
obtained  copies  of  both  papers,  and  were  well  acquainted  with  their 
secret  purpose.  And  hence,  when  on  a  fair  Sabbath  eve  in  July  the 
English  frigates  sailed  into  Boston  harbor,  they  were  met  with  no  eager 
welcome.  The  stern  Puritan  officials  received  the  commissioners  with 
cold  civility.  Never  before  had  an  English  frigate  sailed  into  Boston 
harbor;  the  event  was  ominous  of  change,  and  Endicott  and  Belling- 
ham  saw  with  alarm  the  first  footsteps  of  European  tyranny.  A 
second  time  Maverick  and  Cartwright  now  went  to  Massachusetts. 
They  had  gone  through  Connecticut  and  Ehode  Island  and  been  re- 
ceived everywhere  with  evidences  of  respect.  But  when  they  reached 
Boston,  in  February,  they  met  with  a  worse  reception  than  before. 
Endicott  had  now  passed  away;  the  sternness  of  the  earlier  gener- 
ation was  softening  with  time.  But  Maverick  and  Cartwright  soon 
roused  the  fierce  tempers  of  the  Puritans:  they  knew  their  object  and 
contemned  them.  Bellingham  was  chosen  Governor  and  Willoughby 
to  the  second  place,  in  the  face  of  the  commissioners.  The  people 
defied  them:  they  read  their  declaration  of  rights  by  the  sound  of  the 
trumpet,  before  the  house  where  Maverick  and  Cartwright  stayed. 
Nicolls  came  to  Boston  to  their  aid  by  a  long  and  tedious  journey,  but 
could  be  of  little  use.  Massachusetts,  "presumptuous  and  refractory," 
drove  off  the  royal  commissioners. 

Cartwright  and  Maverick  went  eastward  to  Maine  and  Nicolls  back 
to  New- York.  In  June  Cartwright  sailed  for  England,  carrying  with 
him  papers  and  despatches  that  would  give  no  favorable  account  of 
the  Massachusetts  rulers.  His  violent  temper  was  roused  by  disap- 
pointment; he  suffered  from  the  gout,  and  he  left  America  in  no 
pleasant  mood.  But,  fortunately  for  Massachusetts,  he  was  captured 
by  a  Dutch  privateer  and  carried  into  Spain.  His  papers  were  lost, 
and  when  at  last  he  reached  England  the  dangers  of  the  war  engaged 
all  the  attention  of  the  English  ministers.  In  vain  Carr,  Maverick, 
and  Secretary  Morrice  urged  them  to  take  away  the  charter  of  Mas- 
sachusetts ;  they  felt  that  it  was  no  time  to  rouse  the  angry  spirit  of 
the  New  England  republicans.1 

l  There  were  antagonisms  and  jealousies  between  and  New-York  City,  and  uses  as  an  argument  these 

New  England  and  New- York  even  after  its  con-  words:  "The  strength  and  nourishing  condition 

quest.     In  1666  Nicolls  writes  to  the  Earl  of  Clar-  of  this  place  will  bridle  the  ambitious  saints  of 

endon  advocating  a  direct  trade  between  Holland  Boston '. "  EDITOR. 


318 


HISTORY    OF     NEW- YORK 


A  memorable  day  now  came  in  the  history  of  New- York  City,  when 
its  Dutch  government  forever  passed  away.  By  a  single  proclamation 
of  its  autocratic  Governor,  Burgomaster,  Schout  and  Schepens  were 
removed  from  office,  and  the  English  system  of  Mayor,  Aldermen,  and 
Sheriff  took  their  place.  They  have  remained  ever  since  —  except  for 
the  brief  period  of  the  reconquest  —  the  officials  of  New- York.  It  was 
the  12th  of  June,  1665,  when  Nicolls  issued  his  proclamation.  "  I, 
Richard  Nicolls,"  it  ran,  "  do  ordain  that  all  the  inhabitants  of  New- 
York,  New  Harlem,  and  the  Island  of  Manhattan  are  one  body  poli- 
tic under  the  government  of  a  Mayor,  Alder- 
men, and  Sheriff,  and  I  do  appoint  for  one 
whole  year,  commencing  from  the  date  hereof 
and  ending  the  12th  day  of  June,  1666,  Mr. 
Thomas  Willett  to  be  Mayor."1  Willett  was 
from  Plymouth,  a  useful  and  active  man. 
The  first  Aldermen  were  Delavall,  Van  Cort- 
landt,  Van  Brugh,  Van  Ruyven,  and  John 
Lawrence.  The  Sheriff  was  Allard  Anthony, 
SEAL  OF  NEW  AMSTERDAM.*  who  had  been  foe  Dutch  Schout.  TliYeQ  of 
the  new  officials  were  English — Willett,  Delavall,  and  Lawrence ;  four 
were  Hollanders.  Yet  the  Dutch  murmured  when  their  old  govern- 
ment passed  away.  They  wished  at  least  to  retain  the  right  of 
appointing  their  successors;  but  this  Nicolls  would  not  allow.  All 
officials  must  be  appointed  by  the  Governor  alone.  With  pleasant 
words  he  soothed  his  angry  opponents,  and  on  the  14th  of  June  the 
magistrates  took  the  oath  of  office  and  the  new  government  began ;  the 
bell  in  the  fort  rang  three  times  to  celebrate  the  new  birth  of  the  city. 
One  looks  back  naturally  over  the  long  line  of  mayors,  aldermen, 
and  sheriffs  with  an  intense  interest  to  the  first  meeting  of  the  first 
officials  of  the  city.  Through  that  far  survey  we  meet  with  many 
well-known  faces  and  characters,  nearly  all  honorable  and  worthy 
of  their  place.  The  mayors  under  the  English  rule  were  of  only  local 
fame;  but  after  the  Revolution  they  rose  in  reputation.  Duane, 


1 1  have  abridged  the  proclamation.  It  may  be 
read  in  the  records  of  the  City  Hall  in  New- York. 
See  too  the  proclamation  of  Nicolls,  June  12, 1665, 
Albany  Records. 

2  Ten  years  before  the  English  conquest,  in  1654, 
the  city  of  New  Amsterdam  having  been  duly 
incorporated  in  the  preceding  year,  a  seal  was 
granted,  as  shown  in  the  text,  which  in  heraldic 
language  is  thus  described:  "Argent  per  pale, 
three  crosses  saltire,  crest  a  beaver  proper,  sur- 
mounted by  a  mantle  on  which  is  a  shield  argent 
bearing  the  letters  G.  W.  C. ,  under  the  base  is 
the  legend,  Sigillum  Amstelodamensis  in  Novo 
Belgio."  The  three  crosses  form  a  prominent 
part  in  the  arms  of  Amsterdam  in  Holland,  and 
the  letters  G  W  C.  are  an  abbreviation  of  "  Geoc- 
troyeerd  Westindische  Compagnie" — i.  e.,  "Char- 


tered West  India  Company."  WhenNicolls,  having 
changed  the  form  of  the  municipal  government, 
abolished  the  use  of  this  seal,  another,  known  as 
the  Duke  of  York's  seal,  was  substituted.  A  rep- 
resentation of  it  appears  on  another  page.  It  is 
a  copy  of  the  royal  arms  of  the  House  of  Stuart, 
and  may  be  described  as  "  Quarterly  1st  and  4th, 
France  and  England  quarterly.  2d  Or,  a  lion  ram- 
pant within  a  double  tressure  flory,  counter  flory, 
gules,  Scotland.  3d  Azure,  a  harp  stringed  argent, 
Ireland."  The  motto  is  the  well-known  legend 
"Honi  Soit  Qui  Mai  Y  Pense,"  under  which  run 
the  abbreviated  words,  '•  Sigill.  Provinc.  Nov. 
Eborac."  The  seal  was  first  put  to  use  in  1669, 
and  continued  until  that  of  1686  (see  p.  413)  was 
granted  to  the  city  EDITOR. 


BICHABD    NICOLLS,    THE    FIBST    ENGLISH    GOVEBNOB         319 

Varick,  De  Witt  Clinton  were  among  the  leaders  of  their  time.  In 
a  later  day  Laurence,  Havemeyer,  Opdike,  Gunther  were  honorable 
citizens.  An  instructive  book  might  be  written  on  the  mayors  of 
New- York.  The  first  meeting  of  Willett  and  his  associates  was  on 
June  15,  1665.  The  Dutch  language  was 
proscribed ;  the  English  was  to  be  used 
in  future  in  all  civic  matters.  To  trans- 
late from  the  English  to  the  Dutch  Johannes  Nevius  was  first  ap- 
pointed secretary,  and  when  he  resigned  Nicolas  Bayard  took  his  place. 
Seated  on  his  uneasy  throne,  the  ruler  of  immense  regions,  peopled 
by  only  five  or  six  thousand  persons,  most  of  whom  were  his  avowed 
or  secret  enemies,  with  a  small  garrison  and  a  crumbling  fort,  Nicolls 
might  well  feel  at  times  all  the  perils  of  a  despot.  War  began ;  he  was 
ordered  to  put  his  poor  stockades  in  order  to  resist  invasion.  He  knew 
that  De  Euyter  was  abroad.  His  people  were  already  murmuring 
and  rebellious.  When  he  urged  them  to  fortify  the  city  with  palisades 
along  the  river-side,  some  said  the  defenses  were  already  sufficient, 
others  that  they  would  not  work  until  their  arms  were  restored  to 
them.  Nicolls  found  himself  perfectly  neglected  by  his  countrymen 
at  home.  No  ship  from  England  directly  had  entered  the  harbor ;  no 
supplies  nor  soldiers  had  reached  him  since  the  surrender  in  August, 
1664.  Nearly  a  year  had  passed.  He  seems  to  have  been  in  want 
of  everything ;  money  he  could  only  raise  by  borrowing,  and  he  soon 
came  to  be  deeply  in  debt.  The  cares  of  his  government  weighed 
heavily  upon  him,  and  he  would  have  been  glad  to  resign  his  office. 
He  had  given  liberal  grants  of  lands  to  his  fellow-officers ;  for  himself, 
he  had  wasted  his  private  fortune  to  feed  and  pay  his  soldiers,  and 
now  war  was  to  still  further  diminish  the  resources  of  his  province 
and  cut  off  what  little  trade  had  lingered  after  the  port  was  closed 
to  the  ships  of  the  Dutch. 

Suddenly  a  blow  came  upon  him  that  he  had  scarcely  looked  for, 
and  the  larger  and  fairer  part  of  his  dominion  was  taken  from  him. 
Across  the  Hudson  lay  the  broad  tract  of  territory  now  known  as 

New  Jersey.  It  was  as  yet  an  un- 
known wilderness;  no  traveler  had 
penetrated  the  fertile  wilds  where  now 
great  cities  nourish  and  railways  of 
unequal  ed  speed  bind  together  the 
two  chief  seats  of  Eastern  trade.  A  few  Dutch  settlements  were 
struggling  for  life  on  the  river.  Thin  tribes  of  savages  roamed 
over  the  interior.  The  country  was  believed  to  be  fertile  beyond 
Long  Island,  and  the  shores  of  the  Hudson  rich  in  furs,  fish,  and 
game.  But  as  yet  no  one  had  settled  on  the  banks  of  the  Rari- 
tan  and  the  Hackensack,  and  imagination  painted  the  interior 


320  HISTOBY    OF    NEW- YORK 

country  in  its  fairest  colors.  Perhaps  Nicolls  had  already  planned 
to  obtain  a  grant  of  Albania  for  himself,  and  hoped  to  leave  behind 
him  to  his  collateral  heirs  a  fine  estate.  He  had  already  given  tracts 
of  land  at  Elizabethtown  to  four  families  from  Jamaica,  Long  Island, 
and  had  confirmed  another  purchase  from  the  Indians  near  Sandy 
Hook.  He  was  evidently  preparing  to  extend  his  authority  over  the 
fair  lands  of  Albania. 

The  Duke  of  York  in  June,  1664,  before  the  fall  of  New  Netherland, 
had  conveyed  all  of  what  is  now  New  Jersey  to  two  court  favorites — 
Sir  George  Carteret  and  Lord  Berkeley  of  Stratton.  Carteret,  brave, 
passionate,  impulsive,  had  deserved  well  of  his  king.  When  Charles 
was  an  exile  Carteret  had  given  him  a  refuge  on  his  island  of  Jersey, 
of  which  he  was  governor  and  where  his  family  had  been  eminent 
for  many  centuries.  He  had  boldly  resisted  the  parliamentary  forces 
•  and  yielded  only  at  the  command  of  his  king. 

He  came  back  at  the  restoration,  to  become 
a  favorite  servant  of  Charles  and  James,  and 
to  live  forever  in  his  true  colors.  In  the  amusing  portraiture  of 
Samuel  Pepys,  no  one  can  forget  the  bold,  fierce  controller  of  the 
navy,  or  the  rare  art  with  which  Pepys  brought  his  son  Philip  Carteret 
to  marry  Lady  Jemina  Montague. 

Berkeley,  too,  had  deserved  rewards  and  favors.  But  the  grant  to 
the  two  patentees  had  been  kept  secret  from  the  commissioners  and 
was  a  perfect  surprise  to  Nicolls.  The  first  news  of  it  came  to  him 
from  Virginia.  Here  Philip  Carteret,  a  cousin  of  Sir  George,  had 
been  driven  by  storms  into  the  Chesapeake.  He  had  been  appointed 
governor  of  the  new  colony,  which  was  to  be  called  New  Cesarea,  or 
New  Jersey,  in  honor  of  the  Carterets  and  their  native  island.  Car- 
teret brought  with  him  a  letter  from  James  to  Nicolls  directing  him 
to  aid  the  grantees  and  give  up  the  province.  He  obeyed,  but  evi- 
dently with  intense  disappointment  and  regret.  He  even  ventured  to 
write  a  remonstrance  to  the  duke,  pressing  him  to  give  Carteret  and 
Berkeley  other  lands  along  the  Delaware.  He  urged  that  New  Jersey 
was  the  most  valuable  part  of  the  duke's  possession,  capable  of  re- 
ceiving "  twenty  times  more  people  than  Long  Island."  "  I  gave  it 

the  name  of  Albania,"  he  adds,  and  the  blow  /)  > 

/j     ^^          j    s 
was  one  that  he  felt  most  keenly.    Yet  it     ({irZfe&jy-r&ulS} 

was  a  most  fortunate  event  for  the  future      s]  ^f 

progress  of  the  country.    Carteret  by  the  £*/ 

"concessions"  was  able  to  give  free  institutions  to  his  people. 
Carrying  a  hoe  on  his  shoulder,  he  landed  at  the  head  of  thirty 
emigrants  he  had  brought  over  and  founded  Elizabethtown.  It  was 
named  in  honor  of  Sir  George's  wife.  New  Jersey  under  his  lib- 
eral government  soon  began  to  flourish;  New- York,  however,  under 


RICHARD    NICOLLS,    THE    FIEST    ENGLISH    GOVERNOR         321 

the  despotic  rule  of  Nicolls,  scarcely  advanced.  Many  towns  grew 
up  on  the  Jersey  shore:  Elizabeth,  Perth  Amboy,  Middletown,  and 
Newark  were  settled  by  active  and  cultivated  immigrants.  Car- 
teret  had  no  easy  place  at  the  head  of  his  free  and  turbulent  peo- 
ple. He  lived  amidst  perpetual  discord.  But  his  temper  was  mild, 
his  disposition  liberal.  He  married  an  intelligent  and  wealthy  wife, 
and  lived  and  died  at  Elizabeth.  To  the  free  spirit  of  his  laws  New 
Jersey  owes  much  of  its  greatness  and  of  the 
vigorous  growth  that  has  made  it  always  a  bul- 
wark of  union  and  independence. 

Late  in  August  Nicolls  sailed  up  the  Hudson 
for  the  first  time,  surveyed  its  wild  and  desolate 
shores,  and  reached  Albany  in  safety.  He  went 
there  ostensibly  to  quiet  the  Indians,  but  more 
probably  to  observe  the  conduct  of  the  Dutch 
inhabitants.  He  placed  Captain  Baker  in  charge 
of  the  fort  at  Albany,  with  instructions  to  keep  THE  CARTERET 
strict  watch  and  discipline,  to  live  in  peace  with  the  Dutch,  and  avoid 
all  disputes  and  differences.  Captain  Manning  he  removed  to  New- 
York.  He  licensed  the  first  English  school-master  at  Albany,  one  of 
Baker's  soldiers.  On  his  return  down  the  river  in  October,  he  stopped 
at  Esopus,  where  Brodhead  was  in  command,  and  gave  him  some  wise 
counsel.  He  was  to  be  patient,  prudent,  forbearing.  But  Brodhead  for- 
got the  advice,  and  was  soon  in  open  hostility  with  the  Dutch  settlers. 
At  Esopus,  Nicolls  bought  large  tracts  of  land  from  the  Indians.  The 
loss  of  New  Jersey  had  evidently  led  him  to  wish  to  draw  settlers  to 
the  banks  of  the  Hudson.  He  wrote  a  prospectus,  a  taking  account 
of  the  advantages  offered  to  planters  under  the  "Duke's  Laws"  and  of 
the  fertility  of  the  lands.  This  paper  he  was  obliged  to  print  at  Cam- 
bridge. Here  the  only  printing-press  existed  in  all  the  English  pos- 
sessions of  America;  New- York  had  not  a  printer  then. 

One  of  the  peculiar  traits  of  the  time  when  printers  were  few  was 
the  trial  of  Ralph  and  Mary  Hall  for  the  "abominable  crime"  of 
witchcraft.  It  was  held  before  the  Court  of  Assize  of  New- York  in 
October,  1665.  A  jury  of  respectable  merchants  and  others  was 
summoned,  of  whom  Jacob  Leisler,  afterwards  so  conspicuous  and  so 
unfortunate,  was  one.  The  sheriff,  Anthony,  produced  his  prisoners. 
They  were  from  Seatalcott  or  Brookhaven,  Long  Island,  and  were 
charged  with  having  procured  the  deaths  of  one  George  Wood  by 
wicked  arts  and  of  the  infant  child  of  Ann  Rogers,  "widdow  of  ye 
aforesaid  George  Wood."  Several  witnesses  testified  to  the  facts. 
"Then  the  clarke  calling  upon  Ralph  Hall,  bad  him  hold  up  his  hand 
and  read  as  follows:  'Ralph  Hall,  thou  standest  here  indicted  for 
that,  not  having  the  fear  of  God  before  thine  eyes,  thou  didst  upon 
VOL.  I.— 21. 


322  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

the  25th  day  of  December,  as  is  suspected,  by  some  wicked  and  detest- 
able arts,  cause  the  deaths  of  the  said  George  Wood  and  the  infante 
childe.'"  The  wife,  Mary  Hall,  was  summoned  in  the  same  way. 
Both  prisoners  pleaded  not  guilty.  The  jury,  who  had  some  intelli- 
gence, gave  them  the  advantage  of  the  doubt.  Hall  was  acquitted. 
Some  suspicion,  they  allowed,  rested  upon  his  wife,  and  he  was  directed 
to  give  bonds  for  her  good  conduct.  But  Governor  Nicolls  in  1668, 
with  his  usual  moderation,  set  them  both  free.  Some  years  later 
Katherine  Harrison,  a  widow  from  Wethersfield,  Connecticut,  was 
charged  by  the  people  of  Westchester  with  witchcraft.  They  were 
anxious  to  drive  her  from  their  borders,  but  she  proved  her  innocence 
so  clearly  that  she  was  allowed  "  to  remaine  in  the  towne  of  West- 
Chester."  New- York  officials  were  free  from  the  mad  superstition  that 
covered  Old  and  New  England  with  judicial  murders ;  her  juries  never 
condemned  a  witch. 

Nicolls  in  November  wrote  to  the  duke  that  his  government  was 
satisfactory  to  the  people,  and  that  even  the  republicans  could  find  no 
cause  for  complaint.  He  urged  his  patron  to  send  over  merchant 
ships,  for  the  trade  of  the  city  was  nearly  lost.  Yet  he  foretold  the 
future  greatness  of  New- York ;  he  saw  that  it  must  become  the  chief 
port  of  the  continent.  Hither,  he  said,  and  not  to  Boston,  must  come 
the  commerce  of  America.  But  he  complained  of  the  neglect  shown 
towards  Mm  by  the  ministry;  no  supplies  had  reached  him  from 
England,  he  had  nearly  ruined  his  private  fortune  to  save  his  soldiers 
from  want,  and  now  he  begged  to  be  relieved  of  his  command.  He 
proposed  as  his  successor  Captain  Harry  Norwood,  who  had  gone  to 
England,  but  who,  he  thought,  would  be  acceptable  to  the  soldiers  and 
the  country.  To  this  request  Clarendon  replied  in  a  complimentary 
letter,  but  refusing  it.  No  one  but  Nicolls,  he  thought,  could  so  well 
fill  the  place  of  Governor. 

At  this  moment  there  was  good  reason  why  no  troops  nor  supplies 
came  from  England.  Charles  had  entered  upon  the  war  with  the 
Netherlands,  hoping  to  crush  them  easily.  He  chose  a  moment  when 
the  plague  raged  in  its  cities,  when  fifteen  hundred  persons  died  of  it 
in  one  week  at  Amsterdam,  when  the  Orange  faction  was  clamoring 
against  De  Witt,  and  the  republic  was  still  borne  down  by  an  exces- 
sive debt.  At  first  he  had  been  successful.  De  Witt  had  sent  out  one 
of  the  finest  fleets  the  Dutch  had  ever  possessed.  It  was  commanded 
by  Obdam,  a  brave  if  not  a  skilful  officer ;  Cortenaer  was  his  vice- 
admiral,  and  the  most  famous  Dutch  captains,  except  De  Ruyter,  who 
was  on  a  distant  expedition,  appeared  in  the  fleet.  The  crews  were 
well  fed  with  increased  rations,  and  promised  pensions  to  the 
wounded  and  double  pensions  to  their  wives  and  children  in  case  of 
death.  A  great  reward  was  offered  to  any  one  who  captured  a  flag- 


RICHARD    NICOLLS,    THE    FIRST    ENGLISH    GOVERNOR         323 


ship.  One  hundred  and  three  line-of-battle  ships,  eleven  fire-ships, 
and  twelve  galliots,  besides  a  reserve  squadron  of  forty  ships  more,  all 
manned  by  twenty-two  thousand  men,  completed  this  unequaled  arma- 
ment. All  was  hope  and 
ardor,  we  are  told  by 
D'Estrades,  among  the 
Dutch  soldiers  and  sail- 
ors ;  they  were  full  of 
cheerfulness  and  certain 
of  success.  The  English 
fleet  numbered  one  hun- 
dred and  nine  line-of- 
battle  ships,  twenty-one 
fire-ships,  seven  galliots, 
and  twenty- one  thou- 
sand men.  The  Duke  of 
York,  the  Earl  of  Sand- 
wich, and  Prince  Eupert 
were  in  chief  command. 
The  fire-ships  used  in 
these  naval  contests 
were  often  of  great  ser- 
vice; they  closed  with 
the  larger  vessels  and 
were  then  set  on  fire. 
The  two  fleets  met  off  Lowestoft,  on  the  Surrey  coast,  on  the  2d  of 
June.  A  frightful  combat  followed;  Cortenaer,  the  Dutch  vice-admiral, 
was  shot  early  in  the  battle,  and  his  squadron  fled ;  Obdam  assailed  the 
Duke  of  York,  on  his  flag-ship,  but  his  own  ship  blew  up,  and  all  on 
board  were  lost.  The  Dutch  were  beaten.  They  fled  to  their  harbors 
with  great  loss,  and  the  enraged  people  met  their  defeated  officers  with 
outcries  and  ill-usage.  The  brave  Evertsen  they  nearly  killed,  throw- 
ing him  into  one  of  the  canals,  whence  he  was  taken  by  some  soldiers. 
The  English  were  full  of  triumph.  "  It  is  the  greatest  victory  that 
ever  was,"  wrote  Pepys  in  his  secret  diary;  and  the  king  ordered 
medals  to  be  struck  inscribed  "et  pontus  serviret" — "the  sea  shall 
obey  him."  The  English  were  plainly  masters  of  the  sea.  But  not 
for  a  long  time.  John  De  Witt  was  now  the  ruling  statesman  of  the 
Netherlands.  He  formed  a  happy  contrast  to  the  corrupt  kings  and 
ministers  of  his  age.  Honest,  firm,  unyielding,  pure  in  morals,  an 
excellent  husband  and  father,  learned,  and  the  friend  of  all  men  of 
letters,  but  above  all  a  patriot,  De  Witt  for  twenty  years,  as  Grand 
Pensionary  of  Holland,  led  on  his  countrymen  to  unusual  prosperity. 
Dutch  fleets  covered  the  seas.  Dutch  commerce  supplied  the  wants 


CORNELIUS    DE    WITT. 


324  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

of  Europe.  The  cities  of  Holland  were  full  of  activity  and  wealth, 
the  envy  and  the  models  of  their  contemporaries.  But  it  was  as  the 
teachers  of  republican  virtue  and  simplicity  that  the  Dutch  had  chiefly 
alarmed  and  offended  the  profligate  rulers  of  France  and  England.  A 
sense  of  their  own  moral  inferiority  sharpened  the  rage  of  Charles, 
James,  and  Louis  against  De  Witt  and  his  associates.  The  republic 
must  be  subdued,  the  monitor  blotted  from  existence,  and  the  con- 
science of  nations  deadened  and  destroyed.  Happily  the  event  was 
very  different,  and  the  corrupt  monarchs  succeeded  only  in  rousing 
again  an  impulse  of  reform  that  became  at  last  irresistible. 

De  Witt,  unshaken  in  defeat,  succeeded  in  awakening  the  patriotism 
of  his  people.  He  went  in  person  to  the  fleet,  punished  the  cowardly, 
rewarded  the  brave,  celebrated  the  memories  of  the  two  brave  admirals 
Obdam  and  Cortenaer.  The  fleet  was  fitted  out  anew,  and  suddenly 
the  return  of  De  Ruyter  with  twelve  line-of -battle  ships,  a  great  num- 
ber of  prizes,  and  two  thousand  tried  sailors  added  to  the  general 
confidence  and  joy.  The  people  crowded  to  see  their  famous  hero, 
women  kissed  and  embraced  him.  He  received  them  all  with  his  usual 
good  humor ;  they  hailed  him  as  the  savior  of  the  republic.  He  was 
made  at  once  admiral  of  the  fleet. 

De  Euyter  was  the  chief  naval  commander  of  his  time.  He  was 
born  in  extreme  poverty  at  Flushing,  the  son  of  a  brewer's  journey- 
man. He  went  to  sea  at  eleven  as  a  cabin-boy,  was  then  a  common 
sailor,  and  soon  made  his  way  by  his  skill  and  courage  to  the  highest 
place  in  the  navy.  Modest,  honest,  sincere,  amiable,  he  was  often  un- 
willing to  take  the  high  positions  offered  him.  He  was  a  faithful 
friend  of  De  Witt  and  always  eager  to  obey  him.  But  every  one  felt 
his  real  superiority  as  a  commander  and  a  citizen ;  his  return  at  once 
roused  his  countrymen  from  their  depression.  He  was  of  middle  stature, 
we  are  told,  but  good  figure,  his  forehead  broad,  his  complexion  ruddy, 
dark  eyes  and  beard,  and  a  grave  yet  gentle  countenance  that  reflected 
the  brave  spirit  within.  He  reminds  one  of  the  faithful  Batavians 
who  formed  the  most  trusted  portion  of  the  Roman  legions  in  Britain. 

But  the  Dutch  found  another  and  a  dreadful  ally  to  avenge  their 
miseries.  The  plague  broke  out  in  London;  at  first  it  was  scarcely 
noticed.  Pepys  relates  that  there  were  several  houses  shut  up,  with 
the  cross  and  the  "Lord  have  mercy  upon  us"  on  them — a  thing  he 
had  never  seen  before.  But  soon  the  pestilence  raged  with  unex- 
ampled violence.  In  the  hot  months  of  August  and  September  ten 
thousand  persons  sometimes  died  in  a  single  week.  London  was  aban- 
doned by  all  who  could  escape — except  a  few  honorable  and  noble  men 
and  women  who  remained  to  aid  the  sick  and  bury  the  dead.  It  was  a 
deserted  city,  the  grass  growing  in  the  desolate  streets.  People  passed 
through  it  in  horror.  But  as  the  winter  came  on  the  disease  decreased, 


325 


the  citizens  caine  back  slowly,  trade  ouce  more  revived,  and  at  last 
Charles  and  his  courtiers  returned  to  indulge iin  all  the  wild  excesses 
that  shocked  even  the  pleasure-loving  Pepys. 

The  war  in  Europe  and  its  disasters  prevented  any  effectual  aid 
from  being  sent  to  Nicolls.  He  was  left  to  his  own  resources.  From 
his  residence  in  the  fort,  June  22d,  he  issued  his  orders  to  all  the  officers, 
civil  and  military,  of  the  East  Riding  of  Yorkshire  to  prepare  for  the 
defense  of  New- York.  De  Euyter,  he  said,  was  about  "to  attempt  the 
recovery  of  this  place."  He  directed  every  town  to  be  ready  at  the 


THE    DUTCH    FLEET    AT    CHATHAM.1 

first  alarm  to  send  their  soldiers  in  arms  to  the  Ferry  opposite  New- 
York.  A  physician  and  surgeon,  Peter  Harris,  who  had  arrived  in 
the  city  about  this  time,  he  authorized  to  "exercise  his  art,"  by  prob- 
ably the  first  medical  certificate  ever  given  in  New- York.  Nicolls  re- 
ceived the  news  of  the  great  victory  off  Lowestoft  with  a  satisfaction 
that  was  scarcely  shared  by  the  majority  of  his  subjects;  the  Bayards, 
Beekmans,  Neviuses,  and  others  must  have  heard  with  secret  grief 
the  danger  of  the  Fatherland.  But  soon  Nicolls  found  a  new  cause 
for  anxiety:  Louis  XIV.,  who  was  bound  by  treaty  to  assist  the  Dutch, 
roused  by  the  boastful  claims  of  the  English  king,  had  resolved  to  in- 


l  The  illustration  in  the  text  is  copied  from  a 
picture  in  Wagenaar's  "  Vaderlandsche  Historic,'1 
Vol.  XIII.,  which  itself  was  a  reproduction  of  the 
oil-painting  in  the  Town  Hall  of  Dordrecht,  made 


by  order  of  the  magistrates  to  commemorate  this 
exploit  of  their  former  burgomaster,  Cornelius 
De  Witt.  EDITOR. 


326  HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YOKK 

terfere.  He  thought,  he  said,  the  Dutch  were  entitled  to  New  Nether- 
land  ;  he  proposed  terms  of  peace  which  Charles  haughtily  rejected. 
Louis  then  declared  war  against  the  English ;  but  his  aim  was  only  to 
weaken  both  Holland  and  England  and  to  profit  by  their  disasters. 
Denmark,  too,  had  formed  an  alliance  with  the  Dutch,  and  Holland 
was  no  longer  alone.  An  invasion  made  by  the  Bishop  of  Munster 
into  the  Dutch  territory,  with  fearful  ravages,  was  checked  by  the 
interposition  of  the  German  powers. 

Nicolls,  neglected  by  his  superiors,  was  next  to  provide  for  the 
safety  of  his  northern  domain.  The  Mohawks  were  the  fiercest, 
boldest,  most  overbearing  of  all  the  Indian  tribes.  Cruel  beyond 
belief,  cannibals  who  fed  on  the  flesh  of  their  prisoners,  cunning,  dar- 
ing, merciless,  they  ruled  over  the  lands  from  Saratoga  to  Canada, 
and  terrified  the  other  people  of  the  woods  into  abject  submission. 
It  is  said  that  a  single  Mohawk  would  by  his  presence  alone  subdue  a 
whole  tribe  of  the  river  savages.  They  sent  their  messengers  into 
Long  Island  and  exacted  tribute  even  of  the  Canarsies.  With  the 
Dutch  they  had  been  friendly;  with  the  French  they  waged  almost  per- 
petual war.  Their  massacres  and  their  treachery  roused  the  French 
ruler  of  Canada  to  revenge.  He  planned  an  expedition  that  was  to 
enter  the  Mohawk  country,  destroy  their  castles  and  villages,  and 
break  forever  their  haughty  spirit.  Courcelles,  in  the  depth  of  a 
Canadian  winter,  gathered  his  troops  for  his  mad  expedition.  It  was 
January,  the  ground  was  covered  deep  with  snow,  the  soldiers  were 
often  frozen  and  rendered  helpless  when  they  went  to  pay  their  devo- 
tions at  the  shrine  of  St.  Michael  the  Archangel.  Even  already  they 
dropped  frozen  and  benumbed  in  the  snow  and  were  carried  away  to 
places  of  shelter.  But  Courcelles  persisted  in  his  plan  of  marching 
several  hundred  miles  into  the  wilderness,  to  burn  the  Mohawk 
villages.  The  soldiers,  provided  with  snow-shoes  on  which  they  were 
to  travel,  were  laden  with  thirty  pounds  of  baggage ;  their  provisions 
were  carried  on  sledges  drawn  by  dogs.  They  passed  over  the  frozen 
lake  of  Canada,  through  Lake  Champlain,  along  the  borders  of  the 
Adirondacks,  and  reached  the  hostile  territory.  Nearly  all  the  Mo- 
hawks had  gone  on  a  foray  against  the  Southern  savages.  But  enough 
remained  to  annoy  the  half -frozen  but  still  courageous  French. 

The  guides  proved  treacherous  or  incompetent,  and  led  the  invaders 
far  away  from  the  Mohawk  castles.  A  party  of  Mohawks  were  seen 
retreating ;  the  French  pursued  with  sixty  of  their  best  fusileers,  fell 
into  an  ambush,  and  were  shot  down  by  two  hundred  savages  who  hid 
behind  trees.  The  Indians  carried  the  heads  of  four  of  the  slain  to 
Schenectady,  and  an  express  was  at  once  sent  to  Albany  to  announce 
the  approach  of  the  French.  Courcelles  had  been  led  by  his  guides  to 
within  a  few  miles  of  the  Dutch  settlements.  He  must  have  wandered 


RICHARD    NICOLLS,    THE    FIK8T    ENGLISH    GOVERNOR         327 

for  two  months  at  least  in  the  frightful  wilderness,  his  soldiers  often 
dropping  by  the  way.  The  Dutch  received  him  with  kindness,  fur- 
nished him  with  wine  and  provisions,  "  especially  peas  and  bread." 
They  offered  him  shelter  for  his  troops,  but  he  was  afraid  to  trust  to 
the  luxury  of  a  fire  and  a  home  "  his  weary  and  half-starved  people," 
who  were  already  too  willing  to  leave  their  ranks,  and  with  whom  he 
had  marched  and  camped  "  under  the  blue  canopy  of  heaven  full 
six  weeks."  At  length,  when  refreshed  and  fed,  Courcelles  turned 
back  to  march  through  the  frozen  wilderness,  still  courageous  and 
sanguine.  The  Mohawks  now  fell  upon  their  retreating  foes,  but 
killed  or  captured  only  a  few.  Five  Frenchmen  they  found  lying  dead 
on  the  way  with  cold  and  hunger.  They  brought  back  their  scalps. 

To  Nicolls  the  expedition  of  Courcelles  was  a  plain  invasion  of  the 
English  territory.  He  wrote  a  remonstrance  to  Tracy,  the  governor. 
He  pointed  out  that  a  foreign  army  had  come  upon  his  lands  without 
his  permission ;  but  the  letter  is  full  of  his  usual  humanity  and  tender- 
ness. He  recalls  the  days  when  he  and  Tracy  had  served  in  the 
French  army  together  with  the  Duke  of  York,  his  master;  thanks 
him  for  the  civilities  his  countrymen  had  shown  them  in  their  low 
estate,  and  signs  his  letter,  "  Your  affectionate  servant."  It  was  this 
strain  of  tenderness  that  marks  all  his  career.  Tracy  replied  with 
politeness,  excusing  the  error  of  Courcelles ;  he  had  not  even  heard,  he 
said,  that  the  English  were  in  possession  of  New- York.  He  thanked 
Nicolls  for  his  obliging  expressions,  but  said  it  was  his  son  who  had 
been  his  acquaintance  in  the  French  wars  ;  he  signs  himself,  "  Your 
thrice  affectionate  and  humble  servant."  Unhappily  the  French  did 
not  remember  the  kind  deeds  of  the  people  of  Sehenectady.  The 
town  was  the  scene  of  a  fearful  massacre  by  the  French  and  Indians 
in  February,  1690. 

In  March,  1666,  Nicolls  was  obliged  to  forbid  the  export  of  wheat 
from  New- York,  owing  to  the  poor  harvest  and  the  quantity  furnished 
to  Courcelles.  He  wrote  letters  to  the  duke  explaining  the  unfortunate 
condition  of  his  province.  He  thought  the  Dutch  would  prove  good 
subjects  if  they  were  only  allowed  some  privileges  of  "  time  and 
trade."  But  the  effect  of  the  war  and  the  English  navigation  laws  had 
been  fatal  to  the  commerce  of  New- York.  They  would  destroy  and 
drive  away  the  present  inhabitants  unless  some  relaxation  of  the  re- 
strictions on  trade  were  made.  Nicolls  went  to  the  races  at  Hempstead 
in  June,  and  here  made  a  treaty  with  the  chiefs  of  several  Long  Island 
tribes.  In  these  early  days  an  Indian  sachem  was  a  high  dignitary 
in  the  eyes  of  the  white  colonists.  He  was  their  near  and  often  dan- 
gerous neighbor.  He  lived  in  his  palisaded  castle,  surrounded  by  his 
wives  and  children,  his  warriors,  and  his  tribe,  like  some  feudal  lord 
with  whom  they  had  been  familiar  in  Europe.  From  the  chiefs  they 


328 


HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 


took  the  title  to  their  lands;  with  them  made  peace  or  war.  The 
great  sachems  of  Connecticut  were  still  unsubdued.  The  wars  of 
extermination  had  not  yet  begun.  Nicolls  was  very  successful  in 

his  treatment 
of  the  savages, 
and  preserved 
constant  peace 
with  them  by 
mildness  and 
generosity. 

In  respect  to 
the  people  of 
the  eastern  end 
of  Long  Island, 
or  the  Eng- 
lish settlers,  he 
was  not  for- 
tunate. South- 
ampton, South- 
old,  and  East- 
hampton  posi- 
tively refused 
to  receive  their 
local  town  offi- 
cers under  the 
"Duke's  Laws" 
and  to  pay 
taxes  to  them. 
They  still  re- 
gretted the 
loss  of  their 
/  free  meetings, 

/    ',  and       remem- 

bered their  disappointment  at  the  assembly  of  deputies  at  Hemp- 
stead.  Some  active  leaders  stirred  the  popular  discontent.  Under- 
bill, appointed  High  Sheriff  of  the  North  Riding,  complained  that 
the  people  were  enslaved  under  an  arbitrary  government.  A  very 
active  controversy  arose.  Censures  were  uttered,  sharp  criticisms 
on  the  Hempstead  meeting,  libels,  and  almost  treason.  Nicolls,  who 
was  a  soldier,  knew  how  to  enforce  obedience :  the  Court  of  Assize  met 
and  laid  down  rigid  penalties  against  those  who  "  vilified  "  any  of  the 
officials  of  his  Royal  Highness,  or  any  of  the  deputies  at  Hempstead. 
Sedition  was  punished  by  fines  and  imprisonment.  Smith  of  Brook- 
haven  was  put  in  the  stocks  for  saying  the  "king  was  none  of  his 


EICHAKD    NICOLLS,   THE    FIBST    ENGLISH    GOVERNOR        329 

king  nor  the  governor  his  governor."  Richard  Woodhull  and  William 
Lawrence  of  Flushing  were  fined.  It  is  not  likely  that  these  severe 
measures  added  to  Nicolls's  popularity. 

Another  decree  of  the  Court  of  Assize,  over  which  the  Governor 
presided,  had  nearly  produced  a  rebellion.  It  directed  all  persons 
who  held  lands  under  titles  from  the  Dutch  Government  to  have 
them  confirmed  under  the  seal  of  the  Duke  of  York,  and  pay  the 
fees  by  the  1st  of  April,  under  penalty  of  forfeiture.  No  grants  after 
that  date  were  to  be  valid.  The  ordinance  was  vigorously  enforced ; 
nearly  all  the  delinquent  towns  on  Long  Island  complied  except 
Southold  and  Southampton,  which  still  resisted,  and  only  submitted 
some  years  later.  Jeremiah  Van  Rensselaer,  who  claimed  Albany, 
was  warned  by  Nicolls  not  to  ask  too  much.  The  fees  and  quit- 
rents  gave  the  Governor  some  relief. 

About  this  time  Charles  dissolved  the  commission  which  had  so  long 
disquieted  the  colonies.  The  four  commissioners  were  dismissed  with 
gifts  and  thanks.  Connecticut  and  the  other  colonies  were  praised 
for  their  loyalty  and  submission,  but  Massachusetts  was  given  only 
sharp  words  and  bitter  rebukes.  She  was  ordered  to  send  over  Bel- 
lingham  and  Hathorne  to  answer  for  her  misconduct.  But  Massa- 
chusetts refused  to  send  abroad  her  best  men ;  and  Maverick, 
Cartwright,  who  had  now  escaped  to  England,  and  Nicolls  joined  in 
loud  accusations  against  her.  The  reader  may  desire  to  know  the 
fate  of  these  once-powerful  commissioners  who  came  to  rule  and 
divide  the  New  World  among  them.  Sir  Robert  Carr,  weak  and  dis- 
solute, went  over  to  England,  and  soon  / 
after  died  in  obscurity  at  Bristol.  Cart-  *S*  *"•<**-  ~ 
wright  was  always  ready  to  give  his  testimony  against  the  colonies. 
As  late  as  June  21,  1671,  Evelyn  notices  "  One  Colonel  Cartwright, 
a  Nottinghampshire  man  (formerly  in  commission  with  Colonel 
Nicolls),  who  was  brought  before  the  council  in  London,  and  gave 
a  'considerable  relation'  of  the  'colonie'  of  New  England."  We 
may  well  suppose  that  Cartwright  advocated  decided  measures  with 
the  republicans.  Maverick  we  find  was  granted  a  house  and  land 
on  Broadway  in  New -York,  at  the  request  of  Nicolls.  Thus  of  the 
four  commissioners  Nicolls  alone  remained  in  office,  still  more  eager 
than  ever  to  be  released.  The  year  1666  had  been  a  disturbed  and 
dangerous  one  for  the  unstable  rule  of  the  English  in  New -York. 
The  French  were  now  hostile  and  ready  to  invade  the  English  ter- 
ritory. Courcelles  and  Tracy,  at  the  head  of  a  large  force,  had  pene- 
trated into  the  Mohawk  country,  and  with  terrible  ravages  had  wasted 
their  lands  and  reduced  them  to  submission.  A  design  was  enter- 
tained of  conquering  New -York.  But  Nicolls,  undismayed,  told  the 
Mohawks  to  resist  the  French  and  tell  them  they  were  subjects  of  the 


330  HISTOKY    OF    NEW-YOEK 

English  king.  His  bold  words  must  have  concealed  much  secret 
apprehension.  All  over  his  territory  there  was  secret  or  open  dissatis- 
faction. At  Esopus  the  undue  severity  of  Brodhead  had  nearly 
roused  the  Dutch  settlers  to  rebellion.  He  arrested  on  some  slight 
provocation  a  well-known  burgher,  the  village  brewer,  a  sergeant  of  its 
militia.  The  people  gathered  in  fierce  excitement ;  one  of  them  was 
killed  by  a  soldier,  and  Nicolls  was  only  able  to  suppress  the  rising  by 
severe  measures.  He  declared  that  he  would  proceed  against  every 
man  "  who  shall  lift  his  arm  against  his  majesty's  garrison  as  rebel- 
lious subjects  and  common  enemies."  He  censured  Brodhead,  but  did 
not  remove  him. 

It  seems  probable  that  the  news  from  Europe  had  roused  the  spirit 
of  the  subject  Dutch.  Once  more  the  flag  of  Holland  ruled  the  seas. 
With  great  sacrifices  and  at  a  vast  expense  De  Witt  had  prepared 
a  fleet  of  a  hundred  war-ships;  at  its  head  was  De  Ruyter.  In  June, 
1666,  a  frightful  contest  again  followed  on  the  narrow  seas  that  were 
so  often  stained  with  useless  slaughter.  Monk  and  Prince  Rupert 
commanded  the  English.  A  French  squadron  joined  the  Dutch,  but 
carefully  avoided  the  enemy.  De  Ruyter  began  with  a  fierce  attack 
on  Monk's  ship,  which  was  disabled.  The  English  retreated  to  their 
own  coasts,  but  the  next  day  Prince  Rupert  joined  Monk,  and  again 
the  fierce  contest  was  renewed.  De  Ruyter  gave  the  signal  for  a  general 
attack.  But  the  English  fleet  was  too  shattered  to  await  it.  Monk 
and  the  prince  retired  to  their  harbors.  Some  of  the  finest  of  the 
English  ships  were  taken  or  sunk.  Some  were  lost  on  the  Galloper 
sands.  For  a  time  the  Dutch  ruled  the  seas  and  blockaded  the  mouth 
of  the  Thames.  De  Witt  had  already  planned  a  descent  upon  the 
port  of  London.  But  again  the  fortunes  of  war  changed ;  the  English 
vessels,  repaired  and  strengthened,  sailed  down  the  river  and  met  the 
Dutch.  Monk  and  De  Ruyter  again  assailed  each  other.  Tromp,  on 
the  Dutch  side,  broke  the  line  by  an  imprudent  attack,  a  part  of  the 
Dutch  ships  fled.  De  Ruyter  with  the  remainder  kept  up  the  unequal 
contest,  and  Monk,  surrounding  him,  had  nearly  captured  his  rival. 
In  a  moment  De  Ruyter,  in  despair,  longed  for  death.  But  the  Zea- 
land sands  were  near ;  he  escaped  into  the  shallow  waters,  and  left  the 
victory  to  his  foes. 

The  English  pursued  their  victory  with  unpardonable  cruelty. 
They  broke  into  the  harbor  of  Texel,  and  burned,  ravaged,  and  de- 
stroyed. They  set  fire  to  villages ;  they  massacred  the  inhabitants  of 
Flosdorp.  Led  by  a  traitor,  Heemskerk,  they  were  enabled  to  enter 
the  Dutch  ports ;  but  at  the  mouth  of  the  Elbe  a  Dutch  squadron 
turned  upon  them,  burned  four  of  their  ships,  and  drove  them  from 
their  shores.  Heemskerk  perished  in  one  of  the  burning  vessels. 
Soon  again  the  Dutch  fleet  was  at  sea,  the  English  retired  before  it, 


BICHABD    NICOLLS,   THE    FIBST    ENGLISH    GOVEENOR        331 


and  in  this  varying  scene  of  warfare  the  Dutch  were  once  more  rulers 
of  the  waves.  The  English  now  plotted  with  the  Orange  faction  to 
destroy  the  republic  from  within.  Downing,  the  envoy,  was  the 
source  of  the  traitorous  attempt,  and  was  at  last  driven  in  terror 
and  shame  to  fly 
from  The  Hague. 
De  Witt  showed 
no  mercy  to  the 
Dutch  traitors. 

England  was 
now  weary  of  the 
war  into  which 
Charles  had  led 
it  with  laughter 
and  hopes  of 
wide  conquest, 
and  which  had 
begun  with  the 
treacherous  cap- 
ture of  New- 
York.  King  and 
people  were  eager 
for  peace.  The 
nation  was  im- 
poverished and 
almost  ruined. 
The  seamen,  un- 
paid and  starv- 
ing, refused  to 
fight,  and  threat- 
ened to  go  over 
to  the  Dutch,  who 
in  all  their  mis- 
fortunes had 
never  failed  to 
pay  their  sail- 
ors liberally  and 

supply  them  with  abundant  food.  Charles  had  wasted  a  large  part 
of  the  great  sums  given  him  by  Parliament  in  his  follies  and  his 
pleasures.  He  seldom  paid  an  honest  debt.  Even  the  servants  and 
retainers  of  his  court  were  left  three  or  four  years  without  their 
salaries  and  a  support.  They  begged  with  tears  for  some  part  of 
what  was  due  them  in  vain.  Pepys  evidently  thought  the  country 
was  undone,  when  just  at  this  moment  the  burning  of  London  seemed 


332  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

to  complete  its  ruin.  On  September  2d  Pepys  saw  the  first  faint  glow 
of  the  fire  in  the  east.  The  summer  had  been  hot  and  dry,  and  a 
strong  east  wind  fanned  the  rising  flames.  They  leaped  from  house 
to  house,  consumed  churches,  warehouses,  the  Exchange  and  St. 

Paul's,  and  for  three  days  the  city  was  wasted 
and  destroyed.  Two  hundred  thousand  of 
its  people  lived  in  tents  or  in  the  open  air  in 
the  fields.  Stupefied  and  hopeless,  the  ruined  citizens  surveyed  the 
wreck  of  their  city.  "  London,"  wrote  Evelyn,  "  was,  but  is  no  more." 
These  events  were  necessarily  felt  in  America;  they  stimulated 
Massachusetts  to  new  courage,  while  she  sent  aid  to  the  suffering 
people  in  London ;  they  were  told  in  New- York,  and  were  the  theme 
of  conversation,  no  doubt,  in  every  bouwery  and  every  hamlet  of  the 
Dutch.  It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the  Stuyvesants,  Bayards,  De 
Peysters,  and  Jacob  Leisler  had  not  watched  eagerly  the  course  of 
events  in  Europe  or  shared  in  the  general  pride  with  which  their  coun- 
trymen looked  up  to  John  De  Witt.  The  dangers  that  now  gathered 
around  Nicolls  aroused  him  to  new  exertions.  A  Dutch  fleet  under 
Krynssen  in  March,  1667,  recovered  Surinam,  sailed  along  the  Southern 
coast,  entered  the  James  Eiver,  and  captured  twenty-six  English  ves- 
sels, one  of  them  a  man-of-war.  He  did  not  visit 
New- York,  or  it  must  have  fallen  easily  into  his 
hands.  But  he  stripped  Virginia  of  its  chief  wealth 
and  carried  home  eleven  ships  laden  with  tobacco.  Nicolls,  alarmed, 
at  once  began  new  preparations  for  defense.  He  could  not  venture 
to  put  arms  in  the  hands  of  his  Dutch  subjects,  but  he  sent  orders 
to  the  English  settlers  on  the  east  end  of  Long  Island  to  form  one- 
third  of  their  militia  into  cavalry,  ready  to  aid  him  at  his  first  sum- 
mons. Connecticut,  fearful  of  a  French  invasion,  also  armed  itself. 
Massachusetts  stood  proudly  aloof.  But  Nicolls  sent  out  some  ves- 
sels under  Exton,  who  seized  and  burnt  French  forts  in  Acadia  and 
brought  some  prizes  into  New- York. 

Courcelles  was  now  governor  of  Canada,  and  much  might  be  feared 
from  his  activity,  if  not  discretion.  The  Mohawks  again  formed  a 
barrier  for  the  English  colonies  on  the  north,  and  the  rest  of  the 
Iroquois  protected  the  western  boundary.  Nicolls  was  at  Albany  in 
October  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  a  war  between  the  Mahicans 
and  the  Mohawks.  Massachusetts  interfered  and  forbade  the  Mohawks 
from  making  war  upon  the  civilized  Indians.  The  government  of 
Boston  could  not  have  forgotten  the  part  Nicolls  had  taken  in  the 
royal  commission.  From  them  he  could  only  look  for  perpetual  ill- 
will.  Utterly  helpless  amidst  his  many  foes,  Nicolls  still  maintained 
a  bold  attitude,  showed  no  trace  of  alarm,  and  promised  his  patron  in 
England  to  die  in  defense  of  his  crumbling  fort  and  wretched  pali- 


BICHAED    NICOLLS,   THE    FIBST    ENGLISH    GOVEKNOB        333 

sades.  But  he  knew  that  the  fate  of  New- York  must  be  decided  in 
Europe,  and  towards  the  autumn  came  news  of  some  new  and  terrible 
disaster  that  had  befallen  his  Majesty  the  King.  The  story  is  well  told 
by  Pontales,  in  his  "Life  of  John  De  Witt." 

Charles,  eager  for  peace,  fearful  of  utter  ruin,  had  engaged  in  nego- 
tiations with  the  Dutch,  and  Breda  was  the  place  chosen  for  the  meet- 
ing of  the  envoys.  It  was  forced  upon  him  by  De  Witt.  It  was  a 
humiliation  for  the  King  to  be  obliged 
to  sue  almost  humbly  for  peace  in  the 
city  whence,  seven  years  before,  he  had 
set  sail  to  assume  the  English  crown. 
He  must  have  remembered  his  own  in- 
gratitude to  the  Dutch,  from  whom  he 
had  received  many  favors,  and  whom 
in  return  he  had  striven  to  destroy. 
The  negotiations  moved  on  slowly. 
The  Dutch,  indignant,  were  resolved  TIIE  DE  SILLE  HOUSE'1 

to  spare  the  King  no  humiliation.  They  insisted  upon  terms  that  he 
could  only  yield  with  shame ;  they  forced  from  him  already  the  con- 
fession of  defeat.  But  De  Witt  had  a  still  more  serious  blow  to  inflict 
upon  his  treacherous  foe,  and  New  Amsterdam  was  to  be  bitterly  avenged . 

While  the  negotiations  were  slowly  advancing,  Charles,  covered 
with  debt,  thoughtless  of  danger,  had  laid  up  his  ships  in  ordinary 
and  prepared  no  means  of  defense  for  his  English  harbors.  At  Chatham 
on  the  Medway  were  some  of  the  finest  vessels  of  the  English  navy; 
others  were  half  dismantled  on  the  Thames.  Some  earthworks  had 
been  thrown  up,  but  the  defenseless  condition  of  the  English  coast 
was  well  known  to  De  Witt.  Unlike  the  English  king,  he  had  passed 
the  winter  in  making  ready  a  powerful  fleet 
for  the  invasion  of  England  and  the  capture  of 
London  itself.  He  had  careful  surveys  of  the 
entrance  to  the  Thames,  which  he  had  long  studied  himself,  and  knew 
that  a  bold  attack  would  be  successful.  A  fine  fleet  of  sixty-six  war- 
ships and  ten  fire-ships  set  sail  in  June  to  surprise  the  English  capital. 
De  Witt  had  intended  to  go  with  it  himself :  had  he  done  so  London 
would  probably  have  fallen.  But  he  was  detained  by  the  negotiations 
at  Breda,  and  sent  in  his  place  his  brother  Cornelius,  with  rigid  in- 
structions to  lose  no  opportunity  of  conquest — to  dare  everything  for 
the  sake  of  victory. 

The  fleet  blockaded  the  mouth  of  the  Thames  and  cut  off  the  com- 
merce of  the  capital.  They  sailed  up  the  river,  took  Sheerness,  entered 
the  Medway,  and  forced  their  way  to  Chatham.  The  English  to  pro- 

1  In  1668  Nicasius  De  Sille,  with  Jacques  Cortelyou  and  others,  was  confirmed  in  his  patent  for  New 
Utrecht  on  Long  Island.     This  was  one  of  the  last  puhlic  acts  of  Nicolls.     EDITOR. 


334 


HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 


THE    FLAG    OP    HOLLAND. 


tect  their  fine  ships  had  raised  batteries  on  both  banks  of  the  river : 
they  sank  vessels  in  the  channel,  leaving  only  a  narrow  passage  which 
was  closed  by  a  heavy  chain.  A  strong  squadron  of  ships  of  war 
guarded  the  passage.  But  De  Euyter  gave  the  signal  of  attack,  a 

Dutch  captain,  Van  Brakel,  ran  his  vessel  up 
to  the  chain  and  boarded  one  of  the  frigates 
that  guarded  it ;  another  drove  his  ship  against 
the  chain  and  broke  it.  The  Dutch  now  si- 
lenced the  batteries  on  the  shore  and  captured 
and  burned  the  finest  English  ships  of  war. 
The  Royal  Charles,  that  had  brought  Charles 
II.  over  to  England,  was  taken  by  the  Dutch. 
They  pressed  on  up  the  river,  burned  the  ships  under  the  fire  of 
Upnor  Castle,  spiked  the  guns  of  the  batteries,  and  left  the  Medway 
filled  with  the  burning  wrecks  of  England's  navy. 

The  guns  of  the  Dutch  ships  at  Medway  were  heard  in  London,  and 
soon  came  news  of  the  fearful  disaster.  A  panic  followed  such  as  it 
had  never  known  before,  such  as  we  may  hope  it  will  never  know 
again.  The  people,  mad  with  terror,  thought  only  of  escaping  with 
their  valuables  and  furniture  to  the  country.  Pepys  gathered  his 
gold  together  and  sent  it  to  be  buried  in  his  father's  garden.  But  it 
was  so  hastily  buried  that,  when  he  came  to  dig  for  it,  he  found  that 
it  might  easily  have  been  seen  by  the  neighbors.  His  silver  he  scat- 
tered among  his  friends.  Had  De  Witt 
sailed  up  the  river  that  day,  London 
must  have  fallen.  There  were  no  sol- 
diers to  guard  it;  the  river  was  free. 
But  Cornelius  De  Witt  wanted  his 
brother's  energy.  Had  he  pressed  on, 
New- York  would  again  have  been  Dutch. 
The  English  had  leisure  to  sink  ships 
on  the  Thames  at  Woolwich,  and  build 
batteries  along  its  shores.  "  A  sight  of 
shame,"  said  Pepys.  "  A  disgrace  never 
to  be  wiped  away,"  said  Evelyn.  But 
the  King  and  his  ministers,  insensible 
to  shame,  still  kept  up  their  mad  revels  and  their  wild  extravagance. 
The  Dutch  fleet  meanwhile  held  the  sea,  blockading  the  mouth  of 
the  Thames  and  threatening  the  various  harbors.  But  it  was  noticed 
that  the  Dutch  committed  no  acts  of  inhumanity  and  did  no  harm 
to  the  innocent  people.  They  refused  to  retaliate  for  the  cruel  deeds 
of  the  English  on  their  own  shores.  At  last,  after  much  duplicity  on 
the  part  of  Charles  and  many  humiliations,  the  treaty  of  Breda  was 
signed  and  peace  proclaimed  at  London  on  the  24th  of  August,  St. 


RICHARD    NICOLLS,    THE    FIEST    ENGLISH    GOVERNOR         335 


Bartholomew's  day.  By  its  provisions  New- York  was  to  remain 
English,  the  Dutch  taking  in  exchange  for  it  the  island  of  Poleron 
and  Surinam.  The  bells  rang  in  London,  but  there  was  no  rejoic- 
ing among  the  people.  They  felt  their  guilt  and  shame.  In  Hol- 
land all  was  joy  and  hope.  De  Witt,  the  savior  of  his  country,  and 
De  Ruyter,  its  hero,  were  covered  with  the  applause  and  the  gifts  of 
their  fellow-citizens.  Numerous  medals  were  struck  in  commemora- 
tion of  the  peace.  On  one  was  inscribed  in  Latin:  "When  God 
is  angry  there  is  war, 
when  appeased  peace." 
It  is  thus  that  men  at- 
tribute to  an  unseen 
power  the  evil  results 
of  their  own  savage 
passions;  the  lesson  of 
every  war  is  that  it 
ought  to  be  the  last. 

Holland,  the  last  ref- 
uge of  European  free- 
dom, was  thus  permitted 
a  few  years  of  repose 
from  the  malice  of  its 
royal  foes.  Four  years 
later  began  the  great 
war  that  the  kings  of 
France  and  England 
planned,  hoping  once 
more  to  overwhelm  the 
republic  in  endless  ruin. 
Amsterdam,  amidst  the 
inundations  and  the 
friendly  waves,  kept 
alive  the  spirit  of  free- 
dom. The  kings  were  driven  back  discomfited.  William  of  Orange 
appeared,  the  representative  in  many  traits  of  character  of  the  genius 
of  his  native  land.  And  fifteen  years  later  he  carried  to  England  the 
Dutch  principles  of  honesty  and  toleration,  and  laid  the  foundation  of 
the  future  greatness  of  the  English  race  in  Europe  and  America. 

By  the  treaty  of  Breda,  Nicolls  too  was  relieved  from  his  many  cares. 
He  was  recalled  with  kind  and  flattering  words  from  the  King  and  his 
ministers.  Francis  Lovelace  was  appointed  Governor  in  his  place. 
He  remained  for  some  time  in  New- York,  with  his  usual  good  nature, 
to  aid  Lovelace  in  his  new  duties.  He  rewarded  some  of  his  subordi- 
nates with  gifts  of  islands  and  tracts  of  land.  With  Lovelace  he 


336 


HISTORY     OF     NEW-YORK 


visited  Albany  in  July.  He  arranged  the  affairs  of  the  Delaware  prov- 
ince. He  granted  thirty  lots  of  land  to  each  soldier  of  the  garrison 
of  Esopus.  He  did  some  favors  for  Stuyvesant ;  at  last  when  he 
was  to  leave  forever  the  city  he  had  named  and  declared  a  body  poli- 
tic, of  which  he  had  been  the  gentle  conqueror,  the  lenient  master,  he 
was  evidently  followed  by  the  good  will  of  the  citizens.  They  parted 

from  him  with  respect  and  regret.  In 
August,  1668,  Nicolls  sailed  for  England, 
to  resume  his  place  by  the  side  of  his 
master  the  duke,  and  probably  to  regret 
at  times  the  simplicity  and  the  sterner 
virtues  of  the  people  he  had  left  behind. 
We  should  be  glad  if  we  were  able  to 
enter  the  city  of  New- York  and  discover 
the  amusements,  the  labors,  and  the  man- 
ners of  its  people.  It  could  not  have  made 
any  advance  in  the  four  years  of  Nicolls's 
rule.  It  wanted  the  free  impulse,  the  sen- 
timent of  personal  independence  that  had 
made  Connecticut  and  Massachusetts 
already  populous  provinces,  while  New- 
York  had  only  a  thin  and  scattered  popu- 
lation. In  the  New  England  colonies 
'?«•*•  there  were  already  forty  thousand  inhabi- 


tants;  in  New- York  only  five  or  six.  Under  the  rule  of  the  West 
India  Company  it  had  been  allowed  none  of  those  privileges  of  self- 
government  that  in  Holland,  the  Fatherland,  were  the  choicest  treas- 
ures of  the  people.  Its  lands  had  been  distributed  in  great  estates, 
under  patroons  who  aspired  to  be  feudal  lords  and  who  drove  off  immi- 
gration, and  nearly  all  lost  their  possessions.  The  Dutch  governors  had 
been  autocrats :  the  people  had  neither  rights  nor  power.  Under  the 
rigid  instructions  of  the  Duke  of  York  that  system  had  been  necessa- 
rily continued  by  Nicolls,  and  the  people  felt  and  complained  that 
they  were  enslaved.  Immigration  turned  away  to  Connecticut  and 
New  Jersey.  In  seven  years,  Andros  tells  us  later,  not  twenty  fami- 
lies had  come  to  New- York  from  England  or  Ireland. 

The  trade  of  the  city  was  chiefly  in  wheat,  furs,  and  provisions:  it 
sent  its  ships  to  the  West  Indies  and  brought  back  rum  and  molasses. 
Wines  were  imported  from  Madeira.  But  ships  came  seldom  from 
England.  Formerly  it  had  exported  large  quantities  of  tobacco  from 
the  Southern  colonies  to  Holland;  but  this  trade  died  out.  Its  im- 
ports of  "Indian  goods"  must  have  been  considerable.  They  con- 
sisted of  blankets,  woolens,  guns,  powder,  lead ;  in  return  they  were 
paid  for  in  beavers  and  other  furs.  It  was  chiefly  by  the  fur  trade 


RICHABD    NICOLLS,   THE    FIKST    ENGLISH    GOVEENOR        337 


and  the  activity  of  the  Indians  that  New- York  and  Albany  were  said 
to  live.  Six  or  seven  sloops  sailed  between  the  towns  up  and  down 
the  Hudson  and  carried  the  peltry  and  Indian  goods.  It  was  a  far 
longer  and  more  dangerous  voyage  in  those  early  days  than  is  now 
the  voyage  to  Europe. 

Of  our  ancestors  and  predecessors,  the  diligent  men  who  cultivated 
the  farms  of  New- York  or  carried  on  its  trade,  we  know  little.  They 
were  a  hardy,  bold,  determined  race,  fierce  in  rage,  resolute  of  pur- 
pose. The  Dutch  burghers  bore  with  impatience  the  English  rule, 
and  in  1673,  at  the  reconquest,  four 
hundred  of  them  rose  in  arms,  to  aid 
their  countrymen,  and  drove  the  gar- 
rison from  the  fort.  But  this  feeling 
soon  died  away  under  the  later  rule 
of  William  of  Orange,  and  the  Dutch 
became  quiet  citizens.  At  the  close  of 
Nicolls's  administration  we  meet  with 
many  well-known  names,  English  or 
Dutch,  still  preserved  among  us.  Of 
the  Dutch  were  the  Van  Cortlandts, 
the  Bayards,  Van  Eensselaers,  Stuy- 
vesants,  Kips,  and  many  others.  The 
Kips  had  a  fine  house  and  estate  at  Kip's  Bay;  the 
Beekmans,  at  Corlaer's  Hook;  two  of  the  sons  of  Peter 
Stuyvesant  held  two  fine  lots  of  land  below  Trinity  Church  which  he 
had  given  them.  Van  Der  Grist's  house  was  on  Broadway,  just  below. 
The  ground  where  Trinity  Church  now  stands  was  known  as  the  "Gov- 
ernor's Garden."  Wall  street  was  only  a  line  of  palisades.  Lovelace 
afterwards  purchased  the  farm  of  Domine  Bogardus ;  it  came  into  the 
possession  of  the  crown,  and  was  then  given  to  Trinity  Church.  Of 
the  scanty  English  population  many  names  survive.  Matthias  Nic- 
olls,  the  Secretary,  left  some  descendants.  Willett,  the  first  mayor  of 
New- York,  was  very  much  liked  by  his  contemporaries,  and  the  name 
is  still  well  known.  John  Lawrence,  a  merchant  from  Long  Island, 
held  various  important  offices,  and  left  several  descendants.  Allard 
Anthony,  the  Dutch  Schout  and  English  Sheriff,  is  commemorated  in 
Anthony  street.  Van  Brugh  and  Van  Ruyven,  the  first  Schepens 
under  Nicolls,  are  lost  in  collateral  lines.  Robert  Livingston  was 
Indian  agent  in  Albany;  and  many  other  well-known  names  have 
come  to  the  city  from  the  banks  of  the  Hudson. 

Nicolls  returned  to  England  to  mingle  in  the  pleasures  and  pains 
that  followed  the  royal  court.  It  is  scarcely  likely  that  he  could  have 
found  any  satisfaction  in  them.  He  may  have  gone  in  retirement  to 
Ampthill,  his  ancestral  seat.  He  never  married.  He  had  two  brothers 

VOL.  I. -22. 


338  HISTORY    OF    NEW- YORK 

who  died  before  him.  One  of  his  uncles  was  Dean  of  Chester,  and 
several  of  his  relatives  were  noted  scholars.  When  the  second  Dutch 
war  broke  out,  he  went  on  board  the  fleet,  served  on  the  Royal  Prince, 
and  was  killed  at  the  battle  of  Solebay,  May  28,  1672.  He  was  then 
forty-seven  years  old.  In  his  will,  which  is  dated  on  board  the  Eoyal 
Prince,  May  11,  1672,  he  gives  various  legacies  to  his  cousins  and 
seems  to  have  not  been  in  want  of  money.  He  was  buried  at  Amp- 
thill.  He  will  be  remembered  as  the  first  English  governor  of  New- 
York,  the  first  to  point  out  the  rare  advantages  of  its  situation  and 
foretell  the  future  greatness  of  the  metropolis  of  the  New  World. 


A  DIRECTORY  FOR  THE  CITY  OF  NEW-YORK  IN  1665. 

't  Marcktvelt  feast  side  of  Bowling  Green,  now  the  beginning  of  Broadway). 

The  HonUe  Peter  Stuyvesant,  Allard  Anthony, 

Annie  Kocks,  Frederick  Arentsen, 

Capt.  Martin  Crigier,  Lizzie  Ackermans, 

Francois  Boon,  Jonas  Barteltsen, 

Cornelius  Van  Ruyven,  Matty  Grevenraat. 
Antony  De  Milt, 

Heeren  Straat  (now  Broadway). 

Luke  Andriessen,  John  Henry  Van  Gunst, 

Dirck  Wiggerzen,  Peter  Ebel, 

Paul  Leendertsen  Vandiegrist,  Paul  Turck, 

Henry  Van  Dyck,  Albert  Jansen, 

Jacob  Swart,  Martin  Hofman, 

Thomas  Major,  Alida  Unstaples, 

Abraham  Pietersen,  Barbara  Unstaples, 

Garret  Fullwever,  John  Joosten, 

Pieter  Simkam,  Adam  Onclebagh, 

John  Fries,  Peter  Jansen, 

John  Jelizen  Kock,  Adrian  Andriessen. 

The  Strand  (along  the  North  River). 
Jacob  Leendertsen  Vandiegrist. 

The  Cingel,  or  Outside  City  Wall  (north  side  of  Wall  street) 

John  Johnson  Van  Langendyck,  Jacob  Jansen, 

John  Teunizen  Molenaar,  Dirck  De  Wolspinder, 

John  Videt,  Barent  Eghbertzen, 

Abraham  Kermer,  Peter  Jansen, 

Gertie  Schoorsteenvegers,  Dirck  Van  Clyf. 

De  Waal  (south  side  of  Wall  street). 

Guliam  d'Honneur,  Sybrant  Jansen  Galina, 

Henry  Obe,  Cornelius  Jansen  Van  Hoorn, 

Balthazar  De  Haart,  Adolph  Pietersen, 

Charles  Van  Bruggh,  Jacob  Hendricksen  Varravanger, 

Garret  Jansen  Stavast,  Renier  Rycken. 
Hans  Stein, 


DIRECTORY    OF    1665  339 

ffoogh  Straat  (Pearl,  between  Broad  and   Wall  streets). 

Annie  Litsco,  Corneous  Jansen, 

JohnLaurens,  Cornelius  Jansen  Placer, 

Andrew  Joghimsen,  Core  Jansen, 

Abraham  Lubbertsen,  Henry  Asuerus, 

Remout  Remoutsen,  John  Nevius, 

Govert  Loockermans,  Peter  Jansen  Schol, 

John  Van  Brugh,  Nicholas  De  Meyer, 

Wernaer  Wessels,  Hugh  Barentsen  Clem, 

Dirck  Jansen  Vandeventer,  Walraven  Claerhout, 

Jeremiah  Jansen,  Frederick  Hendricksen, 

Abraham  Clock,  Alexander  Stultke, 

Isaac  Bedlo,  Sybout  Clazen, 

Evert  Duyckingh,  Arian  Van  Laar, 

Stoffel  Hooghlant,  Aldert  Coninck, 

Abigail  Verplanck.  Jacob  Van  Couwenhoven, 

David  Joghimsen.  John  Van  Couwenhoven, 

Asher  Levy,  Lambert  Barentsen, 

Barent  Cours,  Henry  Vandewater, 

Arian  Huybertsen,  Lawrence  Vanderspygel, 

Wessel  Evertsen,  Walter  Salter. 
Arent  Isaacsen. 

't   Water  (now  west  side  of  Whitehall  from  State  to  Pearl  street,  and  north  side  of  Pearl  from  Whitehall  to 

Broad,  then  facing  the  river). 

Hans  Dresser,  Matty  Wessels, 

Francis  Jansen  Van  Hooghten,  Paul  Richard, 

Nicholas  Jansen  Backer,  Lawrence  de  Sille, 

Samuel  Edsal,  Hans  Kierstede, 

John  De  Witt,  Jacob  Laislar  (Leisler), 

Jurian  Jansen  Van  Auweryck,  Arian  Appel, 

Herman  Wessels,  Daniel  de  Honde  Coutrie. 

Timothy  Gabry, 

Perel  Straat  (Pearl  street  from  State  to  Whitefiall  streets}. 

Peter  Wolfertsen  Van  Couwenhoven,  William  Kock, 

Henry  Jansen  Vandervin,  Esterne  Guineau, 

Jacques  Cousseau,  Waldwin  Vanderveen, 

Peter  Aldricks,  Thomas  Fransen  Karreman, 

Thomas  Coninck,  Jurian  Blanck, 

Henry  Bas,  N.  Tybout, 

Garret  Van  Tright,  Peter  Jacobsen  Marius, 

Peter  Cornelissen,  Thomas  Lambertsen, 

Claas  Bordingh,  Thomas  Laurens. 

John  Gerritsen  Van  Buytenhuysen, 

Behind  the  Pearl  street  (now  the  part  of  State  street  curving  to  the  south). 

Simon  Barentsen,  Peter  De  Rymer, 

John  Schouten,  John  Dircksen  Mayer, 

Isaac  Grevenraat,  Louis  Post. 
John  Evertsen  Bout, 

Brouwer  Straat  (now  Stone  street). 

Frederick  Flipsen,  John  Jansen  Van  St.  Obin. 

Renier  Willemsen  Backer,  Isaac  Kip, 

Matthew  De  Vos,  Frederick  Gysbertsen  Vandenbergh, 

Jerome  Ebbinck,  Hubert  Hendricksen, 

Isaac  De  Foreest,  Evert  Pietersen. 

Oloff  Stevensen  Van  Cortlant, 

Winckel  Straat  (running  parallel  to  Whitehall  street,  not  now  in  existence). 

Henry  Jansen  Backer,  Michael  Esnel, 

Arent  Juriansen  Landtsman,  ^Egidius  Luyck. 
John  De  Peister  (De  Peyster), 

Brugh  Straat  (Bridge  street). 

Cornelius  Steenwyck,  John  Adriaansen  Duyvelant, 

Barent  Jacobsen  Cool,  Henry  Willemsen, 

Jacob  Vermont,  Peter  Jansen, 

Jacob  Teunissen  Kay,  Peter  Nys. 
Henry  Kip,  Sr., 


340  HISTORY    OP    NEW- YORK 

Heeren  Graft,  or  Gracht  (Broad  street,  with  canal  in  center). 

Cornelius  Melyn,                        •  Conrad  Ten  Eyck, 

Ambrose  De  Weerhem,  David  Weasels, 

Teunis  Kray,  Aggie  Jans,  widow  of  P.  Van  Naarden, 

Simon  Jansen  Romeyn,  Nicholas  Du  Puys, 

Luke  Dircksen,  Joachim  Beekman, 

Bartholdus  Maan,  Jacob  Backer, 

Stoffel  (Christopher)  Van  Laar,  Albert  Beuninck, 

Claas  Paulussen,  Simon  Felle, 

Nicholas  Verbraack,  Adrian  Vincent, 

Peter  Winster,  Teunis  Davidts. 

Prince  Graft,  or  Gracht  (now  the  part  of  Beaver  street  one  block  east  of  Broad,  with  canal  or  creek  in  center). 

Boile  Roelofsen,  John  Arentsen, 

Nicholas  de  la  Plaine,  Rutger  Karreman, 

Cornelius  Barentsen  Vanderhuit,  Frederick  Hendricksen  Boogh, 

Jacob  Mms,  Claas  Tyzen, 

Paulus  Andriessen,  Dennis  Isaacsen, 

Abel  Hardenbroek,  William  Abrahamsen  Vanderberde, 

Thomas  Lodowycksen,  Bay  Roosvelt, 

John  Hardenbroek,  William  Deturnier  (Turneur  ?). 
Jacob  Kip, 

Prince  Straat  (next  block  east  in  Beaver  street,  beyond  the  canal). 

Albert  Pietersen  Swart,  Garret  Manate. 
Daniel  Verveelen, 

Bever  Graft,  or  Gracht  (Beaver  street,  west  of  Broad  to  Bowling  Green,  with  canal  or  creek  in  center). 

Boelof  Jansen  Van  Meppelen,  Egbert  Meindertsen, 

Henry  Van  Bommel,  Thomas  Sandersen, 

Dirck  Storm,  Teunis  Tomassen  Quick, 

John  Jansen  Van  Brestee,  Jacob  Teunisen. 
Egbert  Woutersen, 

't  Marcktvelt  Steegie  (Marketjield  street J. 

Claas  Van  Elsant,  Sr.,  Alice  Barens, 

Isaac  Abrahamsen,  Lambert  Henry  Van  Campen, 

Andrew  Claassen,  John  Adamsen, 

John  Van  Gelder,  John  Meindertsen. 

Smee  Straat  (  William  street  between  Broad  and  Wall  streets). 

Meindert  Barentsen,  William  Van  der  Schuyr, 

Gertie  Jans,  Andrew  Andriessen, 

John  Roelofsen,  Cornelius  Hendricksen, 

George  Dopsen,  Garret  Jansen  Van  Aarnhem, 

Andrew  Rees,  John  Woutersen. 
Immitje,  widow  of  Francis  Clazen, 

Smits  VaUy  (along  the  East  River  from  Wall  to  Fulton  street). 

Thomas  Hall,  Peter  Laurensen, 

Abraham  Verplanck,  John  Ariaansen, 

Lambert  Huybertsen  Mol,  Cornelius  Jansen  Clopper, 

Abraham  Lambertsen  Mol,  Peter  Harmsen, 

John  Vigne,  Peter  Jansen, 

Stoffel  (Christopher)  Elswart,  Martin  Claassen, 

Joost  Carelsen,  John  Jansen  Bos, 

Harry  Bressar,  James  Wei, 

Widow  of  Lawrence  Laurensen,  Augustin  Hernnan. 

Outside  the  Land  Gate. 

Dirck  Siecken,      •  Garret  Jansen  Roos, 

Cornelius  Aarsen,  Jacob  Fransman. 
Peter  Stoutenburgh, 


CHAPTER  IX 

FEANCIS  LOVELACE,  AND  THE  RECAPTURE  OF  NEW  NETHEELAND 

1668-1674 


HARLES  II.  is  said  to  have  been  caricatured  in  Holland 
with  a  woman  on  each  arm  and  courtiers  picking  his  pocket — 
this  latter  the  last  place,  perhaps,  they  would  have  thought 
worth  the  trouble  of  picking.  Nevertheless,  to  be  a  court 
favorite  during  his  reign  presented 
opportunities  for  profits  and  per- 
quisites, of  which  the  shrewd  or 
needy  —  colonels,  younger  sons,  and  others — were  not  slow  to  avail 
themselves.  If  nothing  offered  at  home,  there  were  governorships, 
proprietorships,  and  land  grants  in  America  to  be  had  almost  liter- 
ally for  the  asking.  It  was  such  an  easy  way  for  Charles  to  silence 
importunity  and  reward  or  gratify  friends,  to  give  them  what  they 
sought, —  whole  provinces,  sometimes,  as  large  as  France  —  a  less 
costly  gift  to  himself  than  would  have  been  a  snuff-box.  Of  Vir- 
ginia in  1669,  says  Bancroft :  "  To  satisfy  the  greediness  of  favorite 
courtiers,  Virginia  was  dismembered  by  lavish  grants,  till  at  last  the 
whole  colony  was  given  away  for  a  generation,  as  recklessly  as  a 
man  would  give  away  a  life-estate  in  a  farm." 

Some  of  these  men — as,  for  instance,  Sir  William  Berkeley,  Lord 
Clarendon,  and  others  associated  with  them — very  well  knew  what 
they  were  asking,  if  Charles  did  not ;  knew  that  they  were  obtaining 
valuable  prospective  estates,  if  they  could  only  retain  them ;  knew 
that  there  were  perquisites  of  office  open  to  a  Governor,  such  as  might 
compensate  for  a  few  years'  absence  from  court 
^-7  and  court  life.  Few  if  any  of  them,  we  may  be 
^  quite  sure,  had  in  mind  Addison's  idea,  that  "  the 
best  perquisites  of  a  place  are  the  advantages  it  gives  a  man  of 
doing  good."  Yet,  it  must  be  said  that,  though  the  most  of  them 
fished  the  streams  of  the  New  World  thoroughly  and  well,  few,  if 
any,  brought  home  any  satisfactory  amount  of  fish.  Colonel  and  late 
Governor  Nicolls  did  not,  for  the  reason  that  he  was  really  an  honor- 
able and  loyal  soldier,  and  advanced,  from  his  own  means,  to  put  the 


342 


HISTOEY    OF    NEW-TOBK 


fort  in  a  state  of  defense,  more  than  he  could  collect  by  taxes.    Colo- 
nel and  Governor  Lovelace  did  not,  for  a  reason  not  so  honorable. 

The  "  Eight  Hon.  Francis  Lovelace,  Esq.,"  of  whom  and  his  admin- 
istration we  are  now  to  introduce  the  history,  was  the  second  son  of  Sir 
Eichard,  who  had  been  elevated  to  the  peerage  in  1627  by  Charles  I., 
as  Baron  Lovelace  of  Hurley,  Berks  County.  There  Francis  was  born, 
and  was  about  thirty-eight  years  old  when  he  became  Governor.  He 
is  not  to  be  confounded  with  another  Colonel  Eichard  Lovelace  of  the 
period,  who  had  repute  as  a  dramatist  and  poet,  and  some  of  whose 
effusions  have  survived  to  our  own  day;  nor  with  his  grandson, 
the  fourth  Baron,  who  died  Governor  of  New -York  in  1709.  Nor  was 
it  the  same  family,  since  the  title  had  lapsed  therein  and  been  later 
revived,  from  which  came  Lord  Lovelace,  Byron's  son-in-law.  Of  this 
family  the  special  founder  was  a  lucky  knight,  and  comrade  of  Sir 

Francis  Drake  in  the 
Spanish  main,  who,  with 
the  rich  spoil  there  ob- 
tained, had  built  an  im- 
posing country  mansion 
about  thirty  miles  from 
London,  in  the  parish 
of  Hurley,  and  on  the 
Berkshire  side  of  the 
Thames.  Evidently  he 
had  taste,  for  he  sur- 
rounded it  with  spacious 
grounds  and  terraced 
gardens,  and  its  hall 
looked  upon  the  river. 
Greatly  improved  by  his 
son,  the  first  lord,  the  father  of  Francis,  the  old  baronial  residence 
of  the  Hurley  Lovelaces,  like  the  family  itself,  does  not  now  exist ; 
but  we  have  a  memento  of  it  in  this  State,  in  the  little  town  of 
Hurley,  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Esopus,  Ulster  County,  where 
Governor  Francis  Lovelace  endeavored  to  build  up  landed  interests 
for  himself,  but  did  not  succeed.  Living,  however,  as  he  had  done, 
within  such  easy  access  to  London  as  was  Hurley  and  "  Lady  Place  " 
(the  name  of  the  house),  with  aristocratic  breeding  and  influence, 
and  with  such  a  personality  as  history  assigns  to  him,  there  is  no 
wonder  that  he  should  have  been  a  favorite  at  the  court  of  Charles 
II.,  one  of  those  able  to  secure  the  plums  of  office.  An  ardent  sup- 
porter of  the  royal  cause  against  Cromwell,  he  had  early  become 
a  colonel  and  a  Knight  of  the  "  Eoyal  Oak."  Handsome,  agreeable, 
and  a  polished  man  of  the  world,  withal  generous  and  amiable,  with- 


BIRTHPLACE    OF    LOVELACE,    HURLEY,    IN    1832. 


FRANCIS  LOVELACE — THE  RECAPTURE   OF   NEW   NETHERLAND   343 


DUKE    OF    YORK    MEDAL.1 


out  being  prominent  or  able  enough  to  excite  envy,  the  gay  life  of  the 
court  certainly  suited  him,  if  it  did  not  his  finances ;  and  he  knew  how 
to  make  friends  of  those  in  place  and  power.  At  the  time  of  his 
appointment  he  was  even  a  gentleman  of  the  king's  "  honorable  privy 
chamber."  As  Governor  he  is  said  to  have 
"  lacked  energy  and  discrimination,"  whatever 
the  latter  may  mean.  But  he  nevertheless  had 
the  rare  "discrimination"  for  the  year  1668  or 
1673,  when  he  left,  of  a  profound  conviction 
of  the  future  destiny  of  New -York.  This 
prevision  of  a  future  for  New -York,  yet  re- 
mote and  dim,  was  not,  however,  what  brought 
him  hither,  and  with  him  his  younger  brothers 
Dudley  and  Thomas,  but  a  motive  much  more 
personal  and  immediate.  They  were  emigrants 
for  the  profit  and  advancement  to  be  thus  acquired.  And,  indeed,  in 
that  day  it  needed  a  strong  motive  and  considerable  courage  to  induce 
one,  not  bred  nor  used  thereto,  to  adventure  the  vicissitudes  of  the 
voyage  to  America.  The  same  uncanny  ocean  had  to  be  crossed,  but 
without  that  knowledge,  even  in  the  captains,  or  those  appliances  of 
the  present,  which  make  a  voyage  comparatively  safe,  rapid,  and  a 

pleasure.  Seven  weeks  might  be  con- 
sidered a  fair  passage;  and  amid  what 
discomforts  of  the  vessel  —  which  might 
be  of  two  or  three  hundred  tons !  What 
a  passage  was  that  of  the  Mayflower  in 
1620 — occupying  four  months  !  Here,  in 
a  vessel  of  one  hundred  and  eighty  tons 
burden,  were  crowded  forty-one  men,  and 
about  sixty  women  and  children — two  of 
the  latter  being  born  during  the  voyage ; 
whilst  in  addition  must  be  counted  the 
necessary  provisions  and  stowage.  Not 
all  godly  pilgrims,  influenced  by  the  high- 
est of  motives,  these  forty-one  men  ;  since, 
within  a  few  weeks,  two  of  them  (serv- 
ants) fought  with  sword  and  dagger,  the 
first  duel  recorded  in  the  New  World ;  whilst  another  committed  the 
first  murder,  and  for  it  graced  the  first  gallows !  As  for  the  vessel 
itself,  so  leaky  were  its  upper  works,  and  its  middle  beam  so  bowed 
and  wracked  by  the  winds  and  storms  they  encountered,  that  but  for 
"  a  great  iron  screw  "  which  a  passenger  had  brought  from  Holland, 


SEAL    OP    THE    DUKE    OP    YORK.2 


1  This  medal  was  struck  in  honor  of  James, 
Duke  of  York,  to  commemorate  his  appointment 
as  Lord  High  Admiral.  It  exhibits  a  first-rate 


ship-of-war  under  full  sail,  with  the  duke's  arms 
on  the  main  course.  EDITOR. 

2  For  description,  see  p.  318. 


344  HISTORY    OF    NEW- YORK 

and  which  enabled  them  to  raise  it  into  place,  they  must  have  turned 
back  in  despair. 

So  in  1636  another  company,  not  so  famous  in  history,  a  company 
of  persecuted  Scotch-Irish  Presbyterians,  men,  women,  and  children, 
set  sail  in  the  Eagle  Wing,  of  about  one  hundred  and  fifteen  tons 
burden,  "  purposing  (if  God  pleased)  to  pitch  their  tents  in  the  planta- 
tions of  New  England."  They  numbered  about  one  hundred  and 
forty,  more  than  did  the  Mayflower  pilgrims ;  and  among  them  were 
Blair  and  Livingstone,  celebrated  ministers  in  the  north  of  Ireland. 
Much  of  the  bread,  not  being  well  baked,  had  to  be  thrown  overboard. 
Off  Newfoundland  they  "foregathered  with  a  mighty  hurricane," 
during  which,  with  damaged  sails  and  broken  rudder,  they  seemed  at 
the  mercy  of  the  waves.  From  this  danger,  however,  they  escaped, 

but  deemed  it  best  to  return;  and  did 
so  —  more  fortunate  throughout  than 
the  brave  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert,  who, 
in  those  same  seas,  but  earlier,  went 
down  uttering  the  gallant  words :  "  It 
is  as  near  to  Heaven  by  sea  as  by  land." 
It  is  true  that  in  New  England,  prior 
to  1640,  there  was  at  least  one  vessel,  a 
"  large  ship,"  of  five  hundred  tons ;  and 
when  the  Dutch  retook  New- York  in 
1674  they  found  there  two  ships  (and 
only  two)  loading,  one  of  five  hundred 

THE    MAYFLOWER.  '  °7  , 

tons  and  thirty-five  guns,  the  other  of 

one  hundred  tons.  Mostly,  however,  they  crossed  the  Atlantic  in 
those  days  in  vessels  of  two  hundred  tons.  So,  in  1663,  crossed 
Mr.  John  Josselyn  to  Boston,  in  the  Society,  of  two  hundred  and 
twenty  tons  and  sixteen  iron  guns  (most  of  them  "  unserviceable," 
he  says),  with  thirty-three  sailors  and  seventy-seven  passengers, 
men,  women,  and  children;  and  again,  in  1671,  he  returned  home 
in  a  vessel  of  one  hundred  and  ninety  tons,  the  voyage  taking  seven 
weeks  and  four  days.  Scant  quarters  and  long  discomfort  for 
a  royal  Governor  and  courtier  of  King  Charles  in  1668,  with  no 
Majestic  or  Teutonic  yet  in  sight,  nor  for  two  hundred  and  twenty- 
four  years — palaces  upon  the  waves  and  a  transit  of  five  days  and  six- 
teen or  eighteen  hours !  Nevertheless,  being  by  nature,  as  Lossing 
says,  "  phlegmatic,  indolent,  and  good-tempered,"  he  doubtless  bore  it 
and  took  his  dose  of  mal  de  mer  with  commendable  philosophy.  In 
fact,  he  already  knew  something  of  what  he  was  to  expect  in  getting 
to  and  in  the  New  World ;  since  it  appears  that  in  1652,  as  a  young 
man  of  twenty,  he  had  once  made  the  voyage  under  a  pass  from 
Cromwell's  Council  of  State,  had  visited  Long  Island,  and  passed 


FRANCIS   LOVELACE — THE   RECAPTURE   OF  NEW   NETHERLAND   345 


HOUSE    BUILT    IN    1668. 


thence,  doubtless  by  water,  into  Virginia.  New- York  was  then  a 
Dutch  dependency ;  but  in  Virginia  were  many  who  had  themselves 
come  over  under  the  auspices  of  the  nobility  and  were  warmly 
attached  to  monarchy,  of  which  he  was  an  adherent,  and  among 
whom,  therefore,  he  would  be  welcome.  But  of  New- York,  city  and 
province,  of  which  he  was  now  to  be  the  second  English  Governor, 
he  certainly  knew  nothing  when  he  came,  either  as  to  its  limits  or 
condition.  And,  indeed,  as  to  its  limits, 
amid  the  different  charters  and  claims, 
it  was  a  hard  matter  even  yet  to  tell 
what  was  exactly  the  province  of  New- 
York.  The  Dutch  did  not  know  when 
Stuyvesant  surrendered.  Massachu- 
setts was  claiming  an  indefinite  right 
of  extension  to  the  west;  and  Con- 
necticut, on  its  part,  claimed  that  by 
its  charter  it  extended  to  the  Pacific. 
"Where,  then,"  said  the  Dutch  com- 
missioners in  1663 — "where  is  New 
Netherland?"  To  which  the  Connec- 
ticut people  replied,  with  provoking 
frankness,  "We  do  not  know!"  King  Charles  gave  his  brother  of 
York  from  the  Connecticut  to  Delaware  Bay  for  a  possession,  in 
1664;  and  he,  within  three  months,  and  without  consulting  Gover- 
nor Nicolls,  conveyed  the  whole  of  New  Jersey  to  Lord  Berkeley  and 
Sir  George  Carteret,  of  his  Majesty's  Privy  Council,  for  ten  shillings, 
"  to  him  in  hand  paid,"  and  a  rent  of  "  one  pepper-corn,"  to  be  paid 
"  on  the  day  of  the  nativity  of  St.  John  the  Baptist,  if  legally  de- 
manded." Verily,  a  charter  of  King  Charles  was  an  immense  instru- 
ment !  "  During  the  first  four  years  of  -his  power,"  says  Bancroft, 
he  "  gave  away  a  large  part  of  a  continent,"  and  this  without  right, 
title,  exploration,  or  knowledge.  "  Could  he  have  continued  as  lav- 
ish, in  the  course  of  his  reign  he  would  have  given  away  the  world." 
One  might  have  asked,  as  did  Francis  I.  of  France  when  the  Spanish 
and  Portuguese  were  making  exclusive  claims  to  this  whole  new 
hemisphere,  to  see  "the  clause  in  Adam's  will"  which  made  it  his 
thus  to  give.  But  it  was  providential;  it  stimulated  colonizing,  and 
placed  the  country,  ultimately,  in  the  very  best  of  hands. 

Equally  ignorant  was  Lovelace  of  the  condition  of  his  new  govern- 
ment when  he  arrived  during  the  spring  of  1668.  But  as  the  duke 
had  requested  Nicolls  to  remain  till  he  came,  and  to  assist  him  in 
this,  in  July  they  together  took  a  trip  up  the  Hudson  to  Albany,  stop- 
ping on  the  way  at  Esopus,  where  the  location  and  look  of  things 
seem  to  have  suggested  to  him  the  new  town  of  Hurley,  which,  how- 


346 


HISTORY    OF    NEW-YOEK 


ever,  had  originally  been  laid  out  by  Stuyvesant.  They  then  went 
on  horseback  over  Long  Island,  and  into  Connecticut  to  Hartford 
and  New  Haven  —  a  first  visit  to  Governor  Winthrop.  And  so,  hav- 
ing, with  Nicolls,  taken  a  bird's-eye  view  of  the  whole,  its  three  prin- 
cipal towns  and  outlying  villages,  upon  the  28th  of  August  Lovelace 
himself  assumed  the  government  of  "  his  Highness's  territories,"  these 
being,  as  he  writes  to  Lord  Arlington,  "  the  middle  position  of  the  two 
distinct  factions,  the  Papist  and  Puritan."  That  New- York,  at  this 
time,  should  have  attracted  his  cultivated  tastes  was  hardly  possible. 
It  contained  but  about  three  hundred  and  eighty  houses  and  fifteen  hun- 
dred inhabitants.  It  1643  it  was  said  by  the  Director-General  that 
"  eighteen'different  languages  "  were  spoken  among  them,  and  it  is  not 

likely  that  this  difference  had  de- 
creased, although  the  majority  were 
Dutch,  English,  and  French.  And 
thus,  as  he  found  it,  New- York  re- 
sembled one  of  those  islands  of  the 
South  Sea,  where  birds  of  alien 
tribes  build  along  the  streets  of  the 
same  feathery  metropolis,  where  the 
air  resounds  with  the  din  and  jar- 
gon of  their  dissonant  voices,  but 
where  (tolerant  if  not  akin)  the  same 
nest  receives  and  shelters  a  diverse 
brood.  They  were  huddled  mostly 
below  Wall  street,  and  were,  by  a 
large  majority,  women  and  chil- 
dren. Yet,  even  within  that  short 
space,  and  notwithstanding  repeat- 
ed orders,  he  could  not  get  obsti- 
nate or  wilfully  negligent  people  to 
pave  the  streets,  or  keep  them  and  the  wharves  and  dikes  clean  from 
filth  and  garbage — evidently  the  same  city  in  such  respects  when  young 
as  now  that  it  has  grown  to  be  a  home  for  all  nationalities  and  condi- 
tions. It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  therefore,  if — within  three  months 
of  his  coming — a  severe  epidemic  ("fever,  and  ague,  and  fluxes")  visited 
the  city.  It  led  him  to  proclaim  a  day  of  humiliation  and  prayer,  and 
to  reprove  "the  swearing, intemperance,  and  impiety  which  he  observed 
to  prevail."  Indeed,  for  a  courtier  of  Charles  II.,  he  seems  to  have  had 
unusual  religious  proclivities,  and  in  this  respect  was  much  before  some 
of  his  successors.  One  of  his  earliest  efforts  was  to  procure  a  printing- 
press,  for  the  purpose  of  having  published  a  catechism  and  some 
chapters  of  the  Bible,  which  the  Rev.  Thomas  James,  the  first  minister 
at  Easthampton,  Long  Island,  had  prepared  in  their  own  tongue  for  use 


FRANCIS   LOVELACE — THE   RECAPTURE   OF   NEW   NETHERLAND   347 


among  the  Indians.  And  he  it  was  who,  in 
1670,  by  his  official  action  and  interest  in 
the  matter,  not  only  enabled  the  Dutch 
church  to  secure  a  minister  (from  Hol- 
land), "an  accomplished  scholar  and  di- 
vine," the  Rev.  Wilhelmus  Van  Nieuwen- 
huysen,  but  to  provide  for  him  handsomely 
a  salary  of  one  thousand  guilders  Holland 
money,  a  dwelling-house  rent-free,  and  fire- 
wood. It  cannot  be  said,  however,  as  Brod- 
head  seems  to  think,  that  by  his  pledges 
relating  thereto,  "  under  his  hand  and  the 
seal  of  the  province,"  and  by  his  order  in 
council  authorizing  the  Consistory  to  tax 
the  congregation,  he  "virtually  established" 
the  Reformed  Church  in  New- York.  It 
merely  shows  how,  in  those  days  and  till 
the  legislature  grew  into  power,  everything 
depended  upon  the  disposition,  and  was 
under  the  control,  of  the  Governor,  subject, 
of  course,  to  the  approval  or  orders  of  the 
duke.  The  duke's  role  at  the  time,  as  best 
for  his  interests,  was  toleration ;  and  Love- 
lace allowed  the  Rev.  Jacobus  Fabricius, 
the  first  Lutheran  minister,  to  practise  his 
profession  in  Albany,  although  he  after- 
wards removed  him  for  bad  conduct.  It  is 
to  his  credit  that,  throughout,  he  consulted 
the  interests  of  religion  and  morality,  and 
did  not  make  his  power  offensive. 

In  things  most  congenial  to  the  polished 
gentleman,  however,  in  New- York  in  1668, 
evidently  his  scope  was  limited-  Above 
Wall  street  were  mostly  commons,  woods, 
and  swamps,  and  in  the  latter,  says  Mr. 
John  Josselyn,  "frogs  sitting  on  their 
breeches  a  foot  high."  The  island  was 
almost  overrun  with  horses  bred  wild  in 
the  woods  and  commons,  and  from  small 
and  "  unproportionable  "  stallions.  One  of 
his  early  "  orders  in  Council "  was  directed 
against  this  evil,  and  to  secure  a  better  breed 
of  horses.  Moreover,  there  was,  as  yet,  no 
fit  wagon-road  even  to  Harlem,  where  had 


,X 


IS  si1 


'    , 


348  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

already  settled  a  number  of  families  destined  to  continue  in  the  his- 
tory of  New- York ;  the  means  of  communication,  such  as  they  were, 
being  merely  the  development  of  some  old  Indian  trail.  Ignorant  as 
are  most  people  of  the  short  time  which  covers  the  great  growth  of 
New- York,  mainly  since  1825,  and  considering  the  great  duties  and 
aspirations  which  now  occupy  the  thoughts  of  a  New- York  Governor 
by  night  and  by  day,  it  seems  almost  ludicrous  to  read  how,  on  the 
22d  of  February,  1669,  "  Governor  Lovelace  and  his  Council,  with 

others  of  the  bench  at  New- York,  held  a  Court 
at  Harlem,"  to  consider  first  and  principally 
"the  laying  out  of  a  wagon-road,  which  hath 
heretofore  been  ordered  and  appointed,  but 
never  as  yet  was  prosecuted  to  effect,"  though 
"  very  necessary  to  the  mutual  commerce  with 
one  another "  of  New- York  and  Harlem ;  or 
again,  to  find  him  referring  to  the  mayor  and 
aldermen  the  important  question  of  appoint- 

THE    PLAGUE    MEDAL.1  .  .  t-    ,  ' 

ing  a  certain  man,  one  Johannes  Verveelen, 

ferryman  across  the  Spuyten  Duy vel,  "  from  the  Island  to  the  Main," 
before  he  issues  his  own  warrant  —  the  subsequent  "articles  of 
Agreement  indented  "  between  the  Governor  and  Verveelen  cover- 
ing two  full  pages,  in  small  type,  of  the  history  of  Harlem !  Such 
primitive  matters,  however,  or  his  many  arid  most  profusely  worded 
"  orders  in  Council "  to  the  mayor  and  aldermen,  as  to,  for  instance, 
how  many  cartmen,  and  who,  were  to  be  employed  in  the  city  —  or- 
ders written  mostly,  no  doubt,  by  Secretary  Bayard  or  his  brothers 
Thomas  and  Dudley — or  other  occasional  if  more  important  duties 
of  his  administration,  evidently  did  not  free  his  life  in  the  city  from 
dullness.  To  his  familiar,  Arlington,  he  writes  that  nothing  had  hap- 
pened lately  except  an  Indian  murder,  and  that  was  six  weeks  be- 
fore —  and  evidently  nothing  of  importance ;  that  one  might  as  well 
have  crossed  Lethe  as  the  Atlantic;  that  the  conveyance  from  England 
was  as  slow  as  the  production  of  elephants,  once  almost  in  two  years, 
since  vessels  were  uncertain  as  to  the  most  convenient  port ;  and 
he  craves  news,  about  theatricals,  or  any  other  matters  of  interest 
abroad.  Indeed,  just  then,  vessels  of  any  kind  in  the  harbor  —  a  har- 
bor fit  to  float  navies  —  were  but  an  occasional  sight.  After  the  treaty 
of  Breda  in  1667,  Stuyvesant,  being  then  in  England,  had  obtained 
a  "  temporary  permission  for  seven  years,"  but  "  with  three  ships 
only,"  during  which  the  Dutch  could  '  trade  freely"  with  New- York. 
Van  Cortlandt  and  others  ordered  one  of  these,  "  a  large  ship,"  and 

1  In  commemoration  of  the  Plague  and  Fire  of  a  comet  on  either  side,  one  showering  down  pes- 
London  in  the  "Annus  Mirabilis,"  1666,  a  medal  tilence,  the  other  flame.  In  the  foreground  death 
was  struck.  In  the  center  is  the  eye  of  God,  with  on  horseback  meets  a  knight  in  combat.  EDITOR. 


FRANCIS  LOVELACE — THE   RECAPTURE   OF   NEW  NETHERLAND   349 


the  three  came  at  intervals  during  that  period ;  but  nine  or  ten  vessels 
in  port  at  once,  even  of  traders  to  Boston,  the  South,  or  the  West 
Indies,  was  in  1669  an  event  to  be  recorded.  Of  the  latter  the  Gov- 
ernor himself  and  some  others  in  partnership  built  one,"  a  very  strong 
and  handsome  vessel,  but  costly,  the  Good  Fame,  of  New- York."  But 
such  were  the  "Navigation  laws"  in  1669  that,  although  the  king 
authorized  the  trading  of  two  Scotch 
ships  between  Scotland  and  New- York, 
as  an  encouragement  to  emigration,  the 
English  farmers  of  the  revenue  defeated 
the  enterprise.  Lovelace  had  gone  so 
far  as  to  arrange  for  settling  two  hun- 
dred Scotch  families  at  Esopus,  but  no 
ship  came;  and  so  he  had  the  garrison 
disbanded  and  parceled  out  in  the  two 
new  adjoining  villages  of  Hurley  and 
Marbletown. 

In  population  the  city  itself  remained 
almost  at  a  stand-still;  for  although  sev- 
eral people  from  Boston  showed  a  dis- 
position to  invest  in  land,  and  one  of 
them  actually  bought  five  houses,  and 
although  some  from  Bermuda  and  Bar- 
badoes  were  attracted  thither,  yet  others 
were  being  enticed  away  with  "  fair  and  specious  pretenses  "  to  new 
plantations  further  south.  It  received  no  additions  of  any  particular 
account  —  remaining,  except  as  changed  in  some  ways  by  Nicolls, 
substantially  as  it  had  been  under  the  Dutch  rule,  with  a  larger  but  by 
no  means  predominant  English  element ;  so  that,  cut  off  as  he  was  from 
intercourse  with  England,  the  Governor  had  to  find  such  amusement 
and  such  society  as  he  could  among  these  old  settlers.  And,  for  a  place 
so  limited  and  so  populated,  and  where  the  advantages  of  superior 
education  were  so  limited,  there  was  remarkably  good  society.  Love- 
lace himself  wrote  to  the  king  in  1668 :  "I  find  some  of  these  people 
have  the  breeding  of  courts,  and  I  cannot  conceive  how  such  is  ac- 
quired"— coming  from  him,  a  compliment  of  the  highest  kind.  Their 
libraries  were  meager,  for  they  had  no  printing-press  to  give  them 
books.  What  they  had  came  from  abroad.  The  only  printing-press 
in  the  colonies  was,  at  the  time,  at  Cambridge,  Mass.,  and  under  rigid 
censorship  of  the  General  Court,  producing  only  Puritan  literature, 
which  did  not  circulate  in  New- York.  Yet,  in  1670,  the  three  daughters 
of  Anthony  De  Milt  were  known  as  the  best  Latin  scholars  in  the  city 
—  not  even  excepting  the  Dutch  minister,  who  had  been  educated  in 
Holland.  Mrs.  Stuyvesant  (Judith  Bayard)  spoke  French  (naturally, 


350 


HISTORY    OF    NEW- YOKE 


as  the  granddaughter  of  a  French  Huguenot  minister)  and  also  Dutch 
and  English,  was  a  rare  musician,  in  dress  a  French  woman  of  fashion; 
whilst  Mrs.  Bayard,  herself  Dutch,  was,  for  her  day,  highly  educated, 
and  able  to  teach  her  three  sons  in  almost  every  branch  of  a  practical 

business  education.1  With  such  women 
among  them,  and  others  who  might  be 
mentioned,  no  wonder  there  was  society, 
and  of  the  genuine  kind  —  society  which 
had  even  more  than  courtly  breeding,  which 
had  intelligence  and  refinement,  with  solidity  of  thought  and  charac- 
ter. Moreover,  several  of  them  had  "good  houses."  That  of  Cornelius 
Steenwyck,  who  had  moved  from  Harlem  in  1652,  had  handsome  car- 
pets, marble  tables,  velvet  chairs,  fine  paintings  and  silver.  And  so, 
during  the  winter  of  1668-1669,  at  the  Governor's  instance,  they  estab- 
lished a  "  club "  of  ten  French  and  Dutch  and  six  English  families, 
to  meet  at  each  other's  houses,  twice  a  week  in  winter  and  once  a  week 
in  summer ;  he  himself  being  generally  present  and  making  himself 
"  agreeable."  They  met  from  six  to  nine  in  the  evening ;  the  enter- 
tainment was  "simple"  —  chiefly  Madeira  wine  and  rum  and  brandy 
punch,  served  in  silver  tankards,  and  "  not  compounded  and  adulterated 
as  in  England " ;  and  to  speak  French  and  Dutch  and  English  was 
almost  indispensable.  But  it  was  two  hundred  years  ago.  Neither 
their  English,  French,  nor  Dutch,  written  or  spoken,  was  quite  the 
language  of  to-day.  When  Mr.  Harmanus  Bleeker,  of  Albany,  went 
as  minister  to  The  Hague  some  forty  years  ago,  they  told  him  that  he 
spoke  the  Dutch  of  two  hundred  years  before — that  is,  as  the  first 
settlers  had  brought  it  over  and  perpetuated  it, 
such  of  them  as  continued  to  speak  it  at  all.  But 
there  was  one  young  woman  in  Holland  who  so 
thoroughly  understood  his  old-time  speech  and 
loved  it  (and  him),  that,  when  he  returned,  she 
came  too,  as  his  vrouw  !  Nevertheless,  how  scant 
of  material  in  the  little  city,  in  the  time  of  Love- 
lace, was  "  society  "  —  that  which,  under  subse- 
quent governors,  grew  into  such  pride  and  power 
as  "persons  of  quality,"  "people  of  figure" — may 
be  seen  from  the  small  number  composing  this  club- 
Dutch  and  six  English  families.  Stuyvesant  had,  indeed,  endeavored 
to  introduce  into  New  Amsterdam  the  "great"  and  "small  burgher" 
system  of  Amsterdam  in  Holland ;  but  the  list  of  the  "great  citizenship" 
never  exceeded  twenty  names.  It  became  unpopular,  besides  leaving 
so  very  small  a  number  who  were  eligible  to  office.  Therefore  in  1668 

1  Mrs.  Samuel  Bayard,  Stuyvesant's  sister,  also  taught  her  three  sons  and  daughter,  Catherine,  French 
and  English,  after  discharging  the  incompetent  tutor  who  accompanied  them  from  Holland.     EDITOR. 


THE  BAYARD  ARMS. 

—ten  French  and 


FRANCIS   LOVELACE — THE   RECAPTURE   OF   NEW  NETHERLAND   351 


it  was  abolished,  and  every  " burgher"  became  entitled  to  equal  privi- 
leges with  his  neighbor.  Of  the  list  of  1657  (which  includes  one  woman) 
Cornelius  Steenwyck  (whose  house  we  have  mentioned,  and  whose 
portrait,  copied  from  the  original  in  the  New- York  Historical  Society, 
appears  on  page  349)  was,  undoubtedly,  the  chief  figure  under  the 
administration  of  Lovelace.  He  was  mayor  for  three  years  under  him, 
one  of  his  wisest  and  most  influential  councilors,  a  man  of  sterling 
character,  and  wealthy.  He  owned  a  bouwery  on  the  east  side  above 
Stuy  vesant's,  and  ultimately,  by  the  extinction  of  the  Archers,  became 
owner  of  the  "  Manor  of  Fordham  "  and  a  "  Heer,"  subject  to  no  juris- 
diction but  that  of  the  Governor 
and  his  Council  and  the  General 
Court  of  Assize. 

But  of  that  original  list  of 
"great  citizenship,"  as  distin- 
guished from  the  "small,"  by 
1668  several  names  had  dis- 
appeared. How  many  of  them 
remain  in  this  changing  city, 
and  in  what  walks  of  life? 
Stuy  vesant,  Kip,  Strycker,  Van 
Dyck,  VanWyck,  Bogardus,  we 
have  —  long-lived  names.  It 
is  interesting,  however,  to  no- 
tice how  many  afterwards  prom- 
inent, or  still  existing,  begin  to 
appear  just  at  this  time.  Nich- 
olas Bayard  comes  in,  as  a 
young  man  and  Secretary  of 
the  Council,  a  post  he  held  for  many  years — and  an  official  always. 
Johannes  De  Peyster,  the  first  of  the  name,  but  already  wealthy, 
emerges  into  public  affairs,  and  by  Colve,  in  1673,  was  chosen  Bur- 
gomaster— to  suffer  for  it  much  petty  tyranny  from  Andros.  And  in 
1670,  sitting  in  the  same  church-consistory  with  Governor  Stuyvesant 
and  Olof  Stevensen  Van  Cortlandt,  they  as  elders  and  he  as  a  deacon, 
is  one,  who,  twenty  years  later,  will  accomplish  a  name  more  long-lived 
in  State  history  than  Lovelace,  one  not  in  the  "  court  circle  "  around 
him — Jacob  Leisler.  In  1663,  two  years  after  his  arrival,  he  had  mar- 
ried the  widow  of  Vanderveen,  a  well-to-do  merchant  trader,  who  had 
built  the  first  brick  house  in  the  city,  near  the  fort ;  and  having  in- 
herited his  goods  as  well  as  his  widow, — in  other  words,  having  stepped 
into  his  shoes, — there  Leisler  now  lived,  an  active,  busy,  and  growingly 
respected  citizen,  but  not  one  of  the  Governor's  kind,  not  one  adapted 
to  shine  in  "  society."  In  Harlem,  also,  small  as  it  was,  families  were 


LEISLER'S  HOUSE. 


352  HISTORY  or  NEW-YORK 

appearing  whose  names  are  still  well  known  in  business  and  other 
circles.  Just  at  this  time  Colonel  Lewis  Morris,  a  merchant  of  Bar- 
badoes,  secured  a  valuable  tract,  which  his  brother,  Captain  Eichard 
Morris,  came  to  occupy,  thus  becoming  a  prominent  man  under  Love- 
lace. Dying,  however,  within  two  years,  he  left  an  infant  of  a  year  old, 
a  "  poor  blossom,"  at  nurse  in  Harlem,  but  who  ultimately  became  that 
distinguished  Chief  Justice  Lewis  Morris,  proprietor  (in  1697)  of  the 
newly  created  Manor  of  Morrisania  (1920  acres),  the  father  of  the  more 
distinguished  Gouverneur  Morris,  and  ancestor  of  the  still  existent 
family.  How  many  more  in  the  city,  not  in  the  Governor's  "  set,"  nor 
holding  office,  nor  rising  speedily,  but  industrious  and  honest  "  car- 
penters, blacksmiths,  masons,  tailors,  weavers,  shoemakers,  tanners," 
etc.,  were  yet  the  lower  stones  of  good  families  in  the  future,  we  can- 
not tell,  although  some  names  might  be  mentioned.  Daniel  Denton, 
who  visited  New- York  in  1670,  says  that  such  "  lived  happily  "  in  the 
city,  in  fact  found  it  an  "  earthly  Canaan."  Nor,  because  they  were 
not  among  the  Governor's  budding  aristocracy,  which  so  dominated 
the  city  under  later  governors,  are  we  to  regard  them  as  deserving 
s~\  ~  generally  the  slur  it  so  loftily  cast  upon  them 

(y  j^ri^^^^Y*0^^   as  "  the  lower  classes,  the  rabble."  It  applied, 
^-S-<S7~  if  at  all,  to  the  Dutch,  the  original  and  larger 

element.  But  we  must  remember  Motley's  declaration  that  "  the  New 
England  pilgrims,  during  their  residence  in  the  glorious  country  of 
Holland,  found  already  established  the  system  of  free  schools  which 
John  of  Nassau  had  recommended " ;  the  famous  decree,  also,  which 
the  Synod  of  Dordrecht,  anxious  to  promote  the  well-being  of  Church 
and  State,  had  in  1619  passed  in  behalf  of  education,  and  which  led  to 
church-schools  throughout  Holland;  and  that  (as  told  by  Brodhead) 
"  schools  were  everywhere  provided  at  the  public  expense,  with  good 
schoolmasters,  to  instruct  the  children  of  all  classes  in  the  usual 
branches  of  education;  whilst  the  consistories  of  the  churches  took 
zealous  care  to  have  their  youth  thoroughly  taught  the  Catechism  and 
the  Articles  of  religion."  This  was  in  Holland,  full  of  intelligent  and 
patriotic  citizens,  so  noted  as  to  attract  scholars  from  every  part  of 
Europe,  and  therefore  called  in  the  learned  world  "  Compendium 
Orbis" ;  and  in  Holland  had  the  earlier  Dutch  settlers  been  instructed. 
It  is  true  that  their  children  had  not  quite  the  same  advantages,  and 
that  wealthy  families  sometimes  employed  "private  tutors" — which 
implies  tutors  to  be  had.  But  in  1630  the  West  India  Company  had 
bound  itself  "  to  maintain  good  and  fit  preachers  and  schoolmasters," 
in  order  to  encourage  immigration — however  inadequately  it  may  have 
carried  out  its  pledge.  What,  however,  it  failed  to  do,  the  church 
was  painstaking  in  doing.  If  it  could  not  readily  send  a  minister,  it 
sent  a  schoolmaster,  who  as  "  voorleser  "  acted  both  as  teacher  and  as 


FRANCIS  LOVELACE — THE   RECAPTUEE   OF   NEW  NETHERLAND   353 


conductor  of  religious  services.  Even  before  the  church,  there  were  a 
school  and  schoolmaster.  So  early  as  Stuyvesant's  administration, 
says  O'Callahan,  "schools  existed  in  almost  every  town  and  village" 
in  New  Netherland.  Nor,  when  the  government  changed  hands,  did 
the  Dutch  surrender  either  their  church  or  their  schools,  but  main- 
tained both  even  in  the  face  of  opposition  and  at  their  own  expense. 
In  1673  they  obtained  a  special  charter  from  the  English  Government 
authorizing  them  to  erect  churches  and  school-houses  (which  were 
often  under  the  same  roof) ;  and  in  order  to  maintain  the  standard  of 
instruction,  they  procured  the  teachers  from  Holland,  at  a  "heavy 
and  unusual  expense."  Evidently,  therefore,  it  is  a  mistake  to  sup- 
pose that  the  better-known  and  wealthier  families  monopolized  the 
education  and  intelligence  of  the  city, 
and  that  all  the  rest  were  illiterate 
"lower  classes."  Leisler  himself,  in 
later  times  of  intense  partizanship, 
was  branded  by  his  opponents  (and 
some  histories  have  repeated  it)  as  an 
"  ignorant  and  illiterate  "  man.  But, 
himself  the  son  of  a  clergyman  (as  it 
has  been  recently  discovered),  it  is 
hardly  credible  that  in  1670  an  "ignor- 
ant and  illiterate"  man  could  have 
found  his  way,  and  by  their  votes, 
into  a  Dutch  consistory  composed  of 
a  learned  clergyman  and  such  men  as  Peter  Stuyvesant  (an  earnest 
advocate  of  education)  and  Olof  Stevensen  Van  Cortlandt.  Indeed, 
the  city  was  as  fairly  intelligent  as  most  young  cities  for  its  day. 

It  must  now  be  said  that  the  public  acts  of  Lovelace,  as  Governor, 
were  few  of  them  historically  important,  although  matters  trouble- 
some to  himself  occasionally  came  up.  These,  however,  he  seems  to 
have  left,  as  much  as  possible,  to  others  to  arrange,  commissioners 
and  agents  appointed  by  him,  to  whom  he  gave  voluminous  orders. 
And  certainly  he  could  not  have  had  a  more  useful  subordinate  than 
his  brother,  Captain  Dudley  Lovelace,  who  frequently  represented  him, 
and  sometimes  received  the  same  honors.  Thus,  when  at  Hurley  and 
Marbletown,  as  head  of  a  commission  to  arrange  about  the  lands,  they 
gave  him  an  artillery  salute,"  when  the  President  took  horse  to  depart 
for  New- York."  It  was  one  indication  of  that  spirit  of  display  and 
subserviency  to  viceroyalty  which  was  growing  up,  which  later  be- 
came still  more  marked,  and  through  which  certain  families  them- 
selves grew  into  importance  and  power.  But,  to  counteract  this,  there 
was  another  spirit  in  the  community,  which  would  not  down,  which 
troubled  Lovelace,  and  which,  in  future  years,  made  itself  felt  as  a 

VOL.  I.— 23. 


STEENWYCK'S  HOUSE. 


354  HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YORK 

power  ;  a  spirit  which,  in  1691,  was  one  and  the  principal  reason  for 

the  execution  of  Leisler  —  that  reason,  as  given  by  the  Council  of  that 

day,  being  "  the  assertion  of  the  government  and  authority,  and  the 

prevention  of  insurrections  and  disorders  for  the  future."    Its  focus, 

A  under  Lovelace,  was  Long  Island.    If,  in 

Brief  Description       the  spring  of  1669,  he  obtained  amusement 

OF  and  pleasure  out  of  the  "  general  training  " 

NE\V   YORK  :          an(^  ^ne  race-course  established  by  Nicolls's 

Formerly  called  &&*,  at  Hempstead,  and  which  he  named 

New  Netherlands.  Newmarket  (so  old  is  racing  on  Long  Is- 

with  the  places  thereunto  Adjoyning.         land),  at  the   November    assizes    of  that 

Togethw  -ithih.  year  he  was  not  so  well  pleased  when  eight 

tSmm^M^A  cSX  afdte  Soyle'    towns  (Hempstead,  East  and  West  Chester, 

Commodities  thence  produced.  . 

Oyster  Bay,  Hushing,  Jamaica,  JNewtown, 

some  Directions  and  Advice  to  such  as  shaii  go    and  Gravesend)  presented  a  list  of  "  griev- 

thither:    An  Account  of  what  Commodities  they  shsll  *•» 

^^JKteS!^1^  ances."    There  was  Puritan  and  English 


blood  in  those  towns,  as  well  as  Dutch. 

ABrief  fauK.  Of  the^Custc  ^^  ^^^  ^  promiseg    made  by 


.»«*»•!  the  llm  Bible* 


at  the  time  of  their  "submission"  kept. 
They  wanted  the  privilege  of  "advising 
about  and  approving"  laws,  by  "deputies 

-,  1J_1I?11T  a 

yearly  chosen  by  the  freeholders  ot  every 
town  and  parish  "  ;  in  other  words,  they  wanted  a  popular  assembly 
in  addition  to  the  Governor  and  a  "  subservient  Council."  But  it  was 
denied  that  Nicolls  had  made  any  such  promise,  and  the  Governor 
(by  his  instructions)  could  make  no  changes  in  the  laws  as  already  es- 
tablished when  he  came.  And  as  they  also  asked  to  be  informed  what 
was  required  of  them  under  the  duke's  "Commission,"  —  a  question 
which  might  interfere  with  the  "  Governor's  pleasure,"  —  they  were 
told  bluntly  that  there  was  "nothing  required  of  them  but  obedience 
and  submission  to  the  laws  of  the  Government."  That  was  all,  sub- 
mission. That  it  did  not  satisfy  the  Long  Islanders,  they  very  soon 
made  evident.  Taxes  were  necessary  for  the  support  of  the  govern- 
ment and  (ostensibly  at  least)  for  repairs  at  the  fort,  the  latter  of 
which  were  imposed  on  the  several  towns  of  Long  Island  ;  as  to  which 
Woods,  in  his  history  of  Long  Island,  says  that  Lovelace  "imposed 
duties  according  to  his  pleasure  for  the  support  of  the  government,  and 
attempted  a  direct  tax  for  repairing  the  fort."  But  the  towns  objected. 
"  If  they  yielded  in  this  they  might  be  taxed  to  maintain  the  garrison, 

The  above  fac-simile  of  the  title-page  of  the  first  Long  Island,  and  as  there  was  not,  at  that  time, 

printed  description  in  book  form  in  English  of  or  for  more  than  a  score  of  years  after,  a  printer 

New-  York  is  copied  from  one  of  the  few  existing  in  New-York,  his  little  quarto  was  sent  to  London 

copies  of  the  original  edition.     I  have  met  with  for  publication.     He  was  a  son  of  the  Rev.  Rich- 

but  four.   The  rare  work  was  reprinted  by  William  ard  Denton,  a  Presbyterian  clergyman  and  a  grad- 

Gowans  in  1845,  with  notes  by  Gabriel  Furman.  uate  of  Cambridge,  England,  who  accompanied 

Daniel  Denton  was  among  the  early  settlers  of  Governor  Winthrop  to  America  in  1630.  EDITOR. 


FRANCIS   LOVELACE — THE   RECAPTURE   OF   NEW  NETHERLAND   355 

and  they  knew  not  what  else."  Southold,  Southampton,  and  East- 
hampton  were  willing  to  contribute  "  if  they  might  enjoy  the  privi- 
leges of  the  New  England  colonies"  (Bancroft) ;  Huntington  refused, 
because  her  people  were  deprived  "  of  the  liberties  of  Englishmen." 
All  of  which,  when  presented  to  the  Governor  and  his  Council,  was 
adjudged  "  scandalous,  illegal,  and  seditious,  tending  only  to  disaffect 
all  the  peaceable  and  well-meaning  subjects  of  his  Majesty  " ;  and  the 
papers  were  ordered  to  "  be  openly  and  publicly  burned "  before  the 
Town  Hall  at  the  next  Mayor's  Court,  and  "  the  principal  contriver 
thereof  inquired  into  and  proceeded  against."  Nevertheless,  the  tax 
failed,  as  other  attempted  impositions  on  Long  Island  failed,  the  fort 
was  not  repaired,  and  the  spirit  of  the  people  and  their  democratic 
desires  burned  on. 

But  if  Lovelace  suppressed  liberty,  as,  being  the  duke's  agent,  he 
was  bound  to  do,  whether  in  Long  Island  or  on  the  Delaware  (where 
also,  among  the  Swedes  and  Finns,  its  spirit  gave  him  trouble),  one 
truly  progressive  and  important  act,  one  in  which  he  took  real  inter- 
est, may  be  set  down  to  his  credit.  And  it  was  one  of  the  few  things 
he  undertook  which  were  carried  to  completion.  It  was  the  opening 
of  a  post-road  and  better  correspondence  between  New- York  and  Bos- 
ton— very  important  in  view  of  European  complications  and  wars. 
He  wrote  to  Governor  Winthrop  and  enlisted  him  in  the  scheme, 
and  at  length  put  it  in  operation.  That  often-ordered  but  slowly 
evolved  wagon-road  to  Harlem  was,  by  the  last  of  1672,  finished  or 
made  usable,  and  a  monthly  mail  was  officially  announced  to  start  for 
Boston  the  1st  of  January,  1673.  It  is  recorded  as  creating  great 
excitement  in  the  little  village  of  Harlem,  when  that  first  postman 
drew  up  at  the  tavern  door  to  refresh  himself,  as  he  undoubtedly 
did,  with  some  good  home-brewed  Harlem  beer — his  "  portmantles  " 
(portmanteaux)  crammed  with  "letters  and  small  portable  goods." 
He  himself  was  "  active,  stout,  and  indefatigable  " ;  had  been  "  sworn 
as  to  his  fidelity  " ;  and  was  to  receive  an  "  annual  salary,"  which,  with 
his  letters  and  packages,  might  afford  him  a  "  handsome  livelyhood." 
Hartford  was  the  first  place  where  he  might  change  his  horse.  And 
meanwhile,  before  his  arrival  in  Boston,  Governor  Winthrop  is  re- 
quested by  Lovelace  (whom  we  are  quoting)  to  "  discourse  with  some 
of  the  most  able  woodmen,  to  make  out  the  best  and  most  facile  way 
for  a  post,  which  in  process  of  time  would  be  the  King's  best  high- 
way; as  likewise  passages  and  accommodation  at  rivers,  fords,  and 
other  necessary  places."  But  meanwhile  the  poor  fellow,  thus  laden 
with  letters,  portable  goods,  and  "divers  bags"  for  the  different  towns, 
is  to  jog  on,  through  deep  forests,  through  rivers,  and  in  all  weathers ; 
to  mark  trees  "that  shall  direct  passengers  the  best  way";  and  "to 
detect  and  cause  to  be  apprehended  all  fugitive  soldiers  and  servants" 


356 


HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YOBK 


from  New- York.  Meanwhile  also  the  "locked  box"  stood  in  the  office  of 
the  Colonial  Secretary  in  New- York  to  accumulate  his  next  month's 
mail;  and  what  he  brought,  being  "post-paid,"  was  carried  to  the 
"  coffee-house,"  as  a  popular  gathering-place,  and  left  on  the  table,  to 
be  well  thumbed  and  critically  examined,  till  called  for  or  removed  by 
neighbors  or  friends.  Of  course,  at  first  letters  were  few.  But  that 
"  locked  box,"  quietly  awaiting  its  mail,  was  the  small  germ  of  the  pres- 
ent bustling  and  surcharged  New- York  Post-office.  That  postman, 
who  needed  to  be  "  stout  and  indefatigable,"  was  merely  marking  out  a 

way.  It  was  better  when,  in  1727,  Eben- 
ezer  Hurd  began  his  remarkable  rid- 
ing-career of  forty-eight  years,  between 
Saybrook  and  New- York — making 
thereby,  through  letters  and  parcels,  a 
goodly  property.  And  it  was  still  bet- 
ter when,  in  1775,  he  closed  up  his 
service  (as  seems  probable)  by  bring- 
ing the  first  or  second  despatch  of  the 
Watertown  Committee  with  news  of 
the  battle  of  Lexington.  But  that 
first  postman  was  doing  more  than  he 
dreamed  of,  as  he  made  his  solitary 
and  laborious  ride.  He  was  aiding  to 
draw  together  colonies  that  would  soon 
be  States ;  and  to  whose  great  struggle, 
in  1775,  and  its  success,  nothing  would 
be  more  important  than  good  post-roads  and  speedy  intelligence — a 
fact  clearly  discerned  by  Jefferson  and  Franklin.  For  this  incipiency 
of  communication,  then,  we  have  to  thank  Lovelace,  as  really  the 
great  act  of  his  administration. 

One  other  act  of  his  has  been  called  so,  the  "most  memorable,"  which, 
however,  it  was  not.  It  was  his  purchase  from  the  Indians,  April  9, 1670, 
of  Staten  Island  (Aquehonga  Manacknong),  "  in  the  Hudson's  river " 
(of  which  the  "  kills  "  were  supposed  to  be  a  part),  and  which  was  then 
considered  "the  most  commodiosest  seate  and  richest  land"  in  America. 
It  was  a  good  thing  to  have  the  Indians  a  little  further  away  and  their 
title  extinguished,  to  prevent  collisions.  Had  he  waited  a  little  longer, 
however,  he  might  have  saved  his  money.  The  Island  must,  appar- 
ently, have  dropped  into  his  hand  as  a  ripe  plum ;  for  Daniel  Denton 
informs  us  (1670)  that  "wherever  the  English  came  to  settle,  the 
hand  of  Grod  mostly  removed  the  Indians,  either  by  wars  among 
themselves  or  some  raging  mortal  disease ! "  Still,  the  price  was  not 
heavy — some  "wampum"  (which  was  exchangeable  money),  with 
some  "  coats,  kettles  "  (second-hand,  we  may  be  sure),  "  powder,  lead, 


FRANCIS  LOVELACE — THE   RECAPTURE   OF  NEW  NETHERLAND   357 

guns,  axes,  hoes,  and  knives " ;  the  city  was  not  as  yet  flush  of  old 
tin  cans.  To  read  of  it,  how  sorry  such  a  ground-floor  chance  must 
make  intending  purchasers  of  lots  at  the  island,  that  they  were  not 
born  when  land  was  so  reasonable !  Lovelace  bought  it  officially  for 
the  Duke  of  York,  whose  title  to  it,  and  through  him  that  of  New- 
York  State,  was  good.  But  Lovelace  had  a  good  eye,  not  alone  for 
horses,  but  for  choice  spots.  Moreover,  the  courtier  of  Charles  II. 
had  not  come  over  to  this  "  wilderness  "  out  of  mere  philanthropy,  or 
duty  to  the  crown ;  and,  as  subsequently  appeared,  his  accounts  with 
the  duke  in  this  and  other  matters  were  sadly  mixed.  If  he  bought 
the  island  for  the  duke  with  one  hand,  he  must  have  sold  its  very 
best  part  to  himself  with  the  other,  and  forgot  or  failed  to  pay.  For 
we  find  him  owning  a  large  farm  where  the  Quarantine  grounds  now 
are,  and  having  there  a  water-mill,  with  sheep  and  cattle ;  on  all  the 
latter  of  which,  when  the  Dutch  subsequently  sailed  into  the  bay  (as 
he  writes  to  Winthrop),  they  "breakfasted."  Lovelace  is  also  said 
to  have  had  a  "  garden  house  "  on  Broadway ;  but  it  probably  refers 
to  the  "Domine's  Bouwery,"  a  plot  of  about  sixty-two  acres  lying 
between  the  present  Warren  and  Chris- 
topher  streets,  and  the  greater  part  of 
which  he  bought  in  1671.  It  belonged 
to  the  heirs  of  Domine  Everardus  Bogardus  and  his  widow — the 
Anneke  Jaris  estate.  It  was  an  evidence  of  his  foresight  concerning 
New-York,  since  it  was  not  esteemed  of  very  great  value  at  the  time. 
It  is  said,  however,  that  one  or  more  of  the  heirs  did  not  join  in  the 
sale  to  Lovelace — a  cause  of  persistent  litigation  down  to  recent 
years  by  "  the  heirs  of  Anneke  Jans."  And  since  (first  by  confisca- 
tion of  Lovelace's  estate  to  the  Duke  of  York  and  then  the  vesting 
of  this  part  in  the  crown,  and,  second,  through  the  generosity  of  Queen 
Anne)  it  became  a  part  and  a  chief  part  of  the  estate  of  Trinity  Church. 
Lovelace  bought  it  as  an  investment  which  promised  a  great  future 
for  his  family.  But  within  a  few  months  died  a  Dutch  ex-Governor, 
also  the  possessor  of  a  "  Bouwery  "  —  Peter  Stuy  vesant.  There  are 
now  no  Lovelaces ;  but  there  are  still  Stuyvesants  enjoying  the  fruits 
of  the  sturdy  old  ex-Governor's  latter-year  labors  on  his  farm. 

It  would  appear  that  in  addition  to  buying — whereby  he  evidently 
got  in  debt  to  the  duke — he  must  be  building.  Governor  Nicolls 
had  found  the  Governor's  house,  built  by  Stuyvesant  about  four  years 
previous  to  the  surrender,  "  very  comfortably  furnished  and  quite  at- 
tractive for  a  new  country."  Yet,  for  some  reason,  Lovelace  seems 
to  have  erected  another  inside  the  fort  —  it  being  on  one  side  the 
church  and  the  prison  on  the  other.  He  never  furnished  it,  and  An- 
dros,  when  he  came,  found  "the  stairs  and  some  rooms  quite  rotten." 
Nor  was  it,  apparently,  paid  for,  or  other  work  within  the  fort,  what- 


358 


HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 


ever  money  may  have  been  raised  therefor.  In  fact,  debt  to  the  duke 
and  everybody  else  ultimately  worked  his  ruin.  When  the  city  was 
recaptured  by  the  Dutch  fleet  (August  9,  1673),  his  vessel,  the  Good 
Fame,  had  already  been  taken  in  Europe.  The  Dutch  commanders 
now  seized  and  confiscated  his  property;  his  house  had  already,  in  the 
heat  of  conquest,  been  plundered ;  he  himself,  as  we  shall  see,  was 
absent ;  and,  as  Governor  Leverett  wrote  to  Lord  Arlington,  "  it  was 
expected  that  he  would  have  kept  himself  out  of  their  hands,  though 
he  had  not  kept  the  fort ;  but  by  one  of  their  Dutch  Domines  he  was  col- 


WHO  WAS  T€ 
FIRST  NAVOR 

OFNEWORK 
9  TWICE  DID 


oj$  ruorlhomti 


INSCRIPTIONS    ON    THOMAS    WILLETT'S    GRAVE.1 

logued  with,  whereby  they  got  him  in  (to  the  fort)  for  three  days ;  and 
then — the  inhabitants  laid  arrests  upon  him  for  debts  due  to  them  ! " 
This,  after  confiscating  all  his  property;  and  the  commanders  told 
him  that,  if  he  paid  his  debts,  he  might  leave  the  country  in  six  weeks ! 
He  was  ultimately  permitted  to  sail,  with  Admiral  Binckes,  for  Holland, 
and  not  England,  as  he  wished  and  had  intended,  "unlesse  prevented.'7 
Before  doing  so  he  wrote  to  Winthrop,  "  Would  you  be  curious  to  know 
what  my  losses  might  amount  to — I  can  in  short  resolve  you.  It  was 
my  all  which  ever  I  had  been  collecting ;  too  greate  to  misse  in  this  wil- 
dernesse."  So  he  had  feathered  his  nest,  and  everything  might  yet 
have  come  out  well  with  him,  but  for  his  debts  to  the  Duke  of  York. 
For  his  apparent  inefficiency  in  losing  the  fort,  he  was  at  home  severely 
reprimanded;  but  that  might  have  been  satisfactorily  explained,  or 
condoned  with  a  little  loss  of  honor — especially  as  the  city  was  so 
soon  restored.  Not  so  with  his  accounts.  One  of  the  duke's  last 
orders  to  Andros  (August,  1674)  was  to  seize  his  estate.  He  was 
charged  with  owing  him  £7000 ;  and  Andros  was  to  hold  the  estate 
till  that  sum  was  satisfied.  Lovelace  died  before  it  was  done — that  is, 


l  Thomas  WiUett,  the  first  Mayor  of  New-York, 
died  on  August  4, 1674.  His  property  having  been 
confiscated  in  1673,  on  the  recapture  by  the  Dutch, 
as  he  was  then  one  of  the  Royal  Council,  he  moved 
to  Rhode  Island,  and  was  one  of  the  founders  of 
the  town  of  Swansey.  He  and  his  wife  were 


buried  in  what  is  now  known  as  "Little  Neck 
Burial-ground,"  within  the  present  limits  of  East 
Providence,  R.  I.  The  illustration  in  the  text 
shows  the  rude  characters  upon  the  head-stone 
and  foot-stone  of  his  grave  there.  EDITOR. 


FRANCIS   LOVELACE THE   RECAPTURE    OF   NEW   NETHERLAND   359 

before  January  21,  1679,  when  the  accounts  of  his  estate  were  exhib- 
ited. Besides  his  debts,  so  loosely  and  generally  contracted  for  goods, 
labor,  and  the  like,  whilst  he  was  himself  "  collecting"  much  property, 
there  is  little  to  be  charged  against  his  memory  as  a  Governor.  He 


\_x 


principally  angered  the  Duke  of  York,  from  whose  exchequer  he  bor- 
rowed his  means.  But  to  offend  the  Duke  of  York  was  substantially 
disgrace,  and,  as  to  any  public  employment  for  the  future,  ruin.  The 
bright  light  from  that  cloud  fell,  ultimately,  upon  Trinity  Church. 

It  is  now  as  introductory  to  Anthony  Colve,  the  next  Gover- 
nor, that  we  relate  Lovelace's  loss  of  New- York  to  the  Dutch.    One 


360 


HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 


THE    STRAND,    NOW    WHITEHALL    STREET. 


thing  is  certain,  that,  when  the  war  between  England  and  Hol- 
land began  in  1672,  he  had  been  warned  by  the  king  to  put  his  whole 
government  in  a  state  of  defense ;  and  that  the  declaration  of  war 
had  been  read  at  the  fort  gate  and  the  City  Hall.  Moreover,  the  for- 
tifications were  vigor- 
ously pushed  forward 
for  a  time.  But  it  was 
a  year  (March,  1673) 
before  the  news  came 
that  a  Dutch  squadron 
was  coming  from  the 
West  Indies  to  Vir- 
ginia and  thence  north- 
ward. He  himself  was 
away  on  postal  busi- 
ness, but  was  summoned 
home.  Unfortunately 
he  did  not  believe  it.  Soldiers  were,  indeed,  summoned  from  Albany 
and  elsewhere,  and  one  hundred  and  thirty  men  enlisted ;  there  were 
in  all  three  hundred  and  thirty.  But  they  were  sent  home,  and  only 
eighty  left  in  garrison  at  Fort  James.  Nor  was  the  fort  put  any 
further  in  condition,  although  he  had  the  money  contributed  for 
the  purpose  when  the  declaration  of  war  was  made.  This  was  in 
March.  In  July,  "having  urgent  occasions,"  he  set  out  to  visit 
Winthrop  at  New  Haven.  Captain  John  Manning,  an  experienced 
man  and  sheriff,  was,  as  usual,  left  in  charge  of  the  fort,  but  still, 
"  without  any  order  to  repair  the  same  to  make  defense "  against 
an  enemy.  Yet  the  enemy,  consisting  of  fifteen  ships  (Brodhead) 
under  Cornelius  Evertsen,  a  son  of  the  Admiral,  and  four  ships 
under  Captain  Binckes,  was,  that  July,  already  in  the  Chesapeake. 
Nor  was  their  steering  for  New- York  and  its  subsequent  capture  a 
"mere  accident"  and  without  "orders,"  a  "lucky  accident  wholly  due 
to  the  enterprise  of  the  two  commodores,"  and  based  upon  informa- 
tion received  from  a  sloop  as  they  were  going  out  of  James  River 
—  as  Brodhead  relates  it.  On  the  contrary,  from  documents  now 
accessible  it  appears  that  the  whole  affair  was  planned  before  the  fleet 
left  Holland.  In  the  secret  instructions  a  cipher  was  used,  and  in  the 
accompanying  key  "163"  stands  for  New  Netherland.  It  was  to  be 
taken  and  held,  or,  if  that  was  impracticable,  to  be  devastated.  The 
information  obtained  on  the  way  only  showed  it  to  be  a  good  time  to 
attack.  That  it  would  have  been  taken  by  such  commanders,  with 
such  a  fleet  and  nearly  sixteen  hundred  men,  and  with  a  population 
not  wholly  indisposed  to  be  conquered,  is  altogether  probable,  even  if 
Lovelace  had  used  the  interval  discreetly.  At  the  same  time,  his  neg- 


FRANCIS   LOVELACE — THE   RECAPTURE   OF   NEW   NETHERLAND   361 

lect  and  unreadiness  and  unfortunate  absence  made  the  task  an  easy 
one,  if,  at  the  same  time,  it  saved  the  city  from  devastation.  He  could 
hardly  call  the  capture,  as  he  did  to  Winthrop,  "  digitus  Dei,  who  ex- 
alts and  depresses  as  he  pleases,  and  to  whom  we  must  all  submit" — 
a  pleasant  philosophy,  and  like  him,  but  he  should  first  have  tried  to 
"  tie  his  camel"!  So  now,  again,  for  a  year  and  three  months,  New- 
York  is  back  in  possession  of  the  Dutch,  with  Captain  Anthony  Colve 
as  Governor,  and  with  the  experienced  Cornelius  Steenwyck  as  coun- 
cilor, in  so  far  as  the  Governor  shall  "deem  proper  to  ask  his  advice  and 
assistance."  Bayard  is  again  Secretary.  The  change,  however,  made 
little  difference  in  the  colony  or  province.  The  time  was  too  short. 
Nevertheless,  for  so  brief  an  administration,  Colve.  an  old  sea-dog, 
showed  himself  to  be  a  man  of  firmness  and  vigor,  whom  Massachu- 
setts and  Connecticut,  and  the  recusant  towns  on  Long  Island  which 
were  riot  disposed  to  submit,  found  themselves  obliged  to  respect.  He 
did  not  burn  paper,  as  Lovelace  did,  but  was  more  likely  to  burn  pow- 
der, if  occasion  offered.  "We  have  come  for  our  own,"  he  said,  "and 
we  mean  to  have  it."  The  man  who  ordered  one  "whipped"  at  Oyster 
Bay  for  disturbing  public  worship  on  the  Sabbath  was  not  to  be  trifled 
with.  One  of  his  first  acts  was  to  put  the  fort  in  order,  and  he 
went  at  it  with  a  will.  Houses  and  obstructions  that  interfered  with 
it  were  at  once  demolished,  including  the  new  Lutheran  church ;  and 
where  the  works  were  of  earth,  the  owners  of  hogs  (we  read)  were 
forbidden  to  allow  them  to  roam,  "lest  they  should  damage  them." 
But  as  everything  depended  on  events  abroad,  in  due  time  the  Treaty 
of  Westminster  brought  peace  between  England  and  Holland,  and 
with  it  th,e  restoration  of  New- York  to  England.  Colve  received  "  for 
his  last  year's  services  "  two  hundred  and  fifty  florins,  and  Governor 
Andros  stepped  in  —  a  man  of  more  note  in  history  than  either 
Nicolls  or  Lovelace  had  been.1 

l  Since  the  above  was  put  in  type,  it  is  proper  to  lace,  .  .  .  but  also  the  grandfather  of  that  Lord 

state,  another  account  of  the  ancestry  of  Governor  Lovelace  who  died  at  New- York  in  the  office  of 

Lovelace  has  come  into  the  writer's  hands,  which  Governor  in  1709.     There  was  a  connection  be- 

differs  materially  from  the  received  statements,  tween  the  families,  but  it  was  very  remote,  and  the 

but  is  from  excellent  authority.     It  is  impossible  Eoyal  Duke's  Governor  lived  and  died  a  bachelor, 

for  the  author  at  present  to  determine  a  question  His  immediate  ancestor  was  Sir  William  Love- 

which  requires  an  extended  search  into  English  lace,   of  Woolwich,  who  was  killed  in  Holland, 

works  on  the  peerage.  His  wife  was  Anne,  daughter  of  Sir  William  Barne, 

"  Francis  Lovelace  was  of  a  race  of  gentlemen  also  of  Woolwich,  by  whom  he  had  six  children 

who,  in  the  military  line,  acquired  great  reputa-  (five  sons  and  one  daughter),  of  whom  Francis 

tion  and  honor,  .  .  .  from  whom  descended  those  was  the  second.     His  elder  brother  was  that  bright 

of  this  name  seated  at  Bayf  ord,  in  Sittingbourne,  particular  star  in  the  galaxy  of  the  minor  poets  of 

and  at  Kingsdowne,  in  the  County  of  Kent,  the  England  in  the  seventeenth  century — Richard 

Lords  Lovelace  of  Hurley,  and  others  of  Berkshire.  Lovelace."    ("Historical  Notes  on  the  Introduc- 

Hitherto  he  has  been  described  as  belonging  to  tion  of  Printing  into  New-York,"  by  George  H. 

the  family  of  the  Lords  of  Hurley,    and  made  Moore,  LL.  D.,  pp.  4-5.    New- York,  1888.) 
to  be  not  only  the  uncle  of  the  third  Lord  Love- 


362 


HISTOKY    OF    NEW-YOEK 


A  TAX  LIST  OF  NEW-ORANGE   (NEW-YOEK)  IN  1674,  DURING  THE 
OCCUPATION  BY  THE  DUTCH. 

New- York  having  been  recaptured  in  the  course  of  a  war  between  England  and  Hol- 
land, while  it  was  held  by  the  Dutch  extraordinary  expenses  were  incurred  to  place  the 
fort  in  a  condition  to  make  a  vigorous  defense  in  the  case  of  an  attack.  A  direct  tax 
was  accordingly  imposed  early  in  the  year  1674  on  those  citizens  whose  estates  were 
worth  more  than  one  thousand  florins  ($400).  The  following  list,  preserved  in  the 
Colonial  Records,  was  made  out  by  a  board  of  six  special  assessors : 

Names.  Value  of  Estate. 

Florins.  Dollars. 


Names. 

Adolph  Petersen 

Andrew  Jochems 

Albert  Bosch X-. 

Abraham  Carmar 

Allard  Anthony 

Abraham  Jansen 

Anthony  Jansen  Van  Sale 

Adrian  Vincent 

Abel  Hardenbroeck  

Abraham  Verplanck 

Asher  Levy 

Abram  Lubbertsen 

Anthony  De 

Anna  Van  Borssum 

Barent  Coersen 

Balthazar  Bayard 

Boele  Boelof sen 

Barnadus  Hasf  alt 

Bay  Bosevelt 

Balthasar  De  Haert's  House 

Claes  Lock 

Carsten  Leursen 

Cornelius  Steenwyck 

Cornelius  Van  Buy  ven 

Cornelius  Janse  Van  Hooren 

Claes  Bordingh 

Conrad  Ten  Eyck 

Christopher  Hoogland 

Cornelius  Chopper 

Charles  Van  Brugge's  Houses . . . 

Cornelius  Van  Borssum 

David  Wessels 

Cornelius  Dircksen 

Cornelius  Barentse  Vander  Cuyl 

Dirck  Smet 

David  Jochems 

Daniel  Hendricks 

Dirck  Van  Cleef 

Dirck  Wiggerse 

Dirck  Claessen 

Dirck  Sieken 

^Egidius  Luyck 

Egbert  Wouterse 

Evert  Pieterse 

Evert  Wesselse  Kuyper 

Evert  Duyckingh 

Ephraim  Harmans 

Elizabeth  Drisius 

Elizabeth  Bedloo 

Francis  Bombouts 

Frederick  Philipse 

Frederick  Arentse 

Frederick  Gisberts 

Gulian  Verplanck 

Gilliam  De  Honioud 

Gabriel  Minvielle 

Garret  Gullevever 

Mary  Loockermans 

Harmauus  Burger  &  Co 

Henry  Kip,  Sr 

Henry  Bosch 

Henry  Wessels  Smit 

Henry  Gillesse 

Henry  Willemse  Backer 

Herman  Van  Borsum 

Hans  Kierstede 

Henry  Van  Dyke 


Value 

of  Estate. 

Florins 

.  Dollars. 

1,000 

400 

300 

120 

500 

200 

300 

120 

1,000 

400 

600 

240 

1,000 

400 

1,000 

400 

1,000 

400 

300 

120 

2,500 

1,000 

300 

120 

1,000 

400 

2,000 

800 

3,500 

1,400 

1,500 

600 

600 

240 

300 

120 

1,000 

400 

2,000 

800 

600 

240 

5,000 

2,000 

50,000 

20,000 

18,000 

7,200 

500 

200 

1,500 

600 

5,000 

2,000 

5,000 

2,000 

5,000 

2,000 

1,000 

400 

8,000 

3,200 

800 

320 

1,200 

480 

400 

160 

2,000 

800 

1,000 

400 

500 

200 

1,500 

600 

800 

320 

400 

160 

2,000 

800 

5,000 

2,000 

300 

120 

2,000 

800 

300 

120 

1,600 

640 

1,000 

400 

2,000 

800 

1,000 

400 

5,000 

2,000 

80,000 

32,000 

400 

160 

400 

160 

5,000 

2,000 

400 

160 

10,000 

4,000 

500 

200 

2,000 

800 

400 

160 

300 

120 

400 

160 

1,200 

480 

300 

120 

2,000 

800 

600 

240 

2,000 

800 

300 

120 

Hartman  Wessels 300  120 

Harmen  Smeeman 300  120 

Henry  Bresier 300  120 

Johannes  Van  Brugh 1,400  560 

Johannes  De  Peyster 15,000  6,000 

Jerome  Ebbingh 30,000  12,000 

Jacob  Kip   4,000  1,600 

Isaac  Van  Vlecq 1,500  600 

John  Meleynderse  Karman 300  120 

Isaac  De  Foreest 1,500  600 

Junan  Blanck VV 1,600  640 

Jacob  De  Naers 5,000  2,000 

John  Henry  Van  Bommel 1,500  600 

Jacob  Leumen 300  120 

Jeremiah  Jansen  Hagenaer 400  160 

Jacob  Vande  Water 2,500  1,000 

John  Dirckse  Meyer 600  240 

Isaac  Van  Tricht 2,500  1,000 

Jacob  Abrahamse 2,000  800 

John  Van  Breestede 500  200 

Jonah  Bartels 3,000  1,200 

John  Herberdingh    2,000  800 

Jacob  Teunis  Key 8,000  3,200 

John  Spiegelaer 500  200 

John  Jansen 300  120 

John  Lawrence  40,000  16,000 

James  Matheus 1,000  400 

John  Beay 300  120 

John  Coely  Smet 1,200  480 

John  Schakerley 1,400  560 

John  Joosten  (Banker) 2,500  1,000 

Jacob  Leyslaer  [Leisler] 15,000  6.000 

John  Vigne 1,000  400 

Jacob  Varrevanger 8,000  3,200 

Lawrence  Jansen  Smet 300  120 

Luke  Andries  (Banker) 1,500  600 

Lawrence  Vande  Spiegel 6,000  2,400 

Lambert  Huybertse  Moll 300  120 

Lawrence  Hoist 300  120 

Luke  Tienhoven ...  600  240 

Martin  Kregier,  Sr 2,000  800 

Martin  Jansen  Meyer 500  200 

Matthew  De  Haert 12,000  4,800 

Nicholas  De  Meyer 50,000  20,000 

Nicholas  Bayard 1,000  400 

Nicholas  Du  Puy 600  240 

Nicholas  Jansen  Backer 700  280 

Olof  Stevensen  Van  Cortlandt. .  45,000  18,000 

Peter  Jacobs  Marius 5,000  2,000 

Peter  Nys  500  200 

PaulBichard 5,000  2,000 

Peter  De  Biemer 800  320 

PaulTurcq 300  120 

Peter  Vande  Water 400  160 

Peter  Jansen  Mesier 300  120 

Philip  Johns 600  240 

Beynier  Willemse  Backer        ...  5,000  2,000 

Stephanus  Van  Cortlandt 5,000  2,000 

Simon  Jautz  Bomeyn 1,200  480 

Sibout  Claes 500  200 

Souwert  Olphertsen 600  240 

Thomas  Leurs 6,000  2,400 

Thomas  Louwerss  Backer 1,000  400 

William  Beeckman 3,000  1,200 

Wander  Wessels 600  240 

William  Vander  Schueven 300  120 


THE  ANDROS  DOUBLE  SEAL. 


CHAPTER  X 


THE    ADMINISTRATION    OF    SIR    EDMUND    ANDROS 

1674-1682 


HE  new  regime  in  New- York,  under  Edmund  Andros,  her 
first  Governor  after  the  retrocession  by  the  Dutch,  dates 
from  the  year  1674.  Andros  was  a  public  officer  of  ability; 
and,  while  pure  in  life  and  of  spotless  integrity,  has  been 
known  in  history  for  an  imperious  and  despotic  disposition.  He  was 
born  in  London,  England,  on  the  6th  of  December,  1637,  and  married 
in  1671  Mary,  daughter  of  Sir  Thomas  Craven  and  a  sister  of  Sir 
William  Craven  of  Appletrenick  in  Yorkshire,  and  of  Combe  Abbey 
in  Warwickshire.  His  family,  for  many  years,  had  held  a  distin- 
guished position  in  the  Island  of  Guernsey.  His  father  was  an  officer 
in  the  royal  household;  and  the  son,  as  a  reward  for  his  family's 
fidelity  to  the  house  of  Stuart,  was  made  a  gentleman-in-ordinary  to 
Elizabeth  Stuart,  Queen  of  Bohemia,  and  had  been  brought  up  at 
Court,  in  which  he  had  become  a  favorite  of  the  king,  Charles  II.,  and 
his  brother,  the  Duke  of  York.  At  an  early  age  he  chose  the  profes- 
sion of  a  soldier,  in  which  capacity  he  served  in  the  regiment  of 
foot  sent  to  America  in  1666,  and  in  1672  was  commander  of  the 
forces  in  Barbadoes.  The  same  year  he  was  made  a  major  in  the 
dragoon  regiment  of  Prince  Rupert, — the  first  regiment  in  the  Eng- 
lish army  to  be  armed  with  the  bayonet, — and  two  years  later,  on  the 
death  of  his  father,  he  became  Seigneur  of  the  Fiefs  of  Sausmarez 
and  succeeded  him  in  the  office  of  Bailiff  of  Guernsey,  the  reversion  of 
which  had  been  granted  him  by  his  Majesty  in  his  father's  lifetime. 


364  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

He  was,  withal,  a  thorough  linguist,  especially  versed  in  the  French 
and  Dutch  languages,  to  which  qualifications  he  added  one  of  su- 
preme importance  to  his  rising  fortunes — that  of  being  an  accom- 
plished courtier  and  warmly  attached  to  the  royal  family. 

It  is,  therefore,  not  strange  that  upon  the  retrocession  of  the 
Island  of  Manhattan  by  the  Dutch,  the  Duke  of  York  should  have 
selected  his  young  friend,  who  already  had  the  reputation  of  being 
skilled  in  American  affairs,  to  represent  him  in  the  territory  which 
had  again  been  granted  him  by  his  royal  brother,  Charles  II.  Accord- 
ingly, as  soon  as  the  treaty  which  gave  the  Dutch  possessions  in 
America  to  the  English  had  been  signed,  on  the  9th  of  February, 
1674,  and  ratified  at  The  Hague  a  few  weeks  later,  Andros  and  his 
retinue  set  sail  in  the  frigates  Diamond  and  Castle,  and  anchored 
off  Staten  Island,  October  22d  of  the  same  year.  As  soon  as  their 
arrival  was  known  in  the  city,  the  Dutch  Governor,  Anthony  Colve, 
having  first  taken  the  advice  of  his  Council,  asked  of  Andros  to  be 
allowed  eight  days  in  which  to  make  arrangements  for  formally  de- 
livering up  to  him  the  insignia  of  his  office.  Meanwhile  Cornelius 
Steenwyck,  Johannes  Van  Brugh,  and  William  Beekman  were  sent  as 
a  committee  on  board  the  Diamond  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining 
certain  privileges  for  the  Dutch  inhabitants  of  New  Amsterdam.  The 
new  Governor  received  the  delegation  with  courtesy  and  hospitality. 
He  insisted  upon  their  remaining  to  dine  with  him  on  board  the  ves- 
sel; treated  them,  as  the  old  chronicle  expresses  it,  "to  ye  best  of 
victuals  and  drink,"  and  dismissed  the  committee  with  the  assurance 
that  "  every  Dutch  citizen  should  participate  in  all  the  liberties  and 
privileges  accorded  to  English  subjects."  In  order,  likewise,  that  there 
should  be  no  misunderstanding  regarding  the  matter,  Andros,  the 
next  day,  issued  from  his  vessel  a  proclamation  in  which  it  was  dis- 
tinctly stated  that  if  any  one  had  any  doubts  as  to  the  intentions  of  the 
king  he  would,  once  for  all,  say  "  that  all  former  grants,  privileges  or 
concessions  heretofore  granted,  and  also  all  legal  and  judicial  pro- 
ceedings, during  the  late  Dutch  Government,  are  hereby  confirmed, 
and  the  possessors  by  virtue  thereof  shall  remain  in  quiet  possession 
of  their  rights."  These  "  privileges  "  related  chiefly  to  the  settlement 
of  debts  during  the  Dutch  administration,  the  maintenance  of  owners 
in  the  possession  of  their  property,  and  the  retention  of  Dutch  forms 
and  ceremonies.  The  promises  which  Andros  then  gave  that  these 
privileges  should  be  continued  were  afterwards  fulfilled  to  the  letter. 

At  length,  on  the  9th  of  November,  Governor  Colve,  having  com- 
pleted the  preliminaries  for  delivering,  in  a  formal  manner,  the  keys 
of  the  city  to  the  representative  of  the  Crown  of  England,  called 
together  at  the  City  Hall  all  the  officers  of  the  municipal  government 
and,  having  officially  released  them  from  their  oaths  to  the  States- 


THE    ADMINISTRATION    OF    SIR    EDMUND    ANDROS 


367 


cleberg "  or  Beacon  Hill,  the  Murray  Hill  of  later  times.  From  this 
latter  point  there  was  a  commanding  view  of  the  whole  island.  The 
other  main  road  also  started  from  the  fort,  and,  passing  through  Stone 
street  to  Hanover  Square,  led  along  the  East  River  to  Brooklyn  ferry. 
The  instructions  which  were  given  to  Andros  to  guide  him  in  his 
new  government  were,  considering  the  times,  of  a  liberal  character. 
"You  are  not,"  said  Clause  5  of  these  Instructions,  "to  molest  or 
vex  any  person  of  ye  inhabitants  there,  upon  pretence  of  their  hav- 


ing    lately    dealt 
treacherously     in 
taking  the  fort   [i.  e.,  at  the 
time  of  New- York's  recapture 

by   the    Dutch],     Only,    if   you  CITY  HALL  AND   GREAT  DOCK,  1679. 

shall  find  any  of  ye  Dutch  have 

been  active  in  that  matter,  ye  shall  observe  them  circumspectly ;  and 
if  you  consider  them  dangerous,  then  you  are  to  use  all  lawful  means 
to  remove  them  to  other  places  as  beneficial  to  them,  but  less  hazard- 
ous to  ye  public  safety."  Another  clause,  and  which,  indeed,  was  to 
form  the  temporary  political  constitution  of  the  New- York  colony, 
was  one  that  specially  directed  that  he  should  display  all  the  human- 
ity and  gentleness  that  consisted  with  arbitrary  power ;  and  further, 
"  to  use  punishment  not  from  wilful  cruelty,  but  as  an  instrument  of 
terror."  Indeed,  in  the  charter  from  the  king,  in  all  matters  regard- 
ing justice,  revenue,  and  legislation,  the  Governor  was  left  respon- 
sible only  to  his  own  conscience  and  the  interest  of  his  employer. 


368  HISTOEY    OF    NEW- YORK 

Endeavoring  to  carry  out  the  spirit  of  these  instructions,  and 
desirous  also  of  establishing  himself  on  a  popular  basis  with  the 
people,  one  of  the  first  acts  of  Andros  was  to  appoint  a  native  Hol- 
lander— Nicholas  De  Meyer — Mayor  of  the  city.1  This  selection  was 
an  admirable  one.  De  Meyer  was  an  enterprising  trader,  and  withal  a 
most  respectable  burgher.  His  wife  was  a  daughter  of  Hendrick  Van 
Dyck — likewise  an  old  and  respected  citizen;  and  although  the  duties 
of  his  office  could  not  have  been  particularly  onerous  at  a  time  when 
only  three  hundred  and  one  names  were  recorded  upon  the  list  of  tax- 
payers, yet  what  little  he  did  was  done  honestly  and  well. 

Notwithstanding,  however,  these  efforts  on  the  part  of  Andros  to 
conciliate,  the  sentiments  of  the  sturdy  religionists  of  New  England 
were  not  without  influence  on  their  neighbors,  the  Dutch ;  many  of 
whom  were  relations  of  those  who  had  sheltered  the  Puritans  in  Hol- 
land, and  were  consequently  imbued  with  the  constitutional  principles 
of  the  States-General.  They  were,  therefore,  in  no  mood  to  yield 
what  they  considered  their  fundamental  rights  without  a  struggle ; 
and  Andros  had  scarcely  become  fairly  seated  in  the  gubernatorial 
chair,  when  the  citizens  of  New- York  petitioned  the  king  through  the 
Duke  of  York  for  an  Assembly  of  Representatives.  The  duke  received 
this  petition  as  might,  from  his  character,  have  been  expected.  He 
was  a  strange  mixture  of  wickedness  and  goodness ;  his  inherent  and 
innate  vicious  propensities  fighting  continually  with  his  bigoted  fear 
of  his  soul's  salvation.  He  was  in  fact,  as  Bancroft  has  well  described 
him,  "a  libertine  without  love,  a  devotee  without  spirituality,  an  advo- 
cate of  toleration  without  a  sense  of  the  natural  right  to  freedom  of 
conscience — in  him  the  muscular  force  prevailed  over  the  intellectual. 
He  floated  between  the  sensuality  of  indulgence  and  the  sensuality  of 
superstition,  hazarding  heaven  for  an  ugly  mistress ;  and,  to  the  great 
delight  of  abbots  and  nuns,  winning  it  back  again  by  pricking  his 
flesh  with  sharp  points  of  iron  and  eating  no  meat  on  Sundays."  The 
Duke  of  Buckingham  truly  said  that  "  Charles  would  not  and  James 
could  not  see."  Consequently,  Charles,  influenced  by  his  brother 
James,  who  regarded  popular  bodies  as  most  dangerous,  refused  the 
prayer  of  the  petitioners  with  the  question — "What  do  they  want 
with  Assemblies!  They  have  the  Court  of  Quarter  Sessions  pre- 
sided over  by  the  Governor ;  or,  if  this  is  not  enough,  they  can  appeal 
to  me!"  Such  was  the  English  spirit  of  oppression  a  century  before 
it  was  resisted  at  Golden  and  Bunker  Hills.  On  hearing  of  this 
reply  of  Charles  to  the  petitioners,  Sir  William  Berkeley,  then  Gov- 
ernor of  Virginia,  "thanked  God  that  there  were  neither  free  schools 

1 "  He  was,"  says  Mrs.  Lamb,  "  so  ambitious  for  called  him  his  '  new  broom,'  and  charged  him 
the  prosperity  of  New-York,  and  projected  so  with  sweeping  all  the  rubbish  into  the  ditch  at 
many  improvements,  that  Andros  laughingly  Broad  street." 


THE    ADMINISTRATION    OF    SIR    EDMUND    ANDRO8  369 

nor  printing-presses  in  the  Colony,"  fervently  adding,  "God  keep  us 
from  both!" 

Andros,  however,  was  not,  in  this  matter,  in  sympathy  either  with 
Berkeley  or  with  his  royal  master.  Indeed,  it  is  a  most  singular  fact 
that  the  position  of  Andros  in  this  matter  has,  up  to  the  present  day, 
been  entirely  misunderstood.  It  has  always  been  assumed  both  by 
contemporary  and  later  writers  that  Andros,  if  indeed  he  did  not 
advise  Charles  II.  to  this  course,  at  least  fully  approved  of  it.  The 
direct  contrary,  however,  was  the  case.  Andros  not  only  approved 
of  this  petition,  thinking  it  most  reasonable,  but  advised  the  king  to 
grant  it.  His  advice  in  this  matter  was  not  taken  —  the  only  conces- 
sion he  could  obtain  from  the  king  being  to  the  effect  that  if  he  could 
produce  any  further  arguments  in  support  of  an  Assembly  he  would 
give  them  careful  consideration.1 

Hardly,  however,  had  the  petitioners  for  an  Assembly  received  their 
answer,  when  another  question  arose,  having  its  origin  in  an  order 
issued  by  the  Governor,  compelling  every  citizen  to  take  the  usual 
oath  of  fidelity — the  13th  day  of  March,  1675,  being  designated  for 
this  purpose.  To  this  order  several  of  the  leading  men  of  the  city 
demurred,  requesting,  as  a  preliminary  condition  to  their  taking  the 
oath,  that  Andros  should  confirm  the  pledge  of  Governor  Nicolls 
"  that  the  capitulation  of  August,  1664,  was  not  in  the  least  broken  or 
intended  to  be  broken  by  any  words  or  expressions  in  the  said  oath." 
Nor  was  this  demand  unreasonable ;  for,  as  it  had  been  generally 
understood,  this  capitulation  had  been  confirmed  by  the  6th  Article 
of  the  Treaty  of  Westminster;  and  such  appears  to  have  been  the 
opinion  of  the  royal  brothers. 

The  committee  appointed  to  confer  with  the  Governor  upon  this 
question  explicitly  declared  that  they  "only  wished  to  be  assured 
of  future  freedom  of  religion  and  of  exemption  from  the  duty  of  fight- 
ing against  their  own  nation  in  time  of  war."  But  Andros,  not  yet 
feeling  secure  in  his  government,  and  sincerely  believing  that  the 
reasons  thus  set  forth  were  but  a  pretense  for  sedition  and  rebellion, 
flatly  refused  their  request,  and  demanded  that  they  should  imme- 
diately take  the  required  oath.  For  reply,  the  committee,  utterly 
ignoring  this  refusal,  drew  up  a  petition  praying  the  Governor  to 
exempt  them  from  taking  an  unconditional  oath  of  allegiance  to 
Charles  Stuart,  and  requesting  permission  to  dispose  of  their  estates 
and  remove,  with  their  families,  out  of  the  colony.  This  petition  was 
signed  by  Alderman  and  Sheriff  Anthony  De  Milt;  Burgomasters 
Johannes  Van  Brugh,  Johannes  De  Peyster,  Schepens  William  Beek- 
man  and  Jacob  Kip;  Cornelius  Steenwyck,  for  three  years  Mayor 
of  New- York ;  Nicholas  Bayard,  formerly  Secretary  of  the  province, 

l  "New- York  Colonial  Documents,"  3  :  235. 
VOL.  L— 24. 


370 


HISTOEY    OF     NEW- YORK 


and  ^Egidius  Luyck,  a  teacher  of  Latin,  and  who  had  studied  for 
the  ministry  in  Holland  —  all  of  them  Dutch  citizens  of  repute,  and 
some  of  whose  descendants  are  prominent  even  at  the  present  day. 
The  only  answer  vouchsafed  to  the  petition  was  the  prompt  ar- 
rest and  imprisonment  of  the  signers  on  the  charge  of  "  endeavoring 
to  foment  Rebellion."  De  Peyster  took  the  required  oath  and  was 
acquitted ;  and  the  other  seven,  although  convicted  of  a  "  violation 

of  an  Act  of  Parliament  in  having 
traded  without  taking  the  oath,"  were 
released  on  bail,  and  afterwards  also 
acquitted  upon  following  the  example 
of  De  Peyster. 

Among  the  instructions  given  by 
the  Duke  of  York  to  Andros  on 'his 
leaving  England  was  one  that  he 
should  watch  closely  the  proceedings 
of  the  colony  of  Connecticut,  and,  if 
necessary,  make  a  demand  on  the  Gov- 
ernor of  that  province  for  all  the  land 
on  the  west  side  of  the  Connecticut 
Eiver  as  being  comprised  within  the 
patent  granted  to  him  by  his  brother 
Charles  in  1664.  Scarcely,  therefore, 
had  Andros  become  fairly  settled  in  his  government,  when  he  sent 
Captain  Salisbury  to  England  to  obtain  more  definite  directions  for 
adjusting  the  boundaries  between  the  two  colonies.  Meanwhile  the 
duke,  having  consulted  the  Crown  lawyers,  was  not  inclined  to  act 
hastily,  and  in  reply  he  told  Andros  that,  provided  the  people  of  Con- 
necticut did  not  settle  within  twenty  miles  east  of  the  Hudson  River, 
he  wished  him  to  hold  the  matter  for  the  present  in  abeyance  — 
though,  at  the  same  time,  he  wrote  most  emphatically  that  it  must 
not  be  supposed,  for  a  moment,  that  he  intended  to  relinquish  his 
rights  in  the  matter.  Andros,  however,  before  the  duke's  answer 
arrived,  had,  late  in  the  spring  of  1675,  written  to  Governor  Winthrop 
claiming  for  his  master  the  country  west  of  the  Hudson  — at  the  same 
time  sending  copies  of  the  king's  patent  to  the  duke  and  his  own 
commission  by  way  of  enforcing  his  demands.  This  correspondence 
producing  no  effect,  Andros,  in  July,  suddenly  appeared  with  an 
armed  force  off  Saybrook  Point  for  the  purpose  of  annexing  the 
colony  to  the  Government  of  the  Duke  of  York.  His  intention  was  to 
occupy  the  deserted  fort  at  that  place,  and  eventually  to  build  a  new 
one  on  the  same  site.  To  his  surprise  and  chagrin,  however,  on  his 
arrival,  he  found  it  occupied  by  two  companies  of  foot  under  Captain 
Thomas  Bull  of  Hartford,  on  their  way  to  put  down  a  local  Indian  in- 


COL.    ABRAHAM    DE    PEYSTEB. 


THE    ADMINISTRATION    OF    SIB    EDMUND    ANDROS  371 

surrection.  The  king's  flag,  raised  by  the  Hartford  captain,  was  also 
flying  over  the  fort.  Accordingly  Andros,  not  daring  to  fire  on  the 
flag,  sailed  back  to  New- York ;  but  not  before  he  had  highly  compli- 
mented "Bull"  upon  his  spirit  and  bearing,  remarking,  "  It  is  a  pity 
your  horns  are  not  tipped  with  silver ! " l 

Another  of  the  Governor's  early  official  acts,  in  the  winter  of  1674, 
was  to  try  Captain  James  Manning  on  the  charge  of  having  treacher- 
ously surrendered  the  fort  to  the  Dutch  Admirals  Benckes  and  E vert- 
sen  on  the  29th  of  July  of  the  previous  year.  Colonel  Francis 
Lovelace,  for  his  share  in  the  surrender,  had  not  only  received  from 
the  English  Government  a  severe  reprimand  for  his  cowardice,  but  his 
large  estates  had  been  confiscated.  Manning,  however,  more  fortu- 
nate, had  come  out  of  the  affair  with  greater  credit.  On  returning  to 
England  soon  after  the  capitulation  of  the  city  to  the  Dutch,  he  had 
been  summoned  into  the  private  closet  of  the  king,  subjected  to  a 
severe  examination  by  the  royal  brothers,  and  would  probably  have 
shared  the  same  fate  as  Lovelace,  if  not  a  worse  one,  had  not  Charles 
interceded  in  his  behalf.  "Brother," 
said  the  king  to  the  Duke  of  York, 
"  the  ground  could  not  be  maintained 
by  so  few  men";  and  before  the  inter- 
view was  concluded,  his  Majesty  further  testified  his  confidence  in 
him  by  signing  a  warrant  on  the  Treasury  for  £56  to  reimburse  him 
for  his  passage  from  New- York  to  London.2 

But  while  Manning,  through  the  royal  favor,  was  thus  acquitted 
of  treachery,  he  found,  on  his  return  to  New- York,  that  he  was  re- 
garded not  only  with  suspicion  but  with  intense  hatred  by  those 
whose  private  fortunes  had  suffered  by  the  reestablish ment,  even  for 
so  short  a  time,  of  Dutch  rule.  Especially  was  this  the  case  with 
Alderman  Dervall,  a  son-in-law  of  Thomas  Delavall,  at  this  time 
Collector  of  the  Port  of  New-York,  and  he  and  other  influential 
citizens  demanded  of  the  Governor  that  Maiming  should  be  brought 
to  trial  on  the  charge  of  "  neglect  of  duty,  cowardice,  and  treachery." 
At  first,  Andros  was  unwilling  to  proceed  in  the  matter ;  but,  in  the 
end,  he  was  forced  to  take  notice  of  the  charges  and  arrest  the  of- 
fender. On  his  trial,  Manning  denied  that  he  had  been  guilty  either 
of  cowardice  or  treachery,  and  pleaded  the  fact  that  the  king  and  his 
Council,  with  a  full  knowledge  of  all  the  circumstances  of  the  case, 

l  Mr.  Sylvester  Bliss,  in  a  paper  on  the  Charter-  text.    "N.  Y.  Doc.  Hist.,"  2 :  187.   This  expedition, 

Oak,  read  before  the  New  England   Historical  which  has  always  been  adduced  as  one  of  the 

Society,  October  1,  1856  (published  in  the  "His-  proofs  of  Andros's  tyranny,  was  recommended  to 

torical  Magazine"  for  January,  1857),  and  other  be  again  undertaken  by  the  "liberal-minded  and 

writers  since,  have  stated  that  the  Government  moderate  Governor  Dongan  "  in  his  letter  above 

of  Connecticut  had  sent  Captain  Bull  to  the  de-  referred  to. 

fense  of  Saybrook;    but  Governor  Dongan,  in  a  2  Manning's  own  statement,  "Colonial  History 

letter  to  the  Lords  of  Trade  written  a  few  years  of  New  Jersey,"  First  Series,  Vol.  1. 
after  this  event,  gives  the  facts  as  related  in  the 


372  HISTOBY    OF    NEW-YOEK 

had  not  even  administered  a  reprimand.  As  an  additional  defense, 
he  exhibited  several  papers  relating  to  the  surrender  of  the  fort,  one 
of  these  being  a  sworn  deposition  signed  by  four  non-commissioned 
officers  and  eighteen  privates  of  the  garrison  testifying  to  the  fact 
that,  at  the  time  of  the  surrender,  the  fort  had  but  four  sponges  and 
rammers  ;  that  only  six  guns  were  available,  for  lack  of  platforms  and 
carriages ;  and,  concludes  this  paper,  "  there  was  neither  bed  nor 
koynplank,  spad  [spade],  hand-spik  [handspike],  nor  any  material 
to  help  to  defend  us  "  ;  and,  further,  that,  thus  destitute  of  any  means 
of  defense,  he  had  no  alternative  save  to  surrender  and  obtain  the  best 
terms  possible.  Having  put  in  this  justification  of  his  conduct,  Cap- 
tain Manning,  with  quiet  dignity,  rested  his  case.  But,  notwithstand- 
ing his  frank  and  manly  statement,  such  was  the  bitter  feeling  against 
him,  that  he  was  adjudged  worthy  of  death,  although  acquitted  of 
treachery.  He  was  sentenced  to  have  his  sword  broken  over  his 
head  by  the  public  executioner  in  front  of  the  City  Hall,  and  to  be  for- 
ever incapacitated  from  holding  any  office,  civil  or  military,  in  the 
gift  of  the  Crown ;  but  whether  the  first  part  of  his  sentence  was 
ever  carried  out  is  not  known.1 

While  thus  disentangling  political  skeins  —  for  the  Manning  affair 
was,  to  a  certain  extent,  of  that  nature  —  the  Governor  was  called 
upon  to  interfere  in  doctrinal  disputes  which  had  arisen  among  the 
clergy.  At  this  time  the  different  sects  in  the  province  were  by  no 
means  harmonious,  either  among  themselves  or  with  one  another. 
The  only  English  minister  in  the  entire  Colony  was  attached  to  the 
garrison.  This  was  the  Rev.  Charles  Woolley,  a  graduate  of  Cam- 
bridge.2 In  addition  to  which  Presbyterians  and  Dissenters  generally, 
though  without  a  pastor,  kept  up  through  laymen  an  acrimonious 
discussion  with  the  Dutch  ministers  at  New- York,  viz. :  Domines  Me- 
gapolensis  and  Drisius  ;  who  even  between  themselves  were  so  much 
at  variance  as  greatly  to  retard  the  welfare  of  their  flocks.  At  Fort 
Orange  (Albany,  N.  Y.)  the  case  was  the  same.  Domine  Schaats  at 
that  place  was  a  coarse  and  intemperate  person.3  The  Lutheran  minis- 
ter, Domine  Bernhardus  Frazius,  a  high  Dutchman,  had  not  spoken  for 

1  Manning,  who  owned  a  large  island  in  the  "that  the  said  Mr.  Woolley  hath  in  this  place  corn- 
East  River,  after  his  trial  settled  there,  and  until  ported  himselfe  unblameable  in  his  Life  and  Con- 
the  close  of  his  life  dispensed  a  large  hospitality.  versation."  General  Entries  in  Secretary  of  State's 
"  Before  his  death,"  says  Mrs.  Lamb,  "  he  settled  office,  Albany,  33:93.      See  also  Hist.  Mag.  for 
this  island  upon  Mary,  the  daughter  of  his  wife  1857,  p.  371. 

by  a  former  husband.     This  lady  married  Robert  3  The    following    realistic    sketch    of    Domine 

Blackwell,  from  whom  the   island   received  the  Schaats  is  from  the  Journal  of  a  Labadist,  who 

name  it  still   holds."  visited  New- York  in  1679  with  a  view  of  establish- 

2  Rev.  Charles  Woolley  returned  to  England  in  ing  a  colony  for  his  sect :  "We  heard  a  minister 
July,  1680.     He  was  the  author  of  a  small  volume  preach  [in  New- York]  who  had  come  from  the  up- 
with  the  title  of  "  A  Two  Years'  Journal  in  New-  river  country,  from  Fort  Orange,  where  his  resi- 
York,"  published  in  1701,  and  republished  some  dence  is,  an  old  man  named  Domine  Schaats,  of 
years  since,  by  Dr.  E.  B.  O'Callahan.     In  grant-  Amsterdam.  .  .  .  This  Schaats  then  preached.  He 
ing  him  permission  to  return  to  England,  Gov-  had  a  defect  in  the  left  eye,  and  used  such  strange 
ernor  Andros  gave  the  clergyman  a  certificate,  gestures  and  language  that  I  think  I  never  in  all 


THE    ADMINISTRATION    OF    SIR    EDMUND    ANDROS 


373 


six  years  with  the  Calviriist  minister,  Domine  Wilhelmus  Van  Nieu- 
wenhuysen,  a  low  Dutchman,  and,  as  a  consequence,  Fort  Orange 
was  divided  between  the  partizans  of  each. 

Such  was  the  state  of  things  when  Nicholas  Van  Rensselaer,  a  Dutch 
clergyman,  was  sent  over  to  New- York  with  a  letter  from  the  Duke 
of  York  to  Andros,  recommending  him  for  a  living  in  one  of  the 
churches  either  in  New- York  or  Albany.  No  place  being  open  in  the 
former  city,  the  Governor  sent 
him  (or,  more  properly,  judging 
from  the  expressions  of  disgust 
made  use  of  by  Andros  on  this 
occasion,  "  shipped "  him)  to 
Albany  as  a  colleague  of  Domine 
Schaats.  He  had  not,  however, 
long  been  installed  in  this  posi- 
tion when  Domine  Nieuwenhuy- 
sen,  who  was,  notwithstanding 
his  many  eccentricities,  a  con- 
scientious and  godly  man,  dis- 
puted Rensselaer's  right  to  ad- 
minister the  sacrament  on  the 
ground  that  he  had  received 
Episcopal  ordination  in  England, 
not  having  been  regularly  ap- 
pointed by  the  Classis  of  Amster- 
dam. Nieuwenhuysen  even  went 
so  far  as  to  forbid  Van  Rensse- 
laer to  baptize  children.  Finally, 
after  much  correspondence,  An- 
dros, with  great  moderation,  referred  the  matter  to  the  Dutch  consis- 
tory at  Albany,  which  body,  after  a  prolonged  discussion,  obliged 
Nieuwenhuysen  to  admit  the  validity  of  English  ordination.1  In  the 
following  year,  however,  1676,  Van  Rensselaer  was  imprisoned  by  the 
Mayor  of  Albany  for  "  dubious  words  "  delivered  in  a  sermon ;  but 
upon  being  brought  to  New- York  for  trial  by  the  orders  of  Andros,  he 
was  acquitted — the  magistrates  of  Albany  themselves  barely  escap- 
ing imprisonment  by  the  Governor.  The  action  of  Andros  in  this 
matter  has  been  often  brought  forward  against  him  as  an  instance  of 


my  life  heard  anything  more  miserable ;  indeed, 
I  can  compare  him  with  no  one  better  than  with 
one  Domine  Van  Ecke,  lately  the  minister  at  Arne- 
muyden,  in  Zeeland,  more  in  life,  conversation,  and 
gestures  than  in  person.  As  it  is  not  strange 
in  these  countries  to  have  men  as  ministers  who 
drink,  we  could  imagine  nothing  else  than  that  he 
had  been  drinking  a  little  this  morning.  His  text 
was  '  Come  unto  me,  all  ye,'  etc.,  but  he  was  so 


rough  that  even  the  roughest  and  most  godless  of 
our  sailors  were  astonished."  This  Journal  was 
published  by  the  Long  Island  Historical  Society 
in  1867. 

l  "As  to  my  part,  I  think  Sir  Edmund  Andros 
showed  great  moderation  in  referring  the  matter 
at  last  to  the  Dutch  consistory  at  Albany."  Cad- 
wallader  Golden  to  his  son,  "New- York  Historical 
Society  Collections,"  1 :  188. 


374  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

his  tyranny.  This,  however,  is  not  the  view  taken  by  Cadwallader 
Golden  in  a  letter  to  his  son.  "  The  third  instance  mentioned  by  Mr. 
Smith  in  his  '  History  of  New-York  before  the  Revolution,' "  writes 
Golden,  "  is  that  he  called  the  magistrates  of  Albany  before  him  be- 
cause they  had  imprisoned  Rensselaer  for  '  dubious  words '  delivered 
in  a  sermon.  Had  Sir  Edmund  imprisoned  any  person  for  *  dubious 
words,'  I  think  it  would  have  been  a  stronger  proof  of  his  tyranny 
than  the  punishing  the  magistrates  under  him  for  doing  it." 

Andros,  however,  did  not  allow  these  political  and  ecclesiastical 
controversies  to  divert  his  attention  from  the  interests  and  the  wel- 
fare of  the  city.  Indeed,  from  the  time  of  his  first  landing,  he  seems 
to  have  devoted  no  small  portion  of  his  personal  attention  to  the 
needs  of  New- York,  then  in  a  very  inchoate  state.  At  the  time  of  its 
reconquest  by  the  English,  the  city  presented  an  extremely  dilapidated 
appearance.  The  fort  had  fallen  completely  into  decay ;  all  the  guns 
were  off  their  carriages;  the  public  buildings  as  well  as  the  large 
stone  Dutch  church,  which  stood  within  the  fort  inclosure,  were  all 
out  of  repair,  and  not  one  of  the  three  windmills  was  in  operation ; 
and,  accustomed  as  Andros  had  been  to  the  excellent  municipal  regu- 
lations of  London  (though,  of  course,  primitive  as  compared  with  the 
London  of  the  present  day),  he  was,  as  appears  from  his  letters  to  the 
Duke  of  York,  greatly  struck  with  its  deplorable  condition.1  Nor  did 
Andros  strive  to  be  popular  alone.  Aware  that  no  government  can 
be  either  stable  or  prosperous  unless  its  foundations  rest  on  private 
virtue,  immediately  upon  his  arrival  he  established,  through  his 
Council,  ordinances  for  regulating  public  morals.  Profanity  and 
drunkenness  were  strictly  forbidden ;  and  all  persons  by  proclamation 
were  seriously  enjoined  to  abstain  from  "  fighting,  calumny,  and  all 
other  immoralities,"  as  the  guilty  would  be  punished  and  "made  a 
terror  to  evil-doers." 

The  improvement  of  the  municipal  government  next  called  for 
attention.  The  books  of  record  and  official  papers  belonging  to  the 
city,  which  had  been  loosely  stowed  at  the  private  residence  of 
Nicholas  Bayard,  late  Secretary  to  the  Dutch  Government,  were  taken 
away  and  deposited  in  their  proper  place  in  the  Secretary's  office  at 
the  City  Hall.  The  militia  of  the  city  were  formed  into  companies  of 
one  hundred  men  each ;  and,  although  but  indifferently  provided  with 
firearms,  and  these  of  all  sizes  and  patterns,  they  were  drilled  and 
rendered  excellent  marksmen  by  continual  practice  in  firing  at  a 
mark.  The  city  gates  were  ordered  to  be  closed  at  9  o'clock  in  the 
evening,  and  to  be  opened  at  daylight.  The  citizens  were  required  to 

i  In  one  of  these  letters,  Andros  urges  upon  the      is  not  only  sadly  out  of  repair,  but  much  too  small 
duke  the  building  of  a  new  church  outside  the      for  the  congregation, 
fort,  on  the  ground  that  the  church,  though  large, 


THE    ADMINISTRATION    OF    SIB    EDMUND    ANDROS  375 

keep  a  vigilant  watch  at  night  by  turns,  and  were  fined  for  absence  or 
neglect  of  duty.  Each  resident  was  obliged  to  keep  a  musket  or  fire- 
lock in  thorough  repair  in  his  house,  together  with  at  least  six  charges 
of  powder  and  ball,  and  to  appear  with  his  arms  in  good  condition 
before  the  captain's  colors  at  the  first  tap  of  the  drum.  All  peddling 
was  forbidden,  except  by  freemen  and  burghers,  who  were  required  to 
take  out  a  license.  So  excellently  also  were  the  poor-laws  carried  out, 
that  Andros  was  enabled  to  w^ite  the  Duke  of  York  on  the  16th  of 
April,  1678 :  "  There  are  no  beggars  in  the  city,  but  all  the  poor  are 
cared  for." 

During  his  administration,  moreover,  a  number  of  handsome  and 
substantial  buildings  were  erected ;  and  all  those  who  owned  vacant 
lots  were  not  only  required,  but  compelled,  to  improve  them  under 
penalty  of  having  them  sold  at  public  auction.  With  an  eye,  also,  to 
the  sanitary  condition  of  the  city,  he  had  an  ordinance  passed  that  the 
streets  should  be  kept  clean;  it  being  made  obligatory  on  each 
citizen  not  only  to  keep  the  space  before  his  own  dwelling  neat,  but 
to  put  out  before  his  door,  on  certain  days  of  the  week,  the  garbage 
and  refuse  of  his  premises,  which  were  to  be  carried  away  in  certain 
designated  carts.1  At  a  very  early  day  the  tanneries  in  Broad  street 
had  been  declared  a  nuisance,  and  their  owners  ordered  to  remove 
them  beyond  the  city  limits,  but  up  to  the  time  of  Andros's  arrival 
this  order  had  not  been  complied  with.  Now,  however,  the  canal  in 
Broad  street  was  filled  in  and  the  tan-vats  removed  to  the  lower  part 
of  Maiden  Lane,  then  a  marshy  valley.  Four  of  these  tanners  (shoe- 
makers by  trade)  purchased  at  the  same  time  a  tract  of  land  bounded 
by  Broadway,  Ann,  William,  and  Gold  streets,  and  again  began  busi- 
ness. This  region  was  thenceforth  known  as  the  "  Shoemaker's  Land,"2 
a  name  which  it  retained  so  late  as  1696  when  it  was  divided  in  town- 
lots.  The  tanners  were  next  driven  from  this  locality  into  what  is  even 
now  known  as  the  "  Swamp."  In  all  of  these  efforts  for  improving  the 
city,  Andros  was  ably  seconded  by  Stephanus  Van  Cortland,  whom  he 
had,  with  consummate  tact,  appointed  Mayor  in  1677,3  and  during 
whose  term  of  office  Broadway  was  graded  and  laid  out  as  far  as  the 
"Commons"  (the  present  City  Hall  Park),  and  seven  public  wells 
sunk  in  different  parts  of  the  city  as  a  protection  against  fire. 

Perceiving,  moreover,  that  a  market  was  a  great  necessity,  he  es- 
tablished, in  1675,  by  the  aid  of  his  Council,  a  market-house  which 
was  erected  under  his  personal  supervision,  at  the  place  in  Broad 
street  where  the  bridge  had  formerly  stood.  The  idea  of  a  market, 

1  Our  city  fathers,  it  would  seem,  have  copied  a  appointment  (the  first  native-born  Mayor  the  city 
good  many  of  their  regulations  from  those  of  had  had)  Andros  followed  out  the  policy  which  he 
Andros.  seems  to  have  adopted  from  the  beginning,  viz., 

2  See  map  in  the  succeeding  chapter.     EDITOR.  of  conciliating  the  Dutch  citizens. 

3  Courtlandt  street  still  bears  his  name.     In  this 


376  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

it  is  true,  was  not  new.  Years  before,  Governor  Stuyvesant  had  in- 
stituted both  market-  and  fair-days ;  but  the  business  then  carried  on 
was  merely  an  irregular  sale  of  fish  and  vegetables  brought  over  from 
New  Jersey  and  Long  Island,  either  in  boats  and  sold  by  women  along 
the  canal  in  Broad  street,  or  in  market-wagons  which  stood  part  of 
the  day  in  Hanover  Square  and  in  the  present  Bowling-Green.  What 
Andros,  by  erecting  a  market-house,  actually  accomplished,  was 
to  introduce  a  regular  and  systematic  sale  of  produce.  Saturday  of 
each  week  was  made  the  regular  market-day ;  and  fairs  for  the  sale 
of  cattle,  grain,  and  country  produce  were  held  on  the  first  Monday, 
Tuesday,  and  Wednesday  of  November  at  Brooklyn,  the  market- 
house,  and  the  plaza  before  the  fort.  As  a  further  encouragement  to 
the  market  and  fairs,  it  was  enacted  that  "  any  person  coming  to, 
or  going  from,  these  fairs  and  markets  shall  be  free  from  arrest  for 
debt  on  those  days." 

Foreseeing,  also,  the  prominent  place  the  city  was  destined  to 
occupy  at  a  future  day,  Andros  enlarged  and  beautified  its  harbor. 
On  the  30th  of  December,  1675,  by  a  special  message  to  his  Council, 
he  procured  the  adoption  of  a  resolution,  "  that  it  is  a  very  good  and 
necessary  work  not  only  for  ye  city,  but  ye  whole  Government  and 
[of]  particular  benefit  of  all  traders  that  a  harbour  should  be  made 
before  ye  City  of  New-York."  At  the  same  time,  the  casting  of  any 
anchor  or  grapnel  either  within  or  near  the  sea-wall  (the  Battery), 
whereby  any  vessels  might  be  endangered,  was  strictly  prohibited 
under  penalty  of  ten  shillings,  "halfe  to  ye  Towne  and  halfe  to  ye 
wharfinger  or  Haven-meester";  and  anticipating  one  of  the  city  ordi- 
nances of  the  present  day,  it  was  further  ordered  that  "no  person 
should  cast  any  dung,  dirt,  refuse  of  ye  city  or  anything  to  fill  up  ye 
harbour  or  among  ye  neibours  [i.  e.,  near  the  neighboring  shores] 
under  penalty  of  forty  shillings."  All  vessels  and  boats,  also,  coming 
within  the  harbor  were  specially  enjoined  to  choose  their  berths 
according  to  their  burthen  and  draft  of  water,  and  not  to  inconve- 
nience "  any  other  vessels  that  might  likewise  be  intending  to  anchor 
outside  the  mold"  [mole]. 

A  few  days  after  the  passage  of  these  ordinances,  the  Governor  sent 
to  his  Council  a  strong  message  advising  the  building  of  a  substantial 
wharf.  In  it  he  said  that  not  only  was  it  a  disgrace  to  the  city  and  his 
Majesty's  Government  to  be  content  with  the  one  then  in  existence, 
but  that  trade  was  kept  from  the  city  and  diverted  into  other  channels 
on  that  account.  He  therefore  urged  that,  as  an  encouragement  to 
merchants  and  strangers,  a  new  wharf  should  immediately  be  built, 
and  recommended  that  it  should  reach  from  the  "  rocks  opposite  Mr. 
Delavall's  house  to  the  City  Hall,  having  a  convenient  space  for  the 
largest  ships  to  ride  at  anchor."  It  was  further  suggested,  that  the 


THE    ADMINISTRATION    OF    SIR    EDMUND    ANDROS 


377 


work  should  be  let  by  contract  to  those  whose  terms  appeared  the  fair- 
est, and  that  payment  should  be  made  in  "  beaver-pay,"  one-half  of 
which  should  be  in  "ready  wampum,"1  a  moiety  of  the  price  to  be 
paid  when  the  work  was  half  done,  and  the  remainder  on  its  comple- 
tion. These  suggestions  were  at  once  adopted ;  and  so  expeditiously 
was  the  work  pushed  that  by  the  end  of  the  year  (1675)  the  wharf  was 
finished.  The  stockades,  forming  the  northern  boundary  of  the  city 
and  running  from  the  East  to> 
the  North  rivers  along  the  line 
of  the  present  Wall  street,  were 
repaired  and  the  fort  put  in  a 
thorough  state  of  defense. 

Indeed,  a  careful  scrutiny  of 
the  MS.  Records  still  preserved 
in  the  Secretary  of  State's  office 


at  Albany  shows  that  of  all  the 
New- York  governors,  both  be- 
fore and  after  the  American 
Revolution,  not  one  has  taken 
such  a  purely  personal  super- 
vision of  everything  which  looked  to  the  improvement  of  the  city  as 
Governor  Andros.  To  accomplish  this  end  during  his  administration 
was  the  ambition  of  the  Governor,  and  in  its  prosecution  no  detail, 
even  the  minutest,  was  overlooked.  He  constituted  himself,  for  in- 
stance, what  would  now  be  called  an  "inspector  of  streets" ;  and,  while 
acting  in  this  self-imposed  capacity,  some  of  the  entries  jotted  down  in 
his  diary  on  his  return  from  his  walks  through  the  city  are  quite  amus- 
ing— thus:  "The  wall  defective  between  Mr.  Balthazar  and  'Mother' 
Daniels,  and  another  at  the  other  side  of  the  corner.  ...  A  house 
of  Dirck  Smith  like  to  fall,  and  nobody  lives  in  it.  The  next  has  no 
chimney.  ...  A  parcel  of  rotten  old  houses  next  towards  the  forti- 
fication must  come  down."  And  on  another  day  he,  the  chief  execu- 
tive of  the  great  Province  of  New- York,  is  seen  selecting  in  person 
the  timber  suitable  for  the  stockades,  and,  with  a  little  rule  of  his 


OLD    NEW-YORK    HOUSES. 


l  Wampum,  or  sewant,  from  its  close  connection 
with  the  early  trade  of  New  Netherland,  requires 
special  notice,  which  it  has  already  abundantly 
received  in  the  pages  of  this  work.  A  string  a 
fathom  long  was  worth  four  guilders.  A  fathom 
was  estimated  at  "as  much  as  a  man  could  reach 
with  his  arms  outstretched."  The  savages,  con- 
sequently, were  shrewd  enough  (in  trading  with 
the  whites)  to  choose  their  largest  and  tallest 
men  for  measuring  sticks  or  standards.  Small 
pieces  of  wampum  were  obtained  by  the  deacons 
and  sold  at  great  value  to  the  heads  of  the  Dutch 
families,  which,  having  been  distributed  among 
the  different  members,  were  then  taken  to  church, 


and  deposited  in  the  collection-bags,  which  were 
attached  to  long  poles.  Nor,  in  some  of  the  inte- 
rior Dutch  settlements,  has  it  been  entirely  aban- 
doned at  the  present  day.  A  clerk  of  John  Jacob 
Astor  many  years  ago  informed  George  P.  Dis- 
osway  that  he  had  visited  Communipaw,  and  pur- 
chased for  his  employer  from  the  Dutch  this 
article  by  the  "bushel,"  to  be  used  by  the  great 
fur-trader,  in  his  purchases  among  distant  Indian 
tribes.  It  might,  perhaps,  be  a  curious  question, 
how  many  bushels  of  wampum  are  invested,  for 
example,  in  the  hotel  which  bears  the  name  of  the 
great  millionaire  ? 


378  HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YOEK 

own,  measuring  some  particular  piece  of  wood  to  see  if  it  would 
answer  for  one  of  the  posts  which  were  required  to  be  twelve  feet 
long  by  nine  inches  square.  In  short,  two  years  after  his  arrival,  the 
city  had  undergone  an  entire  and  radical  change  for  the  better. 

Having  thus  succeeded  by  persevering  and  personal  efforts  in  better- 
ing the  condition  of  the  city  itself,  Andros  next  turned  his  attention 
to  developing  her  commercial  interests,  viz.:  the  excise,  trade,  and 
currency  of  the  colony.  The  public  revenue  in  New  Netherland  at 
this  time  was  of  two  kinds,  provincial  and  municipal — the  former 
consisting  of  the  export  duty  on  furs,  the  impost  on  European 
goods,  with  the  tenths  of  agricultural  products,  as  butter,  cheese, 
etc. ;  and  the  latter  of  an  excise  duty  on  liquors  and  slaughtered  cattle. 
In  the  year  1655  the  duty  on  exported  furs  is  stated  to  have  been 
twenty-two  thousand  guilders.  The  expenses  of  the  Government  be- 
came very  large,  especially  from  the  Indian  wars,  which  also  cut  off 
the  supplies  of  furs,  so  that,  by  the  close  of  Stuyvesant's  administra- 
tion, there  was  a  deficit  of  fifty  thousand  florins,  or  twenty  thousand 
dollars.  The  municipal  revenue  arising  from  the  liquor  excise  was 
also  of  two  kinds,  the  tapster's  and  the  burgher's  —  the  first  paying  a 
duty  of  four  florins  a  tun  on  home-brewed  and  six  on  foreign  beer ; 
eight  florins  a  hogshead  on  French  and  four  on  Spanish  wine,  brandy, 
or  other  spirits.  These  rates  were  doubled  some  years  later.  Thus, 
when  New  Amsterdam  came  finally  under  English  rule,  her  income 
from  these  sources  was  estimated  at  but  twenty-five  thousand  guilders. 
Such  was  the  condition  of  the  revenue  upon  Andros  taking  office. 

In  seeking  for  the  means  of  increasing  the  revenue,  Andros  found 
that  one  of  the  chief  causes  of  the  excise  on  liquors  falling  off  was 
the  practice,  which  for  a  long  time  had  obtained,  of  allowing  any 
person  to  sell  or  buy  to  the  quantity  of  a  gallon.  This  custom  had 
resulted  in  great  disadvantage  to  wholesale  liquor  merchants;  and 
the  effect  of  the  latter's  representations  was  an  enactment  of  a  law 
that  "none  except  licensed  houses  [taverns]  should,  in  the  future, 
retail  at  home  or  out  of  doors  less  than  ten  gallons  under  penalty  of 
forfeiting  all  such  liquors  and  treble  their  value";  and,  by  way  of 
breaking  up  smuggling,  it  was  likewise  ordered  that  "  all  merchants 
or  others,  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  city,  are  not  to  presume  to 
sell  by  retail  any  wine,  beer,  liquors,  etc.,  without  paying  ye  excise 
due  for  ye  same,  nor  suffer  any  to  be  carried  out  of  their  warehouses 
or  cellars  by  any  persons  except  ye  sworne  officers  and  porters  appointed 
for  that  purpose,"  under  penalty  of  two  hundred  guilders  (or  eighty 
dollars)  for  each  offense. 

Another  cause  of  the  decrease  in  excise  receipts  had  been  the  fail- 
ure of  those  to  whom  the  excise  had  been  farmed  out  to  pay  for  this 
privilege.  A  few  paid  promptly ;  but  more  were  greatly  behind  with 


THE    ADMINISTBATION    OF    SIB    EDMUND    ANDBOS  379 

their  payments,  or  failed  to  pay  at  all.  This  state  of  affairs,  accord- 
ingly, produced  another  order  from  the  Council  making  it  obligatory 
upon  every  farmer  of  the  excise  to  give  good  and  approved  security 
for  the  faithful  performance  of  his  contract,  and  to  hand  over  to  the 
Governor  every  three  months  one  quarter  of  the  revenue  collected. 
In  case  he  failed  to  do  this,  he  was,  at  the  expiration  of  fifteen  days, 
to  be  dismissed  from  his  office,  at  the  option  of  the  Governor.  The 
latter,  also,  by  reserving  to  himself  the  right  to  select  from  the  bid- 
ders for  farming  the  excise  any  person  irrespective  of  the  amount  of 
his  bid,  was  enabled  to  secure  honest  men.1  The  salutary  effects  of 
these  several  ordinances  were  soon  apparent.  Within  a  short  time 
after  their  enactment,  the  receipts  from  the  excise  on  liquor  were 

almost  doubled. 
• 

Efforts  were  also  made  to  do  away,  as  far  as  possible,  with  the  evils 
resulting  from  the  liquor  traffic.  Already  the  sale  of  liquor,  con- 
sidering the  population,  had  reached  enormous  proportions ;  and  a 
map  of  the  city,  made  out  at  this  time  for  the  Governor,  and  embody- 
ing, by  a  curious  coincidence,  the  same  idea  as  the  one  carried  out, 
some  years  since  by  a  prominent  New- York  journal,  showed  that 
nearly  one-quarter  of  the  town  "  had  become  houses  for  the  sale  of  ' 
brandy,  tobacco  or  beer"!  An  ordinance  was  accordingly  passed 
forbidding  the  licensing  of  any  taverns  except  by  the  unanimous  con- 
sent both  of  the  Governor  and  his  Council ;  those  already  established, 
however,  might  "  continue  four  years  longer,  if  ye  owners  would  ab- 
stain from  selling  to  ye  savages,  report  all  brawls,  and  occupy  decent 
houses,  by  which  ye  Towue  of  New- York  will  be  adorned."  And,  by 
another  order  in  Council,  it  was  ordained,  by  way  of  putting  an  end 
to  this  unlimited  sale  of  liquor,  that  "  inasmuch  as  many  great  and 
grievous  abuses  have  arisen  through  a  licentious  retailing  of  liquor  by 
taverns  which  have  no  licenses,  Mr.  John  Tudor  is  hereby  appointed 
to  keep  a  vigilant  eye  upon  all  such  offenders  and  seize  their  liquor," 
and  further,  "  that  all  persons  who  desire  to  retail  liquors  or  keep  a 
house  of  entertainment  and  who  do  not  keep  up  these  rules  shall  be 
proceeded  against  in  the  most  vigorous  manner,  their  liquor  seized, 
and  themselves  imprisoned."  But  notwithstanding  all  these  ordi- 
nances, the  Indians,  as  we  are  told  by  the  MS.  Records  in  Albany, 
were  "daily  seen  running  about  drunk  through  the  Manhattans." 
New- York,  now  the  metropolitan  city,  witnesses  every  day  and  night 
numbers  of  intoxicated  savages  in  her  streets;  and  it  would  seem  that 

lit  has  often  been  said  by  European  writers  may  be  said  to  have  been  a   "farmer-general." 

on  political  economy  that  the  word  "  farmer-gen-  This  argument,  it  will  be  recollected,  was  adduced, 

eral "  was  unknown  in  North  America.     This  is  at  the  time  of  Louis  XVI.,  when   Necker   (his 

manifestly  an  error.     All  the  English  governors  prime  minister)  endeavored  to  control  the  farmers- 

up  to  the  Revolutionary  war  "farmed  "the  re  venue  general  in  France,  as  against  the  practice — but 

to  subordinate  "farmers."    Hence,  each  governor  the  statement  was  incorrect. 


BY  HIS  EXCELLENCY 

PROCLAMATION- 


WHEREAS  HU  MAJESTY  hath  been  gracioufly  pleafed,  by  His  Royal  Lettei,  bearing  Date 
the  fixlecnth  day  of  Oftober  lafr  paft,  to  fignine  That  He  hath  received  undoubted  Advice  that 
a  great  and  fudden  Invafion  irom  Holland,  with  an  armed  Force  of  Foreigner*  and  Strangers,  will 
fpeedily  be  made  in  an  hoftilc  manner  upon.  HtsMajelrys  Kingdom  of  TL  No  LAJfD  $  tna.  fbat 
aliho'  (bmc/<*//e  pretences  relating  to  Lilttnj..  fnftrtfr.gBd.XttiguKt  (  contrived  oc  Worded  w^Ui  Art  and  Subiilty  ) 
may  be  given  our,  (as  (hall  be  thought  ufcful  upon  foch,  an  Attempt  i  )  II  is  DMUiifeft  however,  (  confidcring 
the  great  Preparaxiwis  *hat  are  nwting.)  Thai-  no  Ids.  matter  by  this  Invafan  is  propofed  andpurpofcd,  than.  oa 
abfolute  Conqircfk  of  Hi»  Majcfly's  Kingdoms,  and  the  irtter  Subduing  and  Subjecting  His.Majtfty  and  all  KB 
People  to  a  For  reign  Power,  which  is  promoted  (  as  Ilis  Majcfty  underflands  )  allho'  il  may  fcem  almofl  incre- 
dible) by  fome  of  'HlsMaje(l/S  Stikjefli,  being  perfpns  of  v/icked  and  red-left  Spirils,  irnplncablejyfohce,  anddelpe- 
rate  "Defigns,  who  having  no  fence  of  fcrmec  ititeftine  Diftraftions,  (  the  Memory  and  Mifery  whereof  fliould  endear  and 
put  a  Value  upon  that  Peace  and  Ilappincft  which  hath  long  been  «n)oyedj  nor  being  moved  by  His  Majefty's 
reiterated  Afts  of  Grace  and  Mercy  ,  (  whcneia  HisJtfajeft^  hath  Jhidied  and  delighted  to  abound  towards  all  His 
Subjects,  and  even  towards  thoft  who  were  once  His  Majefty's  avowed  and  open  Intmies  )  do  again  endeavour  to 
embroil  Hi$Majcfty"$  Kingdom  in  Blood  and  Ruin,  to  gratifie  their  own  Ambition  and  Malice,  propofing  to 
thcmfelves  a  Prey  and  Booty  in  fuch  a  publick  Confbfion  : 

And  that  although  His  Majefty  had  Notice  that  a  forreign  Force  was  preparing  againft  Him,  ;  yet  His  Majefty 
hath  alwaies  declined  any  forreign  Succour,  "but  rather  hath  chofen  (  next  under-  GOD)  to  rely  upon  the  true 
and  ancient  Courage,  Faith  and  Allegiance  oi  His  own  People,  with  whom  His  Majefty  hath  often  ventured  His 
Life  for  the  Honour  of  His  Nation,  and  in  whofe  Defence  againft  all  Enemies  His  Majefty  is  firmly  tefol- 
ved  to  live  and  dye;  and  therefore  does  folemnly  Conjta-e  His  SubjeOs  to  lay  ofide  all  manner  of  Animollties  , 
Jealoufies,  &  Prejudices,  and  "  heartily  &  cheerfully  to  Vmte  together  in  the  Defence  of  His  MA-JESTT  and 
their  native  Countrey,  which  thing  alone,  will  (  under  GOD  )  defeat  and  fruftrate  the  -principal  Hope  and  De- 
sign of  His  Majefty  -s  Enemies,  who  expert  to  find  His  People  divided-,  and  by  pnblifhing  (  perhaps  )  fome  plau- 
fible'Reafons  of  their  Coming,,  as  the  fpeciou6(  t  ho'  f^ft)  Pretences  of  "Maintaining  the  Proteftant  Religion,  .  or 
AfTerting  the  Liberties  and  Properties  of  His  Mai«fty's  People  ,  do  hope  thereby  to  conquer  that  great  and  re- 
nowned Kingdom. 

That  albeit  the  Defign  hath.  been  carried  on  .  with  all  imaginable  Secrefie  &  "Endeavours  to  ftrprife  and  deceive 
HisMAjESTT,  HE  hath  "not  becii  wanting  on.  His  part  to  make  fuch  provifion  as  did  become  Him,  and, 
by  GOD's  great  Bl  effing.  His  Majefty  makes  no  doubt  of  being  found  in  fo  goodaPofture  that  His  Enemies  may 
havtf  caufe  to  repent  fuch  their  rafh  and  tmjuft  Attempt.  ALL  "WHICH,  it  is  HisMajefty's  pleafure,  (hould 
be  made  known  in  the  molt  publick  manner  to  His  Loving  Subjects  within  this  His  Territory  and  Dominion  of 
JV  EW-E  N  C  L  A  N  D,  that  they  may  be  the  better  prepared  to  refift  any  Attempts  that  may  be  made  by 
His  Majefties  Enemies  in  thefe  parts,  and  fecurcd  in  their  trade  and  Commerce  with  His  Majefty  s  Kingdom  of  E*gkniJ. 
Do  therefore,  in  purfuance  of  His  MAJ  ESTTs  Commands,  by  thefe  Prefers  *>*kf  bfotn  and  f*bXjk 
the  fame  accordingly  :  And  hereby  Charge  and  Command  all  Officers  Civil  fie  Military,  and  all  other  His 
'.Majcfty's  loving  Subjefts  within  this  His  Territory  and  Dominion  aforefaid,  to  be  Vipl**t  and  C»eftd  in 
their  refpeftive  places  and  flations,  and  that,  upon  the  ApproSch  of  any  Fleet  or  Forreign  Force,  they  be  in 
Rcadinefs,  and  ufe  their  utmoft  Endeavour  to  hinder  any  Landing  or  Invafion  that  may  be  intended  to  be  made 
within  the  fame. 

Given  at  Fort-CI*rlcs  at  TtmtufnJ^  the  Tenth  D«ry  ofjatiuary,  m  the  Fourth  year  of  the  Reign  of  our 
Sovereign  Lord  "JAMES  the  Second,  af£*gU»t?,  Stotlandy  Franct  and  Inland  KING,  DC. 
fender  of  the  Kaith  <**.  Annoq;  DO-MINI  ifi88. 

Sf.  Hit  EXCELLENCY'S   Cammed.  C 

JOHN  WEST.    S.  Seer'.  *-• 

GOD   SAFE   THE  KING. 


I 


ftinted  at  Soflt*  in  Ntv-fxflM^  by  X.  P. 


THE    ADMINISTEATION    OF    SIR    EDMUND    ANDROS  381 

our  legislators  had  not  wisdom  or  strength  enough  to  frame  and  exe- 
cute laws  either  to  subdue  or  prevent  this  great  public  evil.  Finally, 
Andros,  incensed  at  the  manner  in  which  his  excise  ordinances  were 
nullified,  issued  a  still  more  stringent  order  to  the  effect  that,  in  addi- 
tion to  all  former  penalties,  offenders  against  the  temperance  laws 
were  to  be  "  arbitrarily  punished  without  any  dissimulation."  Indeed, 
to  such  strong  measures  did  he  resoj-t  to  crush  out  drunkenness  that  he 
had  the  Council  pass  an  act  whereby,  if  a  red  or  white  man  were  seen 
on  the  streets  intoxicated,  and  it  could  not  be  ascertained  at  what 
tavern  he  obtained  his  liquor,  the  entire  street  ivas  made  finable  !  This 
measure,  it  will  be  seen,  was  even  more  drastic  than  the  law  passed 
some  six  years  since  by  the  New- York  Legislature,  which  makes  the 
seller  of  the  liquor  responsible  for  all  the  evil  consequences  that  may 
result  from  such  sale.  Other  laws  were  passed  regulating  the  sale  of 
liquor  by  the  ale-houses  to  the  soldiers  of  the  garrison,  one  of  which 
was  that  "  all  the  houses  in  the  city  which  entertains  [sic]  boarders, 
soldiers,  strangers,  or  travelers,  do  pay  one  half  of  ye  excise  for  what 
they  shall  sell  to  their  guests  by  retail  under  penalty  of  one  hundred 
guilders  for  each  canne  [can]  of  wyne  [wine],  beare  [beer]  so  sold, 
without  due  account  being  made  for  ye  same."  It  will  thus  be  seen 
that  the  principle  of  what,  at  the  present  day,  is  known  as  "high- 
license"  seems,  in  its  essential  details,  to  have  run  through  all  the 
regulations,  even  at  this  early  period,  for  the  sale  of  ardent  spirits. 

The  trade  of  the  colony  received  the  same  careful  attention.  Strin- 
gent laws  against  selling,  under  severe  penalties,  strong  drink  and  pow- 
der and  ball  to  the  Indians  of  Long  Island  and  the  Upper  Hudson  were 
enacted;  the  prices  of  grain  established;1  the  exportation  of  bread- 
stuffs,  when  there  was  a  scarcity  in  the  home  market,  prohibited,  and 
the  barter  with  the  Montauk  Indians  of  Long  Island  regulated.  At 
first,  Andros  allowed  vessels  of  all  nationalities  free  access  to  the 
Indian  tribes  of  the  Hudson  even  beyond  Albany;  but  this  liberality 
having  called  forth  a  severe  reprimand  from  the  Duke  of  York,  all 
foreigners  and  even  the  people  of  New  England  were  henceforth  for- 
bidden to  go  up  the  Hudson  as  far  as  either  Esopus  or  Albany.  By 
this  measure  it  was  hoped  that  New- York  would  retain  a  monopoly  of 

The  proclamation,  of  which  a  reduced  facsira-  by  R.  P."    The  original  is  the  property  of  the 

ile   appears   opposite,   was   issued  by  Governor-  New-York  Society  Library,  having  been  presented 

General  Andros  while  he  was  in  Maine,  busy  re-  in  1825  by  Major  William  Popham,  of  Revolu- 

pelling  the  Indians  there.     King  James  had  writ-  tionary  fame.  EDITOR. 

ten  to  him  and  to  other  colonial  governors  a  letter 

dated  October,   1687,  advising  them  even   then        1  The  prices  were  regulated  as  follows : 
(two  years  before  the  actual  event)  of  a  contem-  Per  Bushel. 

plated  descent  by  the  Prince  of  Orange  upon  the  Merchantable  Winter  Wheat  at 5s.  Od. 

shores  of  England.      Hence  Andros  warns  his  Summer  Wheat  at 4s.  Cd. 

people  of  New  England  and  New- York  to  be  on  Merchantable  Barley  at 4s.  Od. 

their  guard  against  the  Dutch.    The  document  Rye  at 3s.  6d. 

is  of  value  as  an  interesting  specimen  of  early  Pease  at 3s.  Od. 

American  typography,  being  "  printed  at  Boston  Indyan  Corne  at 2s.  6d. 


382  HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YORK 

the  trade  in  beavers.  The  law  likewise  determined  the  number  of 
gallons  in  a  hogshead  —  which  was  to  be  made  of  well-seasoned  tim- 
ber; an  inspector  was  appointed  whose  duty  it  was  to  examine,  at 
stated  periods,  the  grade  of  bread  sold  by  bakers,  and  see  that  weights 
and  measures  were  kept  up  to  the  standard ;  the  number  of  feet  in  a 
cord  of  wood  was  defined  —  which  was  the  same  as  at  present ;  and 
even  the  amount  of  brine  to  be  used  in  pickling  beef  and  pork  was 
regulated  by  statute.  Another  ordinance  which  the  Council  was  in- 
duced to  pass,  but  the  object  of  which  at  the  present  day  is  not  so 
clear,  though  the  Governor  evidently  thought  it  of  the  first  impor- 
tance, was  that  no  butchers  were  to  be  permitted  to  pursue,  at  the  same 
time,  the  trade  of  currier,  shoemaker,  or  tanner.  The  reason  which  he 
gave  in  his  message  to  his  Council  for  desiring  the  passage  of  this  law 
was  that  it  "  is  consonant  to  ye  laws  of  England  and  practised  in  ye 
neighbouring  Colonys  of  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut." 

The  attention  of  the  Governor  was  next  directed  to  reforming  the 
currency,  which  had  become  much  debased,  and  the  fluctuating  na- 
ture of  which  had  always  been  greatly  detrimental  to  trade.  Although 
wampum  had  always  been  almost  the  exclusive  circulating  medium  of 
New  Netherland,  still  beaver  remained  the  standard  of  value.  During 
the  years  1651-2,  Director  Stuyvesant  had  endeavored  to  introduce 
a  specie  currency,  and  had  applied  to  Holland  for  twenty-five  thou- 
sand guilders  in  Dutch  shillings  and  fourpenny  pieces,  but  the  West 
India  Company  there  had  disapproved  of  his  project.  The  people  were 
thus  entirely  dependent  on  wampum,  as  the  people  of  the  United  States 
were  on  greenbacks  a  few  years  after  the  Civil  War ;  and  the  value  of 
wages,  property,  in  fact  of  every  commodity,  was  in  consequence 
seriously  disturbed.  So  it  is  in  our  day  and  ever  will  be,  with  an 
irredeemable  currency,  whether  of  clam-shells,  thin  paper,  or  any- 
thing else  not  equal  to  specie.  At  first,  as  has  been  stated  on  a  pre- 
ceding page,  wampum  passed  at  the  rate  of  four  black  beads  for  one 
stiver;  next,  it  was  lowered  to  six;  again,  in  1657,  to  eight ;  and  then 
it  was  ordered  to  be  considered  a  legal  tender  for  gold  and  silver. 
But  Stuyvesant  wisely  objected  to  this,  as  it  would  bring  the  value 
of  property  to  naught.  In  the  year  1658,  the  white  wampum  was 
next  reduced  from  twelve  to  sixteen,  and  the  black  from  eight  to  ten 
for  a  stiver.  What  was  the  result  I  The  holder  was  obliged  to  give 
more  wampum  for  any  article  he  purchased  of  a  trader,  who,  in  return, 
allowed  the  natives  a  large  quantity  of  it  for  their  beavers  and  skins ; 
and,  to  use  the  plain  record  of  the  day,  "  little  or  no  benefit  accrued." 
Nominally  prices  advanced,  when  beavers  which  had  been  sold  for 
twelve  or  fourteen  guilders  rose  to  twenty-two  and  twenty-four,  bread 
from  fourteen  to  twenty-two  stivers  (eight-pound  loaves),  beef  nine 
to  ten  stivers  per  pound,  shoes  from  three  and  a  half  guilders  to 


THE    ADMINISTEATION    OF    SIR    EDMUND    ANDROS  383 

twelve  a  pair,  and  wrought-iron  from  eighteen  to  twenty  stivers  the 
pound.  Meanwhile,  beavers  (the  real  standard  of  value)  and  specie 
remained  of  equal  value ;  but  the  difference  between  these  and  wam- 
pum was  fifty  per  cent.  The  effect  on  wages  was  almost  ruinous. 
An  old  record  says :  "  The  poor  farmer,  laborer,  and  public  officer, 
being  paid  in  zeawan  (sewant),  are  almost  reduced  to  the  necessity  of 
living  on  alms."  Those  in  the  employ  of  the  Dutch  Company  asked 
that  their  salaries  might  be  paid  in  beavers,  but  this  was  refused. 
This  depreciation  of  the  currency,  and  the  consequent  disturbance  of 
prices,  caused  much  popular  clamor,  and  various  expedients  were 
adopted  by  Stuyvesant  to  amend  the  unfortunate  state  of  things. 
The  directors  of  the  West  India  Company  would  have  the  colonists 
consider  wampum,  as  "bullion,"  but  would  at  the  same  time,  with  singu- 
lar inconsistency,  receive  only  beavers  in  payment  of  duties  and  taxes. 
Something  of  the  same  theory  in  our  custom-house  payments  was 
adopted  for  the  year  succeeding  the  Civil  War.  At  length,  Director 
Stuyvesaut  raised  the  value  of  specie  (or  beaver-skins,  as  having  the 
same  mercantile  value)  in  the  country  twenty  to  twenty-five  per  cent. 
"  to  prevent  its  exportation."  Finally,  however,  the  price  of  beaver  in 
1663  fell  from  eight  guilders  (specie)  to  four  and  a  half;  white  wam- 
pum from  eight  to  sixteen,  and  black  from  four  to  eight  for  a  stiver. 
This,  then,  was  the  state  of  the  public  finances  when  the  English 
came  for  the  second  time  into  possession  of  New  Netherland.  Some 
people  even  now  are  met  with  who  fear  a  similar  financial  crash  sooner 
or  later  in  our  enlightened  land,  with  its  hundreds  of  millions  in 
paper-money  obligations  and  promises  —  and  this,  too,  notwithstand- 
ing the  unlimited  resources  of  the  Government.  The  same  thing, 
also,  happened  during  and  after  the  close  of  our  Eevolutionary  strug- 
gle, when  ten  thousand  dollars  of  paper  currency  (although  bearing 
the  Government  promise  to  redeem)  were  paid  for  a  single  meal ! 

The  problem  which  Aiidros  was  now  called  upon  to  solve  was,  in 
what  manner  the  debased  currency  could  be  brought  up  to  a  definite 
standard  of  value.  Yet  Andros, —  so  little  were  the  principles  of 
political  economy  understood  at  that  day, —  notwithstanding  the 
experience  and  lamentable  failure  of  Stuyvesant,  undertook  to  solve 
it  on  precisely  the  same  principles  acted  on  by  some  financiers,  not 
only  of  our  Eevolutionary  period,  but  of  the  present  day,  viz. :  by  an 
arbitrary  order  of  Council  declaring  that  certain  quantities  of  wam- 
pum should  be  apprized  and  taken  by  all  traders  at  a  certain  valua- 
tion. This  standard  was  that  three  stivers  of  wampum  should  be 
taken  at  one  penny  silver,  New  England  money,  and  that  a  beaver- 
skin  should  be  taken  at  the  same  rate  it  was  before  its  depreciation. 
Andros,  however,  succeeded  no  better  than  had  Stuyvesant ;  and  for 
years  afterward  the  currency  of  New- York  remained  in  a  most 


384  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

deplorable  state  —  greatly  to  the  chagrin  of  the  grasping  Duke  of 
York,  who,  in  letters  to  Andros,  continually  complained — even  to  the 
extent  of  severe  reprimands  —  that  by  the  time  the  wampum  had 
been  exchanged  for  the  genuine  gold  of  the  realm,  his  returns  were 
greatly  decreased.1 

Nor,  while  thus  attending  to  the  political,  financial,  and  social  pros- 
perity of  affairs  within  the  city,  did  Andros  neglect  to  provide 
against  dangers  which  seriously  threatened  it  from  without.  For 
several  years  previous  to  his  taking  the  reins  of  government,  the 
necessity  of  conciliating  the  Iroquois —  the  most  powerful  Indian 
confederacy  at  that  time  in  America  —  had  received  little  or  no  at- 
tention either  from  the  people  of  New- York  or  their  Government. 
The  first  two  English  Governors  of  the  colony,  or  rather  the  lieu- 
tenants of  the  Duke  of  York  —  viz.:  Colonels  Nicolls  and  Lovelace  — 
bestowed  but  inconsiderable  attention  upon  the  Five  Nations,2  not 
seeming  to  appreciate  either  the  importance  of  their  trade  or  of  their 
friendship.  Still,  the  mortal  hatred  they  had  borne  for  the  French — 
ever  since  the  invasion  of  their  territory  by  Champlaiu  in  1609 3  —  in- 
clined them  rather  to  prefer  the  friendship  of  the  English.  But  the 
Duke  of  York,  in  his  affection  for  the  Church  of  Rome,  shutting  his 
eyes  to  what  unquestionably  should  have  been  the  true  policy  of  the 
English  toward  the  Indians,  had  conceived  the  idea  of  handing  the 
confederates  over  to  the  Holy  See,  as  converts  to  its  forms,  if  not  to 
its  faith.  Hence  the  efforts  to  mediate  the  peace  between  the  Iroquois 
and  the  French  in  1667,  which  were  followed  by  invitations  to  the 
Jesuit  missionaries  from  the  English  to  settle  among  the  confeder- 
ates, and  by  persuasions  to  the  latter  to  receive  them.4  The  Mohawks 
—  smarting  under  the  remembrance  of  the  expedition  of  Champlain — 
were  either  too  wise  or  too  bitter  in  spirit  toward  the  French  to  listen 
to  the  proposal.  But  not  so  with  the  other  nations  of  the  alliance ; 
and  the  Oneidas,  Onondagas,  Cayugas,  and  Senecas  opened  their 
country  to  the  strangers  in  holy  garb,  causing  infinite  mischief  in 
after  years.  The  hollow  peace  of  1667  continued  several  years, 
during  which  time  both  the  English  and  the  French  prosecuted 
their  trade  with  the  Indians  to  a  great  and  a  profitable  extent. 
The  French,  especially,  evinced  a  degree  of  energy  and  a  spirit  of  en- 

1  Should  any  reader  be  curious  on  this  subject,      a  nation  which  fled  to  them  from  the  South  about 
let  him  consult  the  N.  Y.  Col.  Doc.  (vols.  2  and  3),      1712. 

the  Doc.  Hist,  of  N.Y.  (vol.  3),  and  the  MS.  Archives  3  This  expedition  of  Champlain  was  most  unfor- 
at  Albany,  where  he  will  see  that  the  burden  of  tunate  for  French  interests  in  America.  Had  it 
nearly  all  of  the  Duke  of  York's  letters  to  Andros,  not  been  for  that,  the  chances  are  that  the  Iroquois 
during  his  administration  of  the  government  of  would  have  remained  unalterably  attached  to  the 
New-York,  was  that  his  returns  from  the  revenue,  French  —  a  circumstance  which  might  have  en- 
consequent  on  this  depreciation  of  currency,  were  tirely  changed  the  destiny  of  France  in  America, 
exceedingly  small.  i  The  curious  reader  on  this  point  is  referred  to 

2  Afterwards  the  "Six  Nations,"  by  the  adop-  Kip's  "Jesuit  Missions  in  America." 
tion  into  the  confederacy  of  the  "  Tuscaroras," 


THE    ADMINISTBATION    OF    SIR    EDMUND    ANDROS  385 

terprise  almost  unexampled  in  the  history  of  colonization,  planting 
their  trading-posts,  under  the  lead  of  the  adventurous  La  Salle,  at  all 
the  commanding  points  of  the  Great  Lakes,  and  across  the  country  of 
the  Illinois  to  the  Mississippi ;  and  stealing  the  hearts  of  the  Indians 
by  means  of  the  missionaries  of  the  Order  of  Jesus,  whom  they  sprinkled 
among  the  principal  nations  of  the*  country  at  that  time  explored. 
By  these  bold  advances  deep  into  the  interior,  and  the  energy  which 
everywhere  characterized  their  movements,  the  French  acquired  a  de- 
cided advantage  over  the  English  colonists  in  the  fur-trade,  which  it 
was  evidently  their  design  exclusively  to  engross ;  while  the  direct 
tendency  of  the  Duke  of  York's  policy,  originating  in  blindness  and 
bigotry,  was  to  produce  precisely  the  same  result.  In  fighting  men, 
the  Five  Nations  at  this  time  numbered  ten  times  more  than  they 
did  half  a  century  afterward ; l  and  the  Governor  saw  the  importance  of 
their  trade  as  a  wall  of  separation  between  the  English  colonies  and 
the  French.  This  fact  Andros  at  once  perceived  from  his  own  obser- 
vation, even  if  he  had  not  been  —  as  was  the  case  —  continually  re- 
minded of  it  by  the  letters  from  the 
Duke  of  York.  He  saw,  also,  that  the 
French  were  intercepting  the  trade  of 
the  English  upon  the  lakes,  and  that 
the  priests  had  succeeded  in  seducing 
numbers  of  the  Mohawks  and  the  Connecticut  River  Indians  away 
from  their  own  country,  and  planting  their  colonies  upon  the  banks 
of  the  St.  Lawrence,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Montreal,  through  whose 
agency  an  illicit  trade  had  been  established  with  the  City  of  Albany, 
by  reason  of  which  Montreal,  instead  of  Albany,  was  becoming  the 
principal  depot  of  the  Indian  trade.  He  saw,  in  a  word,  that  the 
followers  of  Ignatius  Loyola  were  rapidly  alienating  the  affections 
of  the  Five  Nations  from  the  English  and  transferring  them  to  the 
French ;  and  that  unless  this  policy  was  changed  the  influence  of 
the  English  over  them  would,  at  no  distant  day,  be  at  an  end.  Nor 
had  the  priests  confined  their  efforts  simply  to  moral  suasion;  but, 
as  though  aiming  to  separate  the  confederates  from  the  English  at 
a  blow,  and  by  a  gulf  so  wide  and  deep  as  to  be  impassable,  they 
had  instigated  them  to  commit  positive  hostilities  not  only  upon  the 
frontier  settlements  of  Maryland  and  Virginia,  but  upon  the  City  of 
New- York  itself.  All  these  things  Andros  conjectured ;  and  had  he 
lived  until  the  present  day  he  would  have  seen  that  his  "conjec- 
tures" were  certainties,  since  documents  lately  discovered  among  the 
French  Archives  show  conclusively  that  at  this  very  juncture  the 
subjugation  of  New- York — in  abrogation  of  all  previous  treaties — 
was  seriously  determined  on  by  France. 

i  Memoir  of  Cadwallader  Colden,  concerning  the  fur-trade,  presented  to  Governor  Burnet  in  1724. 
VOL.   1.  — 25. 


386 


HISTOEY     OF    NEW-YOEK 


Notwithstanding,  however,  these  cogent  reasons  for  proceeding, 
without  loss  of  time,  into  the  Indian  country,  Andros  at  first  hesi- 
tated ;  and,  in  truth,  he  was  placed  in  an  exceedingly  delicate  position. 
While,  on  the  one  hand,  he  fully  realized  the  supreme  importance  of 
securing  the  alliance  of  the  Five  Nations,  on  the  other,  he  was  con- 
tinually receiving  letters  from  the  Duke  of  York,  in  behalf  of  French 
Catholics,  commanding  him  to  place  no  obstacles  in  the  way  of  the 
French,  who,  as  he  well  knew,  were  already  beginning  to  invade  the 

country  of  the  Iroquois.  While  thus 
hesitating,  he  received  an  urgent  letter 
from  his  vacillating  master  ordering 
him  to  proceed  with  all  despatch  to  the 
country  of  the  Five  Nations  and  settle 
an  "  affair  of  so  great  importance  to  the 
service,  inasmuch  as  the  enmity  of  the 
Mohawks  would  be  ruinous  to  the  en- 
tire Province."  Accordingly,  Andros, 
not  knowing  but  that  the  next  mail 
would  bring  different  instructions,  set 
off  immediately  for  the  country  of  the 
Iroquois.  Before  leaving,  however,  he 
made  the  city  secure  from  the  south  by 
treaties  with  several  southern  tribes; 
at  the  same  time  guarding  against  In- 
dian  attacks  from  the  east  by  forward- 
ing to  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island  munitions  of  war  to  be  used  in  put- 
ting down  an  Indian  insurrection  in  those  colonies  under  King  Philip. 
Having  completed  these  arrangements  for  the  security  of  the  city 
during  his  absence,  Andros  went  up  the  Hudson  River  to  Esopus  and 
thence  to  Albany  and  Schenectady.  Tarrying  a  little  time  at  each  of 
those  settlements,  he  finally  penetrated  the  primeval  wilderness  of  the 
Mohawk  Valley  as  far  as  the  site  of  the  present  city  of  Utica.1  Here 
he  received  delegations  from  the  Onondagas  and  Senecas,  the  most 
westerly  of  the  Five  Nations  —  representatives  of  the  latter  tribe 
coming  even  so  far  as  from  the  shores  of  Lake  Erie  to  be  present  on 
this  occasion.  Everything  was  done  to  make  the  occasion  imposing 
and  of  deep  solemnity.  As  soon  as  all  the  sachems  were  seated, 
Andros  lighted  the  great  calumet  of  peace,  which  had  descended  to 
the  Senecas  through  a  long  line  of  chieftains,  and,  having  taken  a 
whiff  from  its  hieroglyphic  stem,  handed  it  to  each  warrior  in  turn. 
Then,  amid  the  profound  silence  of  his  hearers,  he  stood  up,  and, 

1 1  am  aware  that  it  has  been  stated  by  some  count  of  this  trip  as  given  by  him  in  a  letter  to 

writers  that  Albany  was  the  place  where  Andros  Sir  John  Werden,  Secretary  of  the  Duke  of  York 

held  this  conference  with  the  Five  Nations ;  but  — SeeN.  Y.  Col.  Doc.,  3 : 254,  andDoc.  Hist,  of  N.Y. 
such  is  clearly  not  the  case  according  to  an  ac- 


THE    ADMINISTRATION    OF    SIB    EDMUND    ANDROS 


387 


having  "opened  the  door  and  made  the  road  clear  and  smooth"  by  a 
richly  ornamented  belt  of  wampum,  thanked  them  for  their  "  disap- 
probation of  those  [referring  to  the  French]  who  had  lately  endeavored 
to  obstruct  the  good  work  of  peace."  Several  days  were  thus  occu- 
pied in  ceremonial  speeches  and  interchanges  of  good  feeling,  and 
the  conference  closed  with  results  of  the  most  satisfactory  character  — 
the  Five  Nations  not  only  reiter- 
ating their  former  vows  of  allegi- 
ance, but  renewing  their  alliance 
with  the  English  and  exchanging, 
as  a  seal  to  their  promises,  several 
strings  of  wampum. 

It  was  on  this  occasion  that 
Andros  received  from  the  Five 

Nations  the  name  of  "  Corlaer,"  out  of  respect  to  the  memory  of  their 
"  good  friend,"  Arendt  Van  Corlaer  —  a  man  of  large  benevolence 
and  of  unsullied  honor,  who,  as  commissioner  of  Rensselaerwyck  (Al- 
bany), had  for  many  years  dealt  with  the  Indians  with  perfect  fair- 
ness up  to  his  tragic  death  by  drowning  in  Lake  Champlain  in  1667.1 
This  name,  for  a  century  afterwards,  was  given  by  the  Five  Nations 
to  the  governors  of  New- York.2 

On  his  return  Andros  stopped  at  Albany  and  organized  the  first 
"Board  of  Commissioners  of  Indian  Affairs" — the  favorable  results 
of  which  action  were  clearly  visible  for  a  century  afterwards.  Robert 
Livingston,  a  shrewd  Scotchman — at  that  time  town  clerk  of  Albany, 
and  destined  in  after  years  to  become  prominent  in  colonial  affairs — 
was  appointed  by  Andros  secretary  of  the  board.  Livingston  was  the 
son  of  a  nonconformist  Scotch  preacher.  At  the  age  of  nineteen,  a 
bright  lad,  he  had  emigrated  from  Scotland  to  Boston,  and  thence 
drifted  to  Albany,  where  his  marriage  with  a  Schuyler — the  widow  of 
Domine  Van  Rensselaer — had  closely  identified  him  with  the  Dutch. 
Hence  his  appointment,  which  gave  rise  to  no  race  jealousy,  was  an 
excellent  one,  and  at  once  occasioned  universal  satisfaction.  In  this 
appointment,  Andros,  as  in  other  instances  of  a  similar  nature,  showed 
his  perspicacity  and  knowledge  of  men,  by  thus  surrounding  himself 


1  His  death  was  due  to  the  capsizing  of  his  boat 
by  a  sudden  squall  on  Lake  Champlain  as  he  was 
returning  from  a  visit  to  the  Canadian  Governor, 
Daniel  De  Courcelles.   For  many  years  afterwards 
Lake  Champlain  was  known  as  "  Corlaer's  Lake." 

2  If  the  Editor  of  this  work  will  allow  me,  I  can- 
not permit  this  opportunity  to  pass  without  the 
remark  that  whenever  the  Indian  has  been  treated 
with  common  fairness  (to  say  nothing  of  justice) 
he  never  has  failed  to  show  by  his  conduct  his 
appreciation  of  such  treatment.     In  fact,  I  do  not 
remember  an  instance  where  the  whites  encoun- 
tered the  Indians  for  the  first  time  on  the  shores 


of  this  continent,  in  which  they  were  not  treated 
with  kindness  and  hospitality ;  as  it  is  with  nations, 
so  is  it  the  case  with  individuals,  and  the  great  in- 
fluence of  William  Perm,  Lescarbot,  and  Sir  Wil- 
liam Johnson  over  the  terrible  yet  fickle  Iroquois, 
which  has  always  been  regarded  as  so  extraordi- 
nary, arose  simply  from  the  fact  that  they  knew  the 
magic  of  kindness  and  its  potency  over  all,  but 
especially  over  the  red  men  of  the  forest ;  also  wit- 
ness the  reception  of  the  Pilgrims  on  their  landing 
half  starved,  by  the  noble  Massasoit;  and  how 
was  his  generous  hospitality  rewarded! 


388  HISTOKY     OF    NEW-YORK 

with  the  best  talent.  Indeed,  this  was  an  element  of  his  greatness ; 
for,  unquestionably,  Andros,  measured  by  the  standards  of  his  day, 
was  a  great  man,  possessing  the  faculty  of  employing  material  exactly 
suited  to  his  purposes  —  thus,  also,  proving  at  the  same  time  the  Duke 
of  York's  wisdom  in  selecting  him  as  his  lieutenant  in  America. 

In  the  autumn  of  1677,  Andros  received  permission  from  the  Duke  of 
York  to  visit  England  on  private  business.  In  granting  this  request, 
the  latter  took  occasion  to  say  that  his  permission  was  given  "  cheer- 
fully "  in  token  of  his  approbation  of  the  able  manner  in  which  he 
had  conducted  the  late  Indian  negotiations.  Accordingly,  on  the  16th 
of  November,  1677,  Andros  visited  Governor  Carteret  in  Elizabethtown, 
N.  J.,  to  bid  him  good-by, —  their  families  having  always  been  inti- 
mate,—  and  having  spent  the  night  with  him,  on  the  following  day  he 
went  on  board  the  vessel,  lying  off  Staten  Island,  which  was  to  con- 
vey him  to  England.  In  the  quaint  language  of  Andros  himself,  "  I 

went  down  in  ye  Bay,  neare  Sandy-Point 
[Sandy-Hook],  whence  I  sayled."  In  his 
absence,  Brockholls,  the  Lieutenant-gover- 
nor, exercised  the  functions  of  governor, 
Secretary  Nicolls  was  placed  next  in  authority,  with  the  understand- 
ing that  the  mayor  was  to  be  consulted  should  questions  of  moment 
arise ;  and  to  Mrs.  Andros  was  given  a  power  of  attorney  "  to  manage 
her  husband's  private  affairs" — a  trust  which  she  performed  with  ability. 
The  reception  accorded  to  Andros  by  the  king  and  his  brother 
James  was  most  flattering.  Immediately  upon  his  arrival  he  was 
summoned  before  the  king  and  council  and  requested  to  give  an  ac- 
count of  the  commerce  of  the  port  of  New- York,  the  interior  trade  of 
the  province,  and  the  state  of  affairs  in  general.  In  response  to  this, 
Andros  read  a  carefully  prepared  report  of  the  receipts  from  the  reve- 
nue, the  number  of  bushels  of  wheat  exported,  the  value  of  the  furs 
bought  of  the  Indians,  the  several  incomes  of  each  particular  mer- 
chant in  the  colony, —  presenting,  in  fact,  a  complete  resume  of  the 
financial  condition  of  the  entire  province.1  In  the  course  of  the  inter- 
view, he  told  the  king,  duke,  and  council  very  plainly  that  if,  in  the 
future,  the  revenues  of  the  colony  of  New- York  were  to  be  increased,  a 
much  more  liberal  policy  must  be  pursued  than  had  hitherto  pre- 
vailed. Especially,  also,  did  he  urge  upon  them  the  immense  advan- 
tages to  be  gained  by  a  reciprocity  of  products  between  the  different 
colonies.  Indeed,  his  views  on  this  subject  —  as  may  be  gleaned  from 
a  perusal  of  the  official  report  of  his  interview  —  were  of  a  most  en- 
lightened and  far-sighted  kind  —  much  too  liberal  to  be  appreciated  by 

l  See  his  report  to  the  king  upon  the  commerce  £1000  or  £500  is  accompted  a  good  substantial! 
of  New- York  —  N.  Y.  Doc.  Hist.,  1:90-4.  It  is  merchant ;  and  a  planter  worthe  half e  that  in  move- 
curious  to  note,  by  way  of  comparison,  that  in  ables  is  accompted  [rich  ?]."  N.  Y.  Doc.  Hist.,  p.  88. 
the  report  Andros  says  that  "a  merchant  worth 


THE    ADMINISTRATION    OF     SIR    EDMUND     ANDROS 


389 


his  narrow-minded  master.  But,  of  course,  it  was  not  for  him  to 
dictate,  or  even  to  advise ;  and,  with  a  compliment  upon  his  zeal,  he 
was  dismissed,  with  a  request  to  appear  in  the  royal  closet  the  fol- 
lowing day.  At  the  hour  appointed  he  again  presented  himself ;  but 
his  suggestions  of  the  day  before  were  completely  ignored.  The 
king  and  the  duke,  however,  were  pleased  to  say  that,  in  apprecia- 
tion of  the  wise  manner  in  which  he  had  administered  the  govern- 
ment, the  honor  of  knighthood  would  be  conferred  upon  him. 
Thereupon  he  retired;  and  a  few  days  afterwards  —  his  patent  of 
knighthood  having  been  made  out  —  he  returned  to  New-York,  in 
the  summer  of  1678,  as  Sir  Edmund  Andros. 

The  chief  characteristic  of  the  Duke  of  York,  next  to  his  bigotry, 
was  an  intense  love  of  money  for  its  own  sake.  This  trait  caused  him 
to  be  continually  on  his  guard  lest  he  should  lose  any  portion  of  his 
revenues.  During  the  visit  of  Andros,  the  duke  had  had  several 
private  interviews  with  him,  the  burden  of 
which  invariably  was  the  necessity  of  in- 
creasing the  amount  of  the  excise ;  and  that 
his  instructions  in  this  regard  might  the 
more  effectually  be  carried  out,  Andros,  on 
his  return  to  his  government,  was  invested 
with  extraordinary  powers,  and  created  vice- 
admiral  of  all  the  duke's  territory  in  Amer- 
ica. Consequently,  nearly  the  first  official 
act  of  Andros,  on  his  return,  was  to  enforce 
stringently  one  of  the  duke's  orders,  viz. : 
that  all  vessels  bringing  cargoes  within  his  original  territory  should 
enter  at  the  New- York  custom-house.  The  enforcement  of  this  or- 
der at  once  brought  him  into  direct  personal  collision  with  Governor 
Philip  Carteret  of  New  Jersey. 

To  understand  fully  the  merits  of  this  controversy  and  the  position 
of  Andros  in  the  premises,  it  should  be  stated  that  some  years  previ- 
ously (1665)  two  royal  favorites,  Lord  John  Berkeley  and  Sir  George 
Carteret  —  the  latter,  at  that  time,  vice-chamberlain  of  the  royal 
household — had  received  from  the  Duke  of  York,  under  a  patent  from 
Charles,  a  grant  of  land  comprising  all  the  territory  lying  between  the 
Delaware  and  Hudson  rivers,  which,  in  recognition  of  the  bravery 
displayed  by  Carteret  in  the  defense  of  the  Island  of  Jersey,  he  named 
in  the  charter  New  Jersey.  No  sooner  was  Sir  George  Carteret  in 
possession  of  this  grant  than,  ignoring  Berkeley  entirely,  he  lost  no 
time  in  sending  over  on  the  same  ship  that  conveyed  Andros  to  his 
Government,  his  brother1  Captain  Philip  Carteret  as  Governor  of 

l  Captain  Philip  Carteret  was  a  brother  and  not  with  Captain  Carteret,  a  profligate  son  of  Sir 
the  nephew  of  Sir  George,  as  has  been  stated  by  George,  who  resided  at  this  time  in  New- York 
some  writers.  Neither  should  he  be  confounded  City. 


SEAL    OF    EAST    JERSEY. 


390 


HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 


his  newly  acquired  territory.  Hence  it  was  that  when  the  Duke  of 
York,  not  recognizing  his  previous  grant  to  Sir  George,  unjustly  com- 
manded Andros  to  seize  upon  all  vessels  that  paid  duties  at  Elizabeth- 
town,  N.  J.,  and  not  at  New- York,  the  latter,  having  no  discretion  in  the 
matter,  was  forced  to  obey  without  reference  to  his  own  private  feel- 
ings. "  So  far  as  George  Carteret  is  concerned,"  writes  at  this  time 
the  duke's  secretary  to  Andros,  "  I  do  not  find  that  the  Duke  is  at  all 
inclined  to  let  go  any  part  of  his  prerogative,  which  you  and  your 

predecessor  have  constantly  asserted  in  his 
behalf";  and,  in  order  still  further  to  im- 
press upon  Andros  the  importance  of  carry- 
ing out  this  order,  he  continues  in  the  same 
letter,  "  We  should  exercise  [i.  e.,  regarding 
the  custom-house  duties  and  Governor  Car- 
teret] the  just  authority  his  Royal  Highness 
hath,  .  .  .  for  favors  now  may,  if  conferred, 
redound  too  much  to  the  prejudice  of  your 
Colony." 

Accordingly,  in  the  early  spring  of  1680, 
Andros  seized  upon  every  vessel  bound  for 
the  port  of  Elizabethtown  and  exacted  the 
custom-house  duties.  At  the  same  time  he 
wrote  to  Governor  Carteret  and  notified  him 
of  his  intention  to  build  a  fort  at  Sandy-Hook, 
"  though,"  continues  the  letter,  "  having  a  due  regard  to  all  the  rights 
and  properties  of  the  soil,  I  shall  be  ready  to  pay  any  one  inter- 
ested in  Sandy-Point  [Hook]  the  full  amount  of  his  claim."  In  his 
reply,  Governor  Carteret,  resting  his  claim  to  the  governorship  of 
New  Jersey  upon  the  duke's  grant  to  his  brother,  very  naturally  in- 
dignantly refused  to  acknowledge  the  right  of  the  Governor  of  New- 
York  either  to  collect  duties  on  goods  intended  to  be  landed  within 
his  jurisdiction,  or  to  erect  a  fortification  on  land  Belonging  to  the 
territory  of  New  Jersey.  At  the  same  time,  by  way  of  upholding 
the  position  thus  taken  by  their  Governor,  an  act  was  passed  by 
the  Assembly  of  East  Jersey  to  "  indemnify  any  ship  which  might  be 
seized  by  the  Government  of  New- York  for  entering  and  clearing  at 
Elizabethtown."  It  was,  however,  evidently  the  principle  of  the  mat- 
ter and  not  the  amount  of  duties  which  lay  at  the  root  of  this  trouble, 
since,  in  1754,  nearly  eighty  years  afterwards,  the  custom-house 
entries  at  the  port  of  New- York,  for  the  week  ending  January  27, 
were:  "Inward  Entries,  None;  Outward  Entries,  Sloop  Swallow, 
Jacob  Baffline,  Master,  for  North  Carolina." l 

iThe  above  extract,  before  me  as  I  write,  is  Peter  Zenger."  Compare  with  this  list  the  ship- 
from  "  The  New- York  Weekly  Journal,"  January  ping  news  of  the  present  day  in  our  daily  news- 
27,  1734,  "  New- York,  printed  and  sold  by  John  papers. 


THE    ADMINISTRATION    OF    SIB    EDMUND    ANDEOS  391 

This  defiance  of  the  East  Jersey  Assembly  was  met  by  Andros  with 
a  proclamation  requiring  "  Captain  Philip  Carteret,  with  all  other  pre- 
tended Magistrates  civil  or  military  authorized  by  him,  to  forbear  and 
not  presume  further  to  assume  or  exercise  distinct  or  any  jurisdiction 
over  his  Majesty's  subjects,  within  any  of  the  bounds  of  his  Majesty's 
Patent  to  his  Royal  Highness  the  Duke  of  York."  The  proclamation, 
which  was  made  in  the  open  fields  at  Elizabethtown,  before  a  large 
concourse  of  people,  closed  with  a  demand  for  the  surrender  of  the 
person  of  Captain  Philip  Carteret. 

At  this  stage  of  the  controversy,  Carteret  appealed  to  the  king — at 
the  same  time  saying  plainly,  in  a  letter  to  Andros,  that  if  any  force 
were  used  the  people  of  the  colony  of  New  Jersey  would  defend  them- 
selves and  their  families  even  to  the  shedding  of  blood.1  Yet,  at  the 
same  time,  he  greatly  deprecated  any  resort  to  force,  and  closed  by 
entreating  him  to  forbear  his  threats  or  any  other  acts  of  hostility 
until  his  Majesty's  pleasure  could  be  known. 

The  official  conduct  of  Governor  Andros  at  this  juncture  evidently 
clashed  with  his  personal  wishes  and  the  good  feeling  which  had  al- 
ways obtained  between  his  own  family  and  that  of  his  neighbor  and 
kinsman  at  Elizabethtown.  As  before  stated,  Andros  and  Carteret, 
with  their  wives,  had  long  been  socially  very  intimate,  attending  the 
same  church  in  New- York,  and  frequently  dining  at  each  other's 
table.  Carteret  had  been  the  companion  and  fellow-voyager  of 
Andros  when  the  latter  first  came  to  New- York, —  and  close  com- 
panionship on  a  long  sea  voyage  is,  as  is  well  known,  a  great  factor 
in  cementing  friendship, —  and  Andros,  it  will  be  recalled,  had  spent 
the  night  with  him  previous  to  his  departure  for  England  two  years 
before.  Even  the  various  official  letters  which  had  passed  between 
them  had  been  almost  invariably  signed  by  each  "  Your  affectionate 
Friend."  Consequently,  before  proceeding  to  extremities,  Andros, 
having  determined  to  try  the  effect  of  persuasion,  visited  Carteret  at 
his  home  in  Elizabethtown.  After  dinner,  a  discussion,  which  at  first 
was  friendly,  but  afterwards  became  more  and  more  heated  and  acri- 
monious, was  carried  on  between  the  two  governors.  Each  insisted 
on  the  justice  of  his  claim  ;  and  each  produced  documents,  consisting 
of  conflicting  patents,  to  support  it.  Finally  the  conference  closed, 
no  satisfactory  agreement  having  been  arrived  at,  and  yet,  as  Mrs. 
Lamb,  in  her  "History  of  New-York  City"  justly  says,  both  were 
sincerely  actuated  by  the  honest  motive  of  obedience  to  their  respec- 
tive superiors.  On  leaving,  Sir  Edmund  with  his  retinue  was  escorted 
to  his  boats  by  Governor  Carteret  and  a  body  of  men-at-arms,  the 
latter  of  whom  fired  a  volley  in  honor  of  the  departing  Governor,  an 
evidence  of  a  friendly  feeling  between  them  thus  far  at  least. 

l  "  New  Jersey  Colonial  Documents,"  First  Series,  VoL  I. 


392  HISTOEY     OF    NEW-YORK 

Three  weeks  later,  on  the  last  day  of  April,1  Andros,  despairing  of 
Carteret's  yielding  to  his  authority,  issued  a  warrant  for  his  friend's 
arrest.  Governor  Carteret,  in  a  letter  to  his  brother,  Sir  George,  states 
that  the  orders  of  Andros  to  the  party  of  soldiers  sent  to  arrest  him 
were  to  "fetch  him  away  dead  or  alive";2  but  this  letter  was  written 
amid  great  excitement  and  while  Carteret  was  smarting  under  the 
personal  indignity  to  which  he  had  been  subjected,  and  therefore  it 
probably  does  not  represent  the  matter  correctly.  The  humane  char- 
acter of  Andros  certainly  does  not  bear  out  his  statement.  But  that 
the  order  was  executed  with  unnecessary,  not  to  say  extreme,  harsh- 
ness, admits  of  no  doubt;  for  the  fact  remains  that,  at  the  dead  of 
night,  the  doors  of  Carteret's  house  were  broken  open  by  the  soldiers, 
and  he  himself  dragged  with  such  cruelty  from  his  bed  that,  to  use 
Carteret's  own  language  in  describing  this  outrage  in  a  letter  to  a 
friend  in  England,  "  I  was  so  disabled  by  the  bruises  and  the  hurts  I 
then  received,  that  I  fear  I  shall  never  be  the  same  man  again."3  Half 
naked,  he  was  carried  to  New- York,  where,  after  receiving  some 
clothes,  he  was  thrown  in  prison  under  a  special  warrant  from  Andros 
issued  the  following  day. 

On  his  trial,  which  was  before  a  special  Court  of  Assize  and  pre- 
sided over  by  Andros  in  person,  Carteret  defended  himself  with 
consummate  ability.  He  justified  his  conduct  as  governor  of  New 
Jersey  as  being  strictly  legal  by  virtue  both  of  his  power  derived  from 
the  king,  and  also  by  letters  (produced  in  court)  received  from  his 
Majesty  and  directed  to  him  as  "Governor  of  New  Jersey" — at  the 
same  time  submitting  to  the  jury  his  royal  commission  and  instruc- 
tions. The  jury,  after  a  perusal  of  these  latter  documents,  promptly  re- 
turned a  verdict  of  "not  guilty."  The  Court,  however,  would  not  allow 
him  to  leave  the  court-room  until  he  had  given  bonds  that  in  case  he 
should  return  to  New  Jersey,  he  would  not  assume  "  any  authority  or 
jurisdiction  there,  either  civil  or  military."  Carteret  received  the  ver- 
dict apparently  with  no  elation  or  triumph;  but  he  at  once  took 
measures  to  lay  the  matter  before  the  king,  and  in  an  exceedingly 
temperate  manner  —  considering  the  indignities  to  which  he  had  been 
subjected  —  he  requested  of  his  Majesty  that  a  decision  should  be 
given  settling  for  the  future  the  exact  boundaries  between  the  prov- 
inces of  New- York  and  New  Jersey. 

Thus  ended  this  celebrated  controversy,  to  which  more  space  has 
been  given  than  might  appear  necessary,  from  the  fact  that  it  consti- 
tutes the  only  real  basis  of  the  charges  against  Governor  Andros  of 
exercising  his  powers  in  the  colony  of  New-York  tyrannically.  Yet 
even  this  conduct  of  Sir  Edmund,  as  we  have  endeavored  to  show,  was 

l  Not  the  1st  of  April,  as  writers  have  generally  stated.    See  Col.  Hist,  of  New  Jersey,  First  Series,  Vol.  I. 
2  Idem.  3  Carteret  to  Mr.  Coustrier,  New  Jersey  Col.  Doc.,  First  Series,  1 :  316-17. 


THE    ADMINISTKATION    OF    SIB    EDMUND    ANDROS 


393 


entirely  against  his  own  personal  feelings,  and  in  strict  conformity  to 
the  commands  of  his  Royal  Highness  James.  In  fact,  as  Andros 
himself  afterwards  said  in  speaking  of  this  unfortunate  occurrence,  and 
which  was  evidently  a  "sore  subject"  with  him,  "to  have  acted  other- 
wise, without  the  duke's  order,  would  tave  been  as  much  as  my  head 
was  worth";  and  those  who  know  the  despotic  character  of  the  Duke 
of  York  must  admit  that  Andros  spoke  the  truth. 

Meanwhile,  the  representations  of  Governor  Carteret  to  the  court 
were  not  without  effect;  and,  in  addition  to  which,  certain  envious 
traders,  taking  advantage  of  the  duke's  well-known  greed,  complained 
to  him  that  Andros  gave  to  the  Dutch  the  preference  in  trade ;  while, 
simultaneously,  rumors 
set  on  foot  by  the  same 
persons  reached  his  ears, 
that  his  revenues  might 
be  largely  increased  un- 
der a  different  governor. 
This,  in  itself,  was  suffi- 
ciently alarming  to  the 
duke,  whose  purse  was 
so  sensitive  to  any  dim- 
inution of  its  contents; 
and  when  it  was  further 
added  that,  in  defiance  of 
the  royal  edict  against 
the  people  of  New  England  trading  along  the  Hudson,  Andros  still 
allowed  the  "  Bostonians  "  to  carry  on  the  trade  for  beaver  not  only  as 
far  as  Albany,  but  even  to  the  remote  castles  of  the  Five  Nations,  his 
anxiety — not  to  say  rage — knew  no  bounds.  The  duke  at  once  car- 
ried his  complaints  to  his  brother,  the  king;  and  the  result  of  these 
untruthful  and  malicious  representations  was  the  sudden  recall  of 
Andros,  who,  in  a  letter  from  Windsor,  under  date  of  May  24,  1680, 
was  directed  to  turn  over  his  government  to  Lieutenant-Governor 
Brockholls  and  report  to  the  king  and  council  prepared  to  render  an 
account  of  his  stewardship.  At  the  same  time,  however,  the  letter 
ended  with  this  saving  clause,  viz. :  that  by  his  coming  to  England  an 
opportunity  would  be  given  him  to  reply  to  his  accusers,  "  who,  if  un- 
answered," as  his  "  loving  friend,  James,"  wrote,  "  might  leave  some 
blemish  upon  you,  although  undeserved." 

In  the  examination  which  followed  immediately  upon  his  arrival  in 
England  regarding  his  conduct  as  governor,  Andros  left  the  royal 


THE    COLLEGE    OF    WILLIAM    AND    MARY.1 


l  The  illustration  in  the  text  is  after  a  picture 
of  the  second  building  erected  in  1723,  given  in 
Bishop  Richard  K.  Meade's  "  Old  Churches,  Min- 
isters, and  Families  of  Virginia,"  1 : 157.  The 


original  building  was  unfortunately  destroyed  by 
fire  in  1705,  and  the  long  delay  in  completing  the 
second  was  due  to  a  deficiency  of  funds.  EDITOR. 


394 


HISTORY    OF    NEW-YOEK 


SEAL    OP    STEPHANUS    VAN 
CORTLANDT,   1664. 


closet  not  only  completely  vindicated  from  all  blame,  but  with  a  com- 
pliment upon  the  success  of  his  administration — a  compliment  which 
was  "  sealed "  by  his  appointment  as  "  a  gentleman  of  the  King's 
Privy  Chamber."  To  this  decision  the  king  was  probably  led  the 
more  readily  by  the  news  received  at  this  juncture,  that  the  incompe- 
tence of  the  Lieutenant-Governor,  and  his 
disputes  with  delinquent  traders  who  refused 
to  pay  taxes  on  the  specious  ground  that  the 
duke's  custom-duties  had  expired  in  Novem- 
ber by  their  three  years'  limitation,  had,  since 
the  departure  of  Andros,  involved  the  colony 
of  New- York  in  the  utmost  confusion — a  con- 
fusion, in  fact,  nearly  approaching  to  anarchy. 
With  the  departure  of  Governor  Andros 
from  New- York,  his  connection  with  the 
affairs  of  that  city  may  be  said  virtually  to 
have  ceased.  It  is  true  that  in  the  winter 
of  1686  he  was  appointed  viceroy  for  the 
colonies  of  New- York  and  New  England,  consolidated  under  the 
name  of  the  "Dominion  of  New  England";  but,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  a  formal  visit  paid  to  New- York  in  August,  1688,  to  receive 
the  governorship  from  Governor  Dongan,  where  he  was  met  with 
great  pomp  and  ceremony,1  his  visits  were  merely  occasional,  and 
then  made  only  when  passing  through  the  city  on  his  way  to  meet 
the  Five  Nations  from  time  to  time  in  council  either  at  Albany  or 
Ticonderoga.  His  residence  during  his  viceroyalty  was  principally 
at  Boston,  and  his  time  was  chiefly  taken  up  in  circumventing  the 
Canadian  Governor,  Denonville,  in  his  efforts  to  seduce  the  Iro- 
quois  from  their  allegiance  to  the  British  crown.  In  these  negotia- 
tions he  was  entirely  successful,  and  his  exertions  in  this  direction 
made,  a  century  later,  the  efforts  of  Sir  William  Johnson  to  hold  the 
fickle  Six  Nations  to  their  loyalty  much  easier.  At  the  same  time, 
still  forced  to  carry  out  the  mandates  of  his  master, —  now  king  by 
the  death  of  his  brother,  Charles  II., —  his  government  became  so  un- 
popular that,  when  the  news  was  confirmed  in  Boston  of  the  deposi- 
tion of  James  and  the  accession  of  William  and  Mary,  he,  together 
with  the  members  of  his  council,  was  seized  on  the  18th  of  April,  1689, 
and  imprisoned  in  the  fort  until  the  pleasure  of  the  king  could  be 
known.  Lady  Andros,  however,  did  not  live  to  witness  this  untoward 


l  On  this  occasion  he  was  met,  with  the  large 
retinue  that  had  accompanied  him  from  Boston, 
by  Colonel  Nicholas  Bayard's  regiment  of  foot  and 
horse,  and  entertained  very  handsomely  by  the 
citizens  during  his  stay.  At  a  dinner  given  him 
at  the  City  Hall,  it  is  said  that  Mayor  Van 


Cortlandt  became  so  hilarious  that  he  made  a 
notable  display  of  his  loyalty  to  the  house  of 
Stuart  "by  setting  fire  to  his  hat  and  periwig, 
and  waving  the  burning  coverings  of  his  head 
over  the  banquet-table  on  the  point  of  his  straight 
sword." 


THE    ADMINISTRATION    OF    SIR    EDMUND    ANDROS  395 

event,  as  she  died  soon  after  her  husband's  taking  up  his  residence  in 
Boston.  In  the  following  July  he  was  sent  to  England  with  a  commit- 
tee of  his  accusers  ;  but  not  only  was  he  acquitted  without  even  the 
form  of  a  trial,  but,  in  1692,  he  was  appointed  by  William  III.  Gov- 
ernor of  the  colony  of  Virginia.  This  latter  circumstance  would  seem 
to  show  that  the  king  believed  that*  the  responsibility  for  the  arbi- 
trary measures  of  Andros  while  Governor  of  New  England  —  such, 
for  instance,  as  endeavoring  to  seize  the  charter  of  Connecticut  — 
should  be  laid  upon  his  royal  master,  James 
II.,  rather  than  upon  his  obedient  agent. 

During  Andros's  administration  of  the  gov- 
ernment of  Virginia  he  distinguished  himself 
by  restoring  the  secretary's  office  and  the  rec- 
ords to  good  order,  which  before  his  arrival 
had  been  in  the  greatest  confusion.  This  cer- 
tainly shows  that  he  evinced  an  interest  in 
the  private  property  of  the  people  whom  he 
governed,  for  he  thereby  had  no  personal  ends 
to  serve.  He  continued  in  the  governorship 

of  Virginia,  winning  the  esteem  and  even  the  affections  of  the  people 
by  his  efforts  to  encourage  manufactures  and  agriculture  and,  as  one 
of  the  founders  of  the  College  of  William  and  Mary,  the  cause  of  edu- 
cation, until  the  year  1698,  when,  in  consequence  of  quarrels  with 
the  church  authorities,  he  was  recalled.  During  the  years  1704-5  he 
was  Governor  of  the  Island  of  Jersey,  and  died  in  London,  on  the  24th 
of  February,  1714,  at  the  age  of  nearly  seventy- seven. 

The  character  of  Sir  Edmund  Andros  has  not  been  fairly  drawn. 
Those  upon  whose  opinions  his  reputation  rests  were  persons  living 
at  the  same  day,  and  who,  influenced  by  party  strife,  were  not  in  a 
position  to  judge  impartially.  The  time,  moreover,  when  he  first  took 
possession  of  his  government  was,  for  his  own  fame,  most  inauspi- 
cious. Those  principles  which  John  Hampden  had  asserted  and  poured 
out  his  blood  to  defend  in  the  great  ship-money  contest  with  Charles 
I.,  and  which  brought  that  monarch  to  the  block,  were  just  beginning 
to  strike  root  in  America ;  and  Andros  arrived  charged  with  the  exe- 
cution of  the  odious  orders  of  a  most  bigoted  master,  of  whom  it  has 
been  truly  said  that  "  he  would  learn  nothing  from  past  experience." 
"  My  father  lost  his  head  by  concessions,"  he  repeated  constantly  as 
an  answer  to  every  argument  for  just  and  liberal'  dealing,  "  and  I  will 
concede  nothing."  That  Andros  himself  was  personally  averse  to  harsh 
and  arbitrary  measures  is  evident  from  the  efforts  he  made  to  prevail 
upon  the  king  to  allow  the  colony  of  New- York  a  representative  as- 
sembly. William  of  Orange,  who  was  an  excellent  judge  of  character, 
retained  his  confidence  in  him  to  the  last.  This  is  shown  not  only  by 


396  HISTOKY    OF    NEW- YORK 

the  successful  exertion  of  his  influence  to  prevent  Andros  being  brought 
to  trial  when  sent  home  from  Boston  in  1689,  but  by  lavishing  upon 
him,  nearly  to  the  end  of  his  life,  the  highest  honors  in  the  gift  of 
royalty.  Personally,  his  character  was  of  the  purest ;  and  his  ideas  upon 
education,  and  on  political  and  domestic  economy,  were  far  in  advance 
of  his  age.  His  associations  from  early  life  with  royalty,  and  his  long 
training  in  the  army,  giving  him,  perhaps,  an  exaggerated  sense  of  duty 
in  carrying  out  the  orders  of  his  superiors  —  all  contributed  to  force 
him  into  official  acts  which  necessarily  made  him  most  unpopular. 
For  these  reasons  his  position  in  New- York  was  uncomfortable  in  the 
highest  degree ;  while  his  former  profession  of  arms,  in  which  he  had 
always  been  accustomed  to  command  and  be  unhesitatingly  obeyed,  ill 
fitted  him  to  brook  the  rebuffs  and  the  bitter  and  malignant  opposition 
of  the  Dutch  faction.  But  one  will  look  in  vain  for  proofs  of  that  per- 
sonal tyranny  of  which  he  has  been  unjustly  accused. 

Regarding  the  character  given  him  by  New  England  historians,  it 
is  certain,  as  Cadwallader  Golden  writes  to  his  son,  "  that  at  the  time 
Sir  Edmund  Andros  governed  the  people  of  New  England,  they  were 
zealous  Republicans,  bigoted  Independents,  having  banished  all  others 
of  different  religious  principles  from  among  them  and  persecuted  some 
of  them  to  death.  They  were  enthusiastic  to  a  degree,  as  appears  from 
their  public  proceedings  in  witchcraft.  To  all  which  is  to  be  added  a 
stiff,  formal  behaviour  different  from  the  rest  of  mankind.  Among 
such  a  people  it  must  have  been  difficult  for  a  gentleman  of  Sir  Ed- 
mund's education,  and  of  his  principles,  both  as  to  religion  and  poli- 
tics, to  conduct  himself  so  as  to  please  them ;  for  moderation  often 
gives  the  greatest  offense  to  bigots.  If  it  be  considered,  likewise, 
that  as  Sir  Edmund  was  appointed  their  Governor  in  consequence  of 
their  having  had  their  charter  vacated  in  the  Court  of  Chancery  in 
England,  he,  by  his  coming  among  them  at  that  time,  must  be  received 
with  great  disgust.  He  must  be  a  very  extraordinary  man  indeed 
who,  in  his  circumstances,  could  at  all  times  master  his  temper  among 
such  a  people.  The  Revolution  opened  a  wide  door  for  the  citizens  of 
New  England  to  make  their  complaints  and  to  expose  Sir  Edmund's 
character  in  the  strongest  colors ;  yet,  notwithstanding  this,  King  Wil- 
liam and  his  ministers  soon  afterward  appointed  him  G-overnor  of 
Virginia,  a  more  lucrative  government  than  New- York  and  Massa- 
chusetts Bay  together."  In  marked  contrast  to  this  persecuting  spirit  of 
the  New  Englanders,  thus  lucidly  presented  by  Golden,  was  Andros's 
treatment  of  Presbyterians,  Independents,  Anabaptists,  and  Dissen- 
ters —  a  treatment  which,  considering  the  age,  was  unusually  liberal. 
Indeed,  in  one  of  his  letters  to  the  duke,  he  expressly  says  that  in  the 
colony  of  New- York  "  many  of  the  Churches  of  Independents  and 
Presbyterians  are  vacant  and  suffering  for  lack  of  pastors  " ;  but,  he 


THE    ADMINISTRATION    OF    SIR    EDMUND    ANDROS  397 

continues,  "  if  good  ministers  could  be  had  [i.  e.,  persuaded]  to  go 
thither,  they  [the  churches]  might  doe  well." 

The  charges  of  tyranny  which  the  Dutch  and  the  dishonest  English 
traders  whose  peculations  he  had  exposed  and  circumvented  zeal- 
ously circulated  even  to  the  foot  of  the  throne  itself,  will  not  compare 
either  for  harshness  or  intolerance  with  the  acts  of  persecution 
previously  practised  by  Director  Stuyvesant  against  the  Quakers 
and  members  of  the  Church  of  England  both  upon  Manhattan  and 
Long  Islands ; l  and  yet,  from  the  peculiar  position  in  which  Andros 
was  placed,  the  least  malignant  of  the  epithets  bestowed  upon  him 
was,  most  unjustly,  that  of  "  the  arbitrary  and  sycophantic  tool  of  a 
despotic  King  " ! 

The  administration  of  Governor  Andros,  moreover,  forms  not  only 
a  distinct  but  a  memorable  epoch  in  the  colonial  history  of  the  city 
of  New- York.  It  is  true  that  he  failed  in  his  efforts  to  place  the  cur- 
rency of  the  colony  on  a  healthier  basis  than  it  was  under  Dutch  rule ; 
but  in  nearly  every  other  measure  of  reform  he  was  entirely  success- 
ful. He  effected  a  complete  reorganization  of  the  militia;  repaired  the 
fort,  and  strengthened  the  defenses  of  the  harbor ;  increased  the  trade 
of  the  province ;  beautified  the  city ;  largely  augmented  the  revenue 
from  the  excise ;  and  by  a  personal  supervision  of  municipal  affairs, 
and  an  untiring  industry,  gave  such  a  tone  to  the  political  and  social 
condition  of  the  people  that  its  effects  were  apparent  for  fully  a 
century  after  the  period  of  his  incumbency. 

In  the  case  of  the  Indians  he  was  indefatigable ;  and  the  able  man- 
ner in  which  he  controlled  them,  and  his  personal  visits  to  the  "  Long 
House  " —  undertaken  under  circumstances  of  great  hardship  incident 
to  travel  in  a  primeval  wilderness  —  are  the  more  remarkable  when 
it  is  considered  that  to  assist  him  by  counsel  and  advice  he  had  no 
such  able  lieutenant  as  Sir  William  Johnson,  as  was  the  case  with 
the  governors  of  New- York  a  century  later.  Indeed,  it  may  safely 
be  asserted  that  had  it  not  been  for  his  untiring  efforts  the  Five 
Nations,  under  the  insidious  influence  of  Canada's  astutest  colonial 
Governor,  Denonville  —  aided  by  the  Jesuit  fathers  —  would  have 

l  In  1656,  Stuyvesant,  who  bears  the  character  this  order,  John  Bowne  and  his  father  Thomas 

of  a  comparatively  wise  and  liberal  governor,  im-  (among  the  earliest  and  most  venerable  of  the 

prisoned  some  Lutherans ;  and,  in  1658,  banished  inhabitants  of  Flushing)  were  arrested,  Septem- 

a  clergyman  of  that  church.  "Against  the  Quakers  ber  1,  1662,  charged  with  harboring  Quakers  and 

.    .    .    the  temper  of  the   Government   [Stuyve-  permitting  them  to  hold  their  meetings  in  their 

sant's]   was  violent  and  revengeful.      Orders  in  house ;  and,  after  remaining  in  prison  for  some 

writing  or  placards  were  issued  to  the  authorities  time,  for  non-payment  of  his  fine,  was  offered  his 

of  the  Town  of  Midwout  (Flatbush)  not  to  enter-  liberty  on  condition  of    leavdng  the    Province, 

tain  members  of  this  odious  sect ;  and  it  was  ex-  which,  upon  his  refusing  to  do,  the  elder  Bowne 

pressly  ordered  that  no  conventicles  should  be  was  transported  to  Holland" — Gordon's  Gazetteer, 

holden  in  houses,  barns,  ships,  woods,  or  fields,  p.  14.    Many  more  instances  of  a  similar,  though  of 

under  penalty  of  fifty  guilders  for  each  person,  man,  a  much  harsher  nature,  might  be  cited.     See,  for 

woman,  or  child,  attending,  for  the  first  offense,  further  proofs  of  the    statements  in  the    text, 

double  for  the  second,  quadruple  for  the  third  Thompson's  "History  of  Long  Island,"  p.  494. 
and  arbitrary  correction  for  every  other.    Under 


398 


HISTORY    OF    NEW- YORK 


been  completely  won  over  by  the  French,  and  the  tomahawk  and  the 
firebrand  carried  down  to  the  very  gates  of  New- York ! 

Edmund  Andros,  whether  compared  with  those  who  preceded  or 
those  who  came  after  him,  may  justly  be  considered  the  most  able 
and  enlightened  of  New- York's  colonial  governors.1 


l  "  At  this  time  and  long  after  the  inhabitants 
of  the  city  continued  to  be  distinguished  for  their 
frank  good-nature,  their  love  of  home,  and  their 
cordial  hospitality.  .  .  .  Despite  the  staid  decorum 
of  the  city,  it  was  overflowing  with  sociality 
and  genial  humor.  Fast  young  men,  fashionable 
amusements,  late  hours,  and  dissipation  were 
wholly  unknown,  but  there  was  no  lack  of  hearty 
and  homely  sports.  Of  holidays  there  were  abun- 
dance ;  each  family  had  some  of  its  own ;  birth- 
days and  marriage  anniversaries  were  religiously 
observed  in  the  family  circle,  and  home  ties  were 
thus  drawn  more  closely  together.  Each  season 
too  brought  its  own  peculiar  festivals,  and  many 
new  ones  were  invented  to  meet  the  social  exigen- 
cies. . . .  The  Dutchhad  five  national  festivals  which 
were  observed  throughout  the  city ;  namely,  Kerst- 
rydt  [Kersmis]  (Christmas) ;  Nieuw  jar  [jaar]  (New 
Year) ;  Paas  [Paasschen]  (the  Passover)  [Easter] ; 
Pinxter  (Whitsuntide) ;  and  Santa  Claus  (St. 
Nicholas  or  Christ-Kinkle  day).  Most  of  these 
have  come  down  to  our  own  time,  in  a  form 
but  slightly  varied  from  the  ancient  observ- 
ance. .  .  .  New  Year's  day  was  devoted  to  the  in- 
terchange of  visits.  Every  house  in  the  city  was 
open,  no  stranger  was  unwelcome,  cake,  wine,  and 
punch  were  provided  in  profusion,  and  the  opening 
year  was  greeted  with  general  conviviality.  It  was 
considered  a  breach  of  etiquette  for  any  one  to 
omit  a  single  acquaintance  in  his  round  of  calls, 
and  acquaintanceships  were  renewed,  and  half- 
dissevered  intimacies  knotted  again  in  the  cordial 
warmth  of  the  New  Year's  greeting.  This  custom, 
which  has  come  down  to  our  own  times,  has  ex- 
tended to  other  cities,  but  its  origin  belongs  exclu- 
sively to  New- York. 

"  Paas,  or  Easter  and  Easter  Monday,  was  once  a 
notable  festival  in  the  city ;  though  now  it  is  nearly 
forgotten  except  among  the  children,  who  still 
crack  colored  eggs  in  honor  of  the  occasion.  Not 
many  years  have  passed,  however,  since  this  holi- 
day enjoyed  as  wholesale  an  observance  as  the 
others  we  have  mentioned,  and  colored  eggs  were 
found  upon  every  table.  .  .  .  But  Santa  Claus  day 
[December  6th]  was  the  best  day  of  all  in  the  esti- 
mation of  the  little  folks,  who  of  all  others  enjoy 
holidays  the  most  intensely.  It  is  notable,  too, 
for  having  been  the  day  sacred  to  St.  Nicholas, 


the  patron  Saint  of  New- York,  who  presided  at  the 
figurehead  [so  says  the  accurate  Diedrich  Knick- 
erbocker.—  Editor.]  of  the  first  emigrant  ship  that 
touched  her  shores,  who  gave  his  name  to  the  first 
church  erected  within  her  walls,  and  who  has  ever 
since  been  regarded  as  having  especial  charge  of 
the  destinies  of  his  favorite  city.  To  the  children 
he  was  a  jolly,  rosy-cheeked  little  old  man,  with  a 
low-crowned  hat,  a  pair  of  Flemish  trunk-hose, 
and  a  pipe  of  immense  length,  who  drove  his 
reindeer  sleigh  loaded  with  gifts  from  the  frozen 
regions  of  the  North  over  the  roofs  of  New  Am- 
sterdam for  the  benefit  of  good  children.  Models 
of  propriety  were  they  for  a  week  preceding  the 
eventful  eve.  When  it  came  they  hung  their 
stockings  carefully  labeled,  that  the  Saint  might 
make  no  mistake,  in  the  chimney-corner,  and  went 
early  to  bed;  chanting  the  Santa  Claus  hymn,  in 
addition  to  their  usual  devotions : 

"  Sint  Nicolaas,  goed  heilig  man, 
Trekt  uw'  besten  Tabbard  an, 
En  reist  daarmee  naar  Amsterdam, 
Van  Amsterdam  naar  Spanje, 
Waar  appelen  van  Oranje, 
En  appelen  van  Granaten, 
Er  rollen  door  de  Straten. 
Sint  Nicolaas,  myn  goeden  Vriendt, 
Ik  heb  uw  altyd  wel  gediendt, 
Als  gy  my  nu  wat  wilt  geven, 
Zal  ik  uw  dienen  al  myn  leven. 


"  Translation: 

"  Saint  Nicholas,  good  holy  man, 
Put  the  best  Tabbard  on  you  can, 
And  in  it  go  to  Amsterdam, 
From  Amsterdam  to  Hispanje, 
Where  apples  bright  of  Orange, 
And  likewise  those  pomegranates  named, 
Roll  through  the  streets  all  unreclaimed. 
Saint  Nicholas,  my  dear  good  friend, 
To  serve  you  ever  was  my  end, 
If  you  me  something  now  will  give, 
Serve  you  I  will  long  as  I  live." 

("  History  of  the  City  of  New-York,"  by  Miss 
MaryL.  Booth,  pp.  191-195.) 


CHAPTER  XI 

THOMAS  DONGAN  AND  THE  GRANTING  OF  THE  NEW-YORK  CHARTER 

1682-1688 


UBSEQUENT  to  the  return  of  Sir  Edmund  Andros  to 
England  in  1681,  Colonel  Thomas  Dongan  was  commis- 
sioned Governor  of  the  Duke  of  York's  Province  of  New- 
York.  He  was  a  descendant  of  an  ancient  Irish  Catholic 
family,  and  was  the  youngest  of  the  three  sons  of  Sir  John  Dongan, 
Baronet,  of  Castletown,  County  Kildare.  His  mother  was  a  sister  of 
Eichard  Talbot,  who  became  Earl  of 
Tyrcounel  and  later  Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor of  Ireland,  He  was  born  at  the 
family  home  in  Ireland  in  1634,  and 
was  early  trained  to  the  profession 
of  arms.  The  Dongans  favored  the 
Stuarts,  and  when  Charles  I.  was  be- 
headed in  1649,  the  family  removed  to 
France.  Young  Dongan  entered  the 
French  army  and  received  a  commis- 
sion from  Louis  XIV.  in  an  Irish  regi- 
ment which  was  composed  chiefly  of 
adherents  of  the  unfortunate  king. 
He  rose  through  all  the  commissioned 
ranks  until  1674,  when  he  was  made 
colonel.  Meanwhile  he  had  served  for 
some  time  in  Nancy  and  had  taken 
part  in  the  campaigns  against  Hol- 
land. After  the  treaty  of  Nimeguen 
in  1678,  an  order  was  issued  for  the 
return  of  all  English  subjects  then 
serving  under  the  French  crown  to  their  homes.  Concerning  this 
recall  Colonel  Dongan  wrote  that  he  was  obliged  to  relinquish  "that 
honorable  and  advantageous  post,  and  resisted  the  temptations  of 

l  This  vignette  is  copied  from  the  supposed  portrait  among  the  Caleb  Lyons  collection,  now  in  the 
possession  of  the  New- York  Historical  Society. — EDITOR. 


400 


HISTORY     OF    NEW- YORK 


THE  DONGAN  ARMS. 


greater  preferment  then  offered  him  if  he  would  remain  there;  for 
which  reason  the  French  king  commanded  him  to  leave  France  in 
forty-eight  hours  and  refused  to  pay  him  a  debt  of  sixty-five  thou- 
sand livres  then  due  to  him  for  remits  and  arrears  upon  an  assess- 
ment rendered  him  by  the  intendant  of  Nancy." 

The  Duke  of  York  was  evidently  familiar  with  his 
career,  for  he  interested  himself  in  his  behalf  and 
urged  him  to  enter  the  English  military  establish- 
ment. It  appears  that  he  was  appointed  to  high 
rank  in  the  army  then  designated  for  service  in 
Flanders,  and  an  annual  pension  of  £500  was  con- 
ferred on  him  for  life  in  consideration  of  his  losses 
in  France.  He  did  not,  however,  enter  active  ser- 
vice, for  in  the  same  year  (1678)  he  was  sent  to 
Tangier,  Africa,  under  Lord  Inchiquin,  as  Lieuten- 
ant-Governor of  that  place.  Two  years  later  he  was 
recalled.  Then,  after  a  short  visit  to  Ireland,  he  came  to  London  at 
the  invitation  of  his  patron,  the  Duke  of  York.  For  a  time  he  was  a 
regular  frequenter  of  the  court  and  a  man  of  society.1 

Dongan  had  now  arrived  at  the  mature  age  of  forty  eight.  He  was 
familiar  with  military  affairs  and  was  experienced  in  the  administra- 
tion of  government.  His  foreign  career  had  given  him  a  knowledge 
of  men  of  different  types,  and  being  of  the  same  religious  faith  as  the 
Duke  of  York,  he  naturally  shared  with  him  any  ambitions  that  he 
might  have  in  extending  the  Catholic  religion  in  the  New  World.  He 
was  therefore  chosen  by  his  royal  patron  to  be  "Governor  of  the  Duke 
of  York's  Province  of  New- York."  The  appointment  was  considered 
a  good  one,  not  only  on  account  of  Dongan's  personal  qualities,  but 
also  because  of  the  necessity  of  selecting  a  governor  who  was  familiar 
with  the  French  character  and  therefore  competent  to  manage  with 
skill  the  English  interests,  then  in  a  precarious  condition  owing  to  the 
delicate  relations  between  New- York  and  Canada.  Moreover,  it  was 
believed  that  his  acquaintance  with  the  Dutch,  gained  by  his  services 
in  Holland,  would  make  him  considerate  of  their  interests  and  there- 
fore acceptable  to  them. 

His  commission,  which  bore  the  date  of  September  30, 1682,  made 
him  Governor  of  "  all  that  part  of  ye  Maine  land  of  New  England  be- 
ginning at  a  certaine  place  called  or  knowne  by  the  name  of  St.  Croix 
next  adjoyneing  to  New  Scotland  in  America  and  from  thence  extending 


i  In  "  The  Story  of  Nell  Gwynn;  and  the  Sayings 
of  Charles  the  Second,"  related  and  collected  by 
Peter  Cunningham,  he  says:  "Nell  was  indebted, 
there  is  reason  to  believe,  for  her  introduction  to 
the  stage,  or  at  least  to  another  condition  in  life, 
to  a  person  whose  name  is  variously  written  Dun- 
can or  Dungan."  Subsequently,  in  following  her 


career  at  that  period,  Cunningham  adds,  "A  Col- 
onel Dongan  was  Governor  of  New- York  in  the 
reign  of  James  II."  The  fact  that  Nell  became  the 
mistress  of  Charles  II.  in  1669  renders  it  exceed- 
ingly doubtful  whether  she  was  indebted  to 
Thomas  Dongan  for  her  advancement  to  the  stage, 
especially  as  he  was  at  that  time  probably  in  Prance. 


THOMAS    DONGAN    AND    THE    NEW-YORK    CHARTER  401 

along  ye  Sea  Coast  unto  a  certaine  place  called  Pemaquin  or  Pein- 
aquid  and  soe  up  ye  River  thereof  to  ye  furthest  head  of  ye  same  as 
it  tendeth  Northward  and  extendeth  thence  to  ye  River  Kinebeque 
and  soe  upwards  to  ye  shortest  course  to  ye  River  Canada  Northward. 
And  all  ye  Island  or  Islands  commonly  called  by  ye  severall  name  or 
names  of  Mataracks  or  Long  Island  scituate  lyeing  and  being  towards 
ye  West  of  Cape  Codd  and  ye  narrow  Higansetts  abutting  upon  ye 
Maine  land  between  ye  two  Rivers  there  called  Hudsons  River  and  all 
ye  land  from  ye  West  Side  of  Connecticut  River  to  ye  East  Side  of 
Delaware  Bay.  And  alsoe  all  ye  severall  Islands  called  or  known  by 
the  name  of  Martyn  Vyniards  and  Mantukes  otherwise  Mantucket  to- 
gether with  all  ye  lands  islands  soyles  rivers  harbours  mines  miner- 
alls  quarries  woods  marshes  waters  lakes  fishings  hauking  hunting 
and  fowling,  etc." 

Thus  it  will  be  observed  that  Dongan's  commission  was  similar  to 
that  given  to  Sir  Edmund  Andros  in  1674,  with  the  exception  of  the 
southern  portion  of  the  province  known  as  East  and  West  New  Jersey, 
which  had  been  granted  to  Lord  John  Berkeley  and  Sir  George  Carteret. 
The  duke,  in  his  capacity  as  Lord  High  Admiral,  likewise  gave  Dongan 
a  separate  commission,  dated  October  30,  1683,  appointing  him  Vice- 
Admiral.  Early  in  January,  1683,  Anthony  Brockholls,  who  was  acting 
Governor,  was  notified  that  the  new  official  would  soon  arrive. 

Dongan  sailed  from  England  in  the  old  Parliamentarian  frigate 
Constant  Warwick,  and  among  his  suite  was  Thomas  Harvey  of  Lon- 
don, an  English  Jesuit.  He  arrived  at  Nantasket,  Massachusetts, 
on  August  10,  1683,  and  with  a  considerable  retinue  set  out  for  New- 
York  overland.  As  far  as  Dedham  he  was  accompanied  by  a  troop  of 
Boston  militia,  "besides  severall  other  gents  of  the  town."  He  crossed 
the  Sound  to  Long  Island,  and,  finding  much  discontent  among  the 
people  of  the  east  end  of  the  island,  he  assured  them  "  that  no  laws 
or  rates  for  the  future  should  be  imposed  but  by  a  General  Assembly." 
It  appears  that  some  years  previous  (1670)  Huntington,  Jamaica,  and 
other  towns  on  Long  Island  had  refused  to  pay  taxes  unless  they 
were  represented  in  the  Assembly,  and  the  question  had  been  agitated 
as  to  whether  the  revenue  laws  were  legal  as  imposed. 

He  finally  reached  New- York  City  on  Saturday,  August  25,  1683. 
On  the  following  Monday  he  met  the  Common  Council  and  other  offi- 
cials at  the  City  Hall,  then  in  Coenties  Slip,  and  published  his  com- 
mission as  well  as  his  instructions  respecting  the  special  privileges  to 
be  accorded  to  the  metropolis.  The  Corporation  then  invited  him  to 
a  dinner  on  the  next  day  at  the  City  Hall,  when,  with  several  of  the 
old  magistrates  and  ancient  inhabitants,  "his  honour  received  a  large 
and  plentiful  entertainment,  and  they  had  great  satisfaction  in  his 
honour's  company." 

VOL.  I.— 26. 


402  HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YOEK 

New- York  at  this  time  contained  less  than  four  thousand  inhabi- 
tants, and  extended  from  the  bay  to  the  line  of  intrenchments  and 
stockades  that  ran  along  Wall  street.  Broadway,  then  as  now  the 
principal  thoroughfare,  followed  its  present  course  to  the  Park  or 
Common  and  thence  ran  along  the  line  of  Chatham  street.  From  the 
Collect  Pond  in  Centre  street,  near  the  present  site  of  the  Tombs, 
was  a  marsh  of  over  seventy  acres  that  extended  northwest  toward 
the  North  Eiver.  From  the  upper  Bouweries  to  the  settlement  of 
Harlem,  then  exclusively  Dutch,  was  a  large  wood,  the  haunt  of 
wolves  and  bears.  So  active  were  the  wolves  that  a  general  battue 
was  ordered  by  Governor  Dongan  on  a  given  date.  As  to  the  bears, 
Rev.  Charles  Woolley1  writes  of  a  bear-hunt  that  took  place  in  an 
orchard  between  the  present  Cedar  street  and  Maiden  Lane,  which, 
he  says,  "  gave  me  great  diversion  and  sport." 

The  city  was  defended  by  Fort  James,  situated  on  the  water-front, 
but  with  its  walls  and  bastions  in  a  dilapidated  condition.  There  was 
a  "  half -moon  "  before  the  old  Stadt  Huys  at  the  head  of  Coenties  Slip, 
one  at  Old  Slip,  and  one  at  the  "  water-gate "  at  the  foot  of  Wall 
street.  There  were  also  defenses  along  Wall  street,  and  a  curtain  at 
the  land-gate  at  the  junction  of  Wall  street  and  Broadway,  but  they 
were  sadly  in  need  of  repairs.  There  was  also  "  Pasty  Mount "  at  the 
foot  of  Exchange  Alley.  These  little  fortifications  were  all  in  bad 
condition,  and  were  mounted  with  the  miniature  guns  of  the  period, 
known  as."demi-culverins,"  "sakers,"  and  "minions." 

A  few  English  and  West  Indian  vessels  traded  with  New- York,  and 
an  occasional  privateer  appeared  in  the  harbor.  Near  Fort  James  was 
a  flagstaff  whereon  a  flag  was  hoisted  upon  the  arrival  of  vessels 
in  the  harbor.  Besides  the  foregoing,  commerce  was  carried  on  by 
nine  or  ten  three-masted  vessels  of  eighty  to  one  hundred  tons,  and 
three  barks  of  forty  tons  and  about  twenty  sloops  of  twenty-five  tons. 
Five  of  these  sloops  traded  up  the  Hudson  Eiver  with  Albany,  King- 
ston, and  Esopus,  which  were  the  three  most  important  towns  of  the 
province  after  New- York. 

The  population  was  mixed,  and  a  great  variety  of  tongues  was 
spoken.  The  Dutch  element  predominated,  but  there  were  many 
Huguenot  families  that  had  come  to  the  colony  driven  from  France 
by  the  persecution  of  Louis  XIV.  "  The  people  grow  more  numer- 
ous daily,"  says  Dongan,  "  and  are  of  a  turbulent  disposition."  Their 
religious  opinions  were  also  diverse.  The  old  church  in  the  fort 
was  used  every  Sunday  by  the  representatives  of  the  three  lead- 
ing denominations,  and  services  were  held  in  as  many  different  lan- 
guages,— the  Dutch  in  the  morning,  the  French  at  noon,  and  the  English 
in  the  afternoon, —  while  the  Governor  and  his  few  fellow- worshipers 

1 "  A  Two  Years'  Journal  in  New- York  and  Parts  of  its  Territories  in  America."    London,  1701. 


THOMAS    DONGAN    AND    THE    NEW-YORK    CHARTER 


403 


met  in  a  little  chapel.  The  various  sects  in  the  city  were  enumerated 
by  Dongan  as  follows :  "  New- York  has  a  chaplain  belonging  to  the 
fort  of  the  Church  of  England  ;  secondly,  a  Dutch  Calvinist ;  third,  a 
French  Calvinist ;  and  a  fourth,  a  Dutch  Lutheran.  Here  be  not  many 
of  England ;  a  few  Roman  Catholics ;  .abundance  of  Quaker  preachers, 
men  and  women ;  Singing  Quakers,  Ranting  Quakers,  Sabbatarians, 
anti-Sabbatarians,  some  Anabaptists,  some  Independents,  some  Jews ; 
in  short,  of  all  sort  of  opinions  there  are  some,  and  the  most  part  of 
none  at  all." 

The  active  management  of  affairs  was  at  once  taken  up  by  the  new 
Governor.  His  instructions  from  the  duke,  signed  on  January  27th, 
required  that  on  his  arrival  he  should  call  together  Frederick  Phil- 
ipse  and  Stephanus  Van  Cortlandt,  and  other  of  the  most  eminent 
inhabitants,  not  exceeding  ten 
in  all,  and  swear  them  to  alle- 
giance to  the  king,  fealty  to  the 
duke  as  "  lord  and  proprietor," 
and  official  faithfulness  as 
members  of  his  council.  In 
accordance  with  further  in- 
structions, John  Spragg  be- 
came secretary  of  the  colony, 
and  Anthony  Brockholls,  with 
Matthias  Nicolls  and  others, 
were  appointed  to  catalogue 
the  records  surrendered  by 
John  West.  Rev.  John  Gor- 
don became  chaplain  of  the 
English  soldiers  in  New- York, 
and  Mayor  William  Beekman, 
Stephanus  Van  Cortlandt,  Lucas  Santen,  Mark  Talbot,  and  Gabriel 
Minvielle  were  appointed  to  survey  Fort  James,  while  Captain  Thomas 
Young  was  made  pilot  of  the  port. 

The  administration  of  the  colony  having  been  properly  organized, 
Dongan  immediately  turned  his  attention  to  a  matter  which  directly 
concerned  the  interests  of  his  patron.  William  Penn,  not  satisfied 
with  grants  made  to  him  by  Charles  II.,  was  endeavoring  to  secure 
the  upper  Susquehanna  valley  by  purchase  from  the  Indians,  who 
claimed  that  region  in  virtue  of  conquest  by  them.  When  Dongan 
reached  New-York,  Penn  and  his  two  agents,  William  Haige  and  James 
Graham,  were  already  in  Albany,  negotiating  with  the  natives.  The 
Governor  on  September  6th  proceeded  to  Albany  and  ordered  an  ex- 
amination into  the  matter.  He  received  a  report  stating  that  a  settle- 
ment on  the  Susquehanna  would  be  much  nearer  to  the  Indians  than 


DONGAN'S  NEW-YORK  HOUSE. 


404  HISTORY     OF    NEW- YORK 

Albany,  and  hence  any  such  purchase  by  Penn  would  be  "prejudicial 
to  his  Eoyal  Highness's  Government."  Dongan  promptly  ordered  a 
stop  put  to  all  "  proceedings  in  Mr.  Penn's  affairs  with  the  Indians 
until  his  bounds  and  limits  be  adjusted."  The  Albany  magistrates 
wrote  on  September  24th,  as  their  opinion,  that  "  there  hath  not  any- 
thing ever  been  moved  or  agitated,  from  the  first  settling  of  these 
parts,  more  prejudicial  to  his  Royal  Highness's  interest  and  the 
inhabitants  of  this  government,  than  this  business  of  the  Susque- 
hanna  River.  The  French,  it  is  true,  have  endeavored  to  take  away 
our  trade  by  piece  meals,  but  this  will  cut  it  off  at  once." 

In  the  mean  time  Penn  accepted  an  invitation  to  visit  Dongau  in 
New- York,  and  was  elaborately  entertained  for  several  days,  but  left 
owing  to  a  dispute  with  Lord  Baltimore  concerning  the  southern 
boundary  of  Pennsylvania,  which  compelled  his  presence  in  Philadel- 
phia. Later,  when  Penn's  agents  endeavored  to  secure  the  purchase 
of  these  lands,  the  Indians  refused,  saying  that  the  land  "  cannot 
be  sold  without  Corlaer's  order,  for  we  transferred  it  to  this  Govern- 
ment four  years  ago."  Subsequently  (October  3d),  the  Mohawks  visited 
Fort  James  and  agreed  to  give  the  Susquehanna  River  to  New- York. 
In  announcing  this  to  Penn,  Dongan  wrote,  "  About  which  you  and  I 
shall  not  fall  out ;  I  desire  we  may  joine  heartily  together  to  advance 
the  interest  of  my  master  and  your  good  friend." 

A  year  later,  Penn  requested  Dongan's  intervention  towards  the 
settlement  of  the  Maryland  boundary  dispute,  and  the  favor  was 
promptly  accorded;  but  when  his  agents  asked  to  be  allowed  to  treat 
with  the  Indians  for  the  Susquehanna  lands,  Dongan  quickly  replied, 
"that  they  of  Albany  have  suspicion  it  is  only  to  get  away  their 
trade,  and  that  Mr.  Penn  hath  land  already  more  than  he  can  people 
these  many  years."  In  this  opinion  he  was  upheld  by  the  duke's  sec- 
retary, Sir  John  Werden,  who,  on  August  27,  1684,  wrote  him: 
"  Touching  Susquehanna  River,  or  lands  about  it,  or  trade  in  it,  which 
the  Indians  convey  to  you  or  invite  you  to,  we  think  you  will  doe  well 
to  preserve  your  interest  there  as  much  as  possible,  that  soe  nothing 
more  may  goe  away  to  Mr.  Penn,  or  either  New  Jerseys.  For  it  is  ap- 
parent they  are  apt  to  stretch  their  priviledges,  as  well  as  the  people  of 
New  England  have  been."  The  wily  Quaker  never  forgave  Dongan 
for  not  yielding  to  him.  In  after  years,  when  the  Duke  of  York  had 
become  James  II.,  and  Penn  returned  to  court,  he  showed  his  ill- 
feeling  against  Dongan  by  his  successful  efforts  in  prejudicing  the 
king  against  him. 

Among  Dongan's  instructions  was  an  order  calling  for  the  election 
of  a  "  General  Assembly  of  all  the  Freeholders  by  the  persons  whom 
they  shall  choose  to  represent  them,"  in  order  to  consult  with  the  Gov- 
ernor and  Council  "  what  laws  are  fit  and  necessary  to  be  made  and 


THOMAS    DONGAN    AND    THE    NEW-YORK    CHARTER 


405 


established  for  the  good  weal  and  government  of  the  said  Colony  and 
its  dependencies  and  all  the  inhabitants  thereof."  This  Assembly, 
which  was  not  to  exceed  eighteen  members,  was  to  meet  in  the  city 
of  New- York.  The  duties  of  this  body  were  denned  by  the  duke  as 
follows :  "  And  when  the  said  Assembly  so  elected  shall  be  met  at  the 
time  and  place  directed,  you 
shall  let  them  know  that  for 
the  future  it  is  my  resolu- 
tion that  the  said  General 
Assembly  shall  have  free 
liberty  to  consult  and  de- 
bate among  themselves  all 
matters  as  shall  be  appre- 
hended proper  to  be  estab- 
lished for  laws  for  the  good 
government  of  the  said  Col- 
ony of  New- York  and  its 
dependencies,  and  that  if 
such  laws  shall  be  pro- 
pounded as  shall  appear  to 
me  to  be  for  the  manifest 
good  of  the  country  in  gen- 
eral, and  not  prejudicial  to 
me,  I  will  assent  unto  and 
confirm  them."  All  laws 
enacted  by  the  Assembly  were  to  be  submitted  to  the  Governor,  who 
could  approve  or  deny  them,  according  to  his  judgment.  Such  laws 
were  to  be  confirmed  or  rejected  by  the  duke ;  yet  they  were  to  be 
good  and  binding  until  he  should  signify  his  disapproval  —  then  they 
should  cease,  and  be  null  and  void. 

Accordingly  the  freeholders  of  New- York,  Long  Island,  Esopus, 
Albany,  and  Martha's  Vineyard  were  notified  on  September  13, 1683,  to 
choose  representatives  to  appear  for  them  at  a  General  Assembly  to 
be  held  in  New-York  on  October  17th.  This  action  seems  to  have 
met  with  general  satisfaction,  and  in  an  address  to  the  Duke  of  York 
by  the  sheriffs  of  the  Court  of  Assizes,  adopted  in  October,  1683, 
after  expressing  their  appreciation  of  the  new  Governor,  they  refer  to 
the  General  Assembly  soon  to  be  held  as  "  a  benevolence  of  which  we 
have  a  larger  and  more  grateful  sense  than  can  be  expressed  in  this 
paper."  Among  the  more  remote  Puritan  towns  of  Long  Island  there 
was  exhibited  dislike  to  a  Roman  Catholic  governor.  The  people  of 
East  Hampton  sent  an  address  to  Dongan,  in  which  they  said  that  if 
the  Governor  was  an  instrument  under  God  to  relieve  them,  he  would 
firmly  engage  and  oblige  them  and  their  posterity  to  hold  him  in 


406 


HISTOBY    OF    NEW-YORK 


THE    ALBANY    SEAL. 


honorable  remembrance  as  the  first  restorer  of  their  freedom  and 
privileges;  but  if  not,  that  they  would  appeal  to  their  "Most  Gra- 
cious Sovereign  "  and  prostrate  themselves  "  before  the  throne  of  his 
unmatchable  justice  and  clemency,  where  we  doubt  not  to  find  reliefe 
and  restauration." 

The  elections  were  held  according  to  the  code  laid  down  by  Dongan 
and  his  Council,  and  a  majority  of  the  Assemblymen  chosen  were  of 
the  "  Dutch  Nation."  New- York  with  Haerlem  was  represented  by 
four  delegates,  a  number  twice  that  accorded  to 
the  other  districts.  The  Assembly  met  on  Octo- 
ber 17th,  and  on  that  date,  which  is  referred  to 
by  Brodhead  as  "  a  memorable  day  in  the  history 
of  New- York,"  seventeen  delegates,  representa- 
tives of  the  freeholds  of  the  colony  of  New- York, 
gathered  in  Fort  James.  Matthias  Nicolls,  one 
of  the  representatives  from  New- York  City,  was 
chosen  Speaker,  and  John  Spragg  was  made  Clerk. 
The  journals  of  this  Assembly  are  not  known  to  exist,  but  from  other 
sources  it  appears  to  have  remained  in  session  during  three  weeks. 
Fourteen  acts  were  passed,  each  of  which  after  three  readings  was 
assented  to  by  the  Governor  and  his  Council. 

The  most  important  of  the  new  laws  was  "  The  Charter  of  Liberties 
and  Priviledges,  granted  by  his  Royal  Highnesse  to  the  Inhabitants  of 
New-Yorke  and  its  dependencies."  It  declared  that  the  charter  was 
"  For  the  better  establishing  the  government  of  this  Province  of  New- 
York,  and  that  Justice  and  Right  may  be  equally  done  to  all  persons 
within  the  same,  by  the  Governour,  Councell,  and  Representatives, 
now  in  General  Assembly  met."  Also  "  That  the  Supreme  Legislative 
authority  under  his  Majesty  and  Royal  Highness  James,  Duke  of 
Yorke,  Albany,  etc.,  Lord  Proprietor  of  the  said  Province,  shall  for- 
ever be  and  reside  in  a  Governour,  Councell  and  the  people,  mett  in  a 
General  Assembly."  It  then  ordered  "that  according  to  the  usage, 
custome,  and  practice  of  the  Realm  of  England  a  session  of  a  Generall 
Assembly  be  held  in  this  Province,  once  in  three  years  at  least."  It 
further  declared  that  "  every  freeholder  within  this  province,  and  free- 
man in  any  corporation,  shall  have  his  free  choice  and  vote  in  the 
electing  of  the  Representatives  without  any  manner  of  constraint  or 
imposition,  and  that  in  all  elections  the  majority  of  voices  shall  carry 
it."  According  to  other  sections  representatives  were  appointed 
among  the  several  counties;  the  usual  privileges  of  Parliament  were 
conferred  on  the  members  of  Assembly;  and  the  most  liberal  pro- 
visions of  English  law  were  declared  to  extend  to  the  inhabitants  of 
New- York.  Entire  freedom  of  conscience  and  religion  was  guaranteed 
to  all  peaceable  persons  "  which  profess  faith  in  God  by  Jesus  Christ." 


THOMAS    DONGAN    AND    THE    NEW-YORK    CHARTER  407 

The  existing  "  Christian  Churches  "  in  the  province  were  forever  to  be 
"  held  and  reputed  as  privileged  churches,  and  enjoy  all  their  former 
freedoms  of  their  religion  in  divine  worship  and  church  discipline." 
The  charter  further  ordained  "  that  no  aid,  tax,  tollage,  assessment, 
custom,  loan,  benevolence,  or  imposition  whatsoever  shall  be  laid, 
assessed,  imposed,  or  levied  on  any  of  his  Majesty's  subjects  within 
this  province  or  their  estates  upon  any  manner  of  colour  or  pretence, 
but  by  the  act  and  consent  of  the  Governor,  Council,  and  representa- 
tives of  the  people  in  General  Assembly  met  and  assembled."  Ap- 
pended to  this  charter  was  a  "  Continued  Bill "  which  granted  to  the 
duke  and  his  heirs  certain  specified  duties  on  importations. 

This  Charter  of  Liberties  and  Privileges  was  signed  by  the 
Governor  and  solemnly  proclaimed  on  October  31,  1683,  at  the  City 
Hall,  before  the  assembled  multitude,  to  the  sound  of  trumpets,  "in  the 
presence  of  his  Honor  the  Governor,  the  Council,  and  Representa- 
tives, and  Deputy  Mayor,  and  Aldermen  of  this  City."  Thus  the 
principle  of  taxation  only  by  consent  was  initiated  as  a  law  of  the 
land.  Brodhead  says  in  this  connection,  "  Thus  the  representatives 
of  New -York  asserted  the  great  principle  of  'Taxation  by  Consent,' 
which  Holland  had  maintained  since  1477,  and  appropriated  the  liber- 
ties allowed  by  English  law  to  subjects  within  the  realm  of  England. 
True  ideas  of  popular  government  were  now  more  distinctly  an- 
nounced in  the  ancient  Dutch  province  by  its  own  freely  chosen 
assembly — of  which  a  majority  were  'of  the  Dutch  nation' — than  in 
any  Northern  colony  of  British  America.  In  none  of  the  charter 
governments  of  New  England  were  '  the  people '  recognized  as  having 
legislative  authority.  The  first  law  made  by  the  representatives  of 
Dutch-English  New -York  ordained  that '  The  People  met  in  a  General 
Assembly '  were  to  share  in  its  colonial  legislation.  These  memorable 
words,  'The  People,'  were  so  democratic  that  the  English  king  at 
Whitehall  soon  afterwards  objected  to  them,  as  being '  not  used  in  any 
other  constitution  in  America.' " 

The  charter  was  promptly  signed  by  Dongan,  and  on  December  4th 
Mark  Talbot  was  sent  to  England  with  it  and  the  other  laws  passed 
by  the  Assembly  for  the  duke's  approval  and  signature.  Some  time 
seems  to  have  elapsed  before  James  was  able  to  give  it  his  full  atten- 
tion, for  on  August  26,  1684,  he  wrote  to  Dongan  that  "  My  commis- 
sioners are  making  what  dispatch  they  can  with  those  Bills  that  you 
have  sent  thither ;  and  particularly  with  that  which  contains  the 
Franchises  and  Priviledges  to  the  Colony  of  New-Yorke,  wherein  if 
any  alterations  are  made  (either  in  forme  or  matter  of  it)  they  will  be 
such  as  shall  be  equally  or  more  advantageous  to  the  people  there  and 
better  adjusted  to  the  laws  of  England."  Finally,  on  October  4, 
1684,  the  duke  signed  and  sealed  the  "Charter  of  Franchises  and 


408 


HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 


Priviledges  to  New-Yorke  in  America."  The  instrument  was  ordered 
to  be  registered  and  taken  to  New -York,  but  this  was  not  done.  Sub- 
sequently, in  March,  1685,  when  the  duke  was  King  of  England,  the 
charter  was  discussed  at  a  meeting  of  the  Plantation  Committee,  at 
which  James  presided  and,  finding  the  charter  too  liberal,  concluded 
that  he  did  "not  think  fit  to  confirm"  it.  Meanwhile,  however,  the 
law  had  gone  into  force,  and  continued  so  until  after  the  adjournment 
of  the  Assembly  that  met  under  its  provisions  in  September,  1685. 

Among  other  important  measures  passed  by  the  first  Assembly  and 
confirmed  by  the  Governor  was  a  law  "  to  divide  this  province  and 
dependencies  into  shires  and  counties."  Accordingly  twelve  counties 
were  established.  The  City  and  County  of  New- 
York  included  Manhattan,  Manning's,  and  the 
Barn  Islands.  Westchester  contained  all  the 
land  eastward  of  Manhattan  "  as  far  as  the  Gov- 
ernment extends  "  and  northward  along  the  Hud- 
son to  the  Highlands.  The  other  counties  were 
Ulster,  Albany,  Duchess,1  Orange,  Richmond, 
Kings,  Queens,  and  Suffolk ;  also  Duke's  County, 
which  included  the  island  of  Naritucket,  Martha's 
Vineyard,  Elizabeth  Island,  and  No  Man's  Land  ; 
and  lastly,  Cornwall  County,  comprising  Pemaquid  and  all  "territories 
in  those  parts,  with  the  islands  adjacent,"  which  were  subsequently 
ceded  to  other  governments. 

Another  act  of  considerable  importance  was  passed  "  to  settle  Courts 
of  Justice."  It  provided  four  distinct  tribunals  in  New- York,  as  fol- 
lows: Town  Courts  for  the  trial  of  small  causes,  to  be  held  each 
month ;  County  Courts  or  Courts  of  Sessions,  to  be  held  quarterly  or 
half-yearly  as  occasion  might  demand ;  a  General  Court  of  Oyer  and 
Terminer,  with  original  and  appellate  jurisdiction,  to  sit  twice  every 
year  in  each  county;  and  a  Court  of  Chancery  to  be  the  Supreme 
Court  of  this  province,  composed  of  the  Governor  and  Council,  with 
power  in  the  Governor  to  depute  a  chancellor  in  his  stead  and  appoint 
clerks  and  other  officers.  However,  a  clause  in  the  patent  to  the  Duke 
of  York  provided  that  an  appeal  might  be  made  to  the  king  against 
any  judgment.  This  law  bore  the  date  of  November  1,  1683. 

Equally  important  was  the  law  passed  by  the  Assembly  on  Novem- 
ber 1st,  "for  naturalizing  all  those  of  foreign  nations  at  present  inhab- 
iting within  this  Province,  and  professing  Christianity,  and  for  the 


SEAL  OP  DUCHESS 
COUNTY. 


l  This  county  was  named  in  honor  of  the  duke's 
wife.  At  that  time,  the  title  of  the  wife  of  a  duke 
was  spelled  with  a  t,  and  so  continued  in  the  Eng- 
lish language  until  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  when  Johnson  in  his  dictionary  gave  it 
the  orthography  of  the  French  derivation  duchesse, 


but  omitting  the  final  e.  Through  ignorance  of 
its  origin,  the  name  of  Duchess  County  has  been 
improperly  spelled  with  a  t  until  quite  recently, 
when  attention  was  called  to  the  fact  that  the 
county  was  named  after  the  Duchess  of  York. 

EDITOR. 


THOMAS    DONGAN    AND    THE    NEW-YOHK    CHARTER 


409 


encouragement  of  others  to  come  and  settle  within  the  same."  This 
statute  provided  that  all  the  actual  inhabitants  of  the  province,  except 
bondmen,  of  what  foreign  nation  soever,  who  professed  Christianity 
and  who  had  taken  or  should  take  the  oath  of  allegiance,  were  natu- 
ralized ;  and  that  all  Christian  foreigners  who  should  afterwards  come 
and  settle  themselves  in  the  province  might  be  naturalized  by  swear- 


410  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

ing  allegiance  to  the  king  and  fidelity  to  the  proprietor.  Thus,  the 
province  of  New- York  under  a  Catholic  governor  provided  for  the 
religious  liberty  of  its  inhabitants  at  a  time  when  even  the  sovereigns 
of  enlightened  European  nations  were  expelling  such  of  their  subjects 
as  declined  to  acknowledge  the  Pope  as  the  only  vicar  of  Christ. 
Other  acts  of  minor  importance  were  passed  by  the  Assembly,  which 
finally  adjourned  early  in  November.  The  laws  which  it  enacted  were 
formally  published  on  November  7th,  in  front  of  City  Hall,  and  then 
went  into  active  force.  At  the  close  of  the  year  (December  29th), 
Dongan  appointed  Matthias  Nicolls  and  John  Palmer,  both  of  whom 
had  studied  law,  to  be  the  first  judges  of  the  New- York  Court  of  Oyer 
and  Terminer. 

In  1664  the  authorities  of  Connecticut  and  New- York  met  and  agreed 
that  the  boundary-line  of  Connecticut  should  not  come  within  twenty 
miles  of  the  Hudson  River,  but  the  Duke  of  York  had  failed  to  ratify 
this  arrangement,  and  especially  instructed  Dongan,  as  soon  as  he  could, 
to  settle  the  boundaries  of  the  "  territories  towards  Connecticut."  The 
Governor  was  not  delayed  in  this  matter,  for  almost  immediately  after 
the  passage  of  the  Charter  of  Liberties,  Connecticut  set  up  a  claim 
that  the  towns  of  Rye,  Greenwich,  and  Stamford  "  indubitably "  be- 
longed to  her,  to  which  Dongan  replied :  "  The  King's  Commissioners, 
being  strangers,  and  relying  upon  your  people,  were  assured  by  them 
that  the  river  Mamaroneck1  was. twenty  miles,  everywhere  from  Hud- 
sou's  River,  as  we  have  very  creditable  witnesses  can  testify,  and  that 
it  was  Colonel  Nicolls  his  intentions.  Notwithstanding  all  that,  you 
pretend  to  within  sixteen  or  seventeen  miles  of  this  town,  and,  for 
ought  we  know,  to  Esopus  and  Albany  also ;  which  is  argument  suffi- 
cient it  was  none  of  Colonel  Nicolls  his  intention.  If  you  do  not  sub- 
mit to  let  us  have  all  the  land  within  twenty  miles  of  Hudson's  River, 
I  must  claim  as  far  as  the  Duke's  Patent  goes,  which  is  to  the  River 
Connecticut.  .  .  .  Since  you  are  pleased  to  do  me  the  honor  to  see 
me,  pray  come  with  full  power  to  treat  with  me ;  and  I  do  assure  you, 
whatsoever  is  concluded  betwixt  us  shall  be  confirmed  by  the  King 
and  his  Royal  Highness,  which  the  other  agreements  I  hear  are  not. 
If  you  like  not  of  it,  pray  take  it  not  ill  that  I  proceed  in  a  way  that 
will  bring  all  your  patent  in  question." 

The  emphatic  declarations  of  Dongan  proved  effective,  and  Con- 
necticut much  preferred  to  arbitrate  the  question  rather  than  to  sub- 
mit her  patent  to  the  Duke  of  York.  A  conference  was  held  in 
New- York  during  the  latter  part  of  November,  to  which  Connecticut 
sent  as  her  representatives  Robert  Treat,  Nathan  Gold,  John  Allyn, 

l  On  September  21,  1891,  the  ancient  town  of  John  Richbell  acquired  the  title  to  Mamaroneck 

Mamaroneck,  in  the  county  of  Westchester,  cele-  on  September  21,  1661,  for  a  few  articles  of  cloth- 

brated  the  two  hundred  and  thirtieth  anniversary  ing  and  a  quantity  of  wampum. — EDITOR. 
of  the  purchase  of  its  lands  from  the  Indians. 


THOMAS    DONGAN    AND    THE    NEW-YORK    CHARTER  411 


and  William  Pitkin,  while  New- York  was  represented  by  the  Governor, 
Anthony  Brockholls,  Frederick  Philipse,  Stephanus  Van  Cortlandt, 
and  John  Younge.  It  was  then  agreed  that  the  boundary-line  be- 
tween the  two  provinces  should  be  removed  several  miles  east  of 
Marnaroneck  to  Byram  Eiver,  between  Eye  and  Greenwich,  and  that 
this  new  line  should  be  properly  surveyed  the  next  October.  Accord- 
ingly, in  October,  1684,  joint  commissioners  from  the  two  colonies  met 
in  Stamford  and  proceeded  to  the  Byram  Eiver.  There  they  surveyed 
the  proper  courses,  of  which  they  made  a  map  and  a  report,  These 
having  been  approved  by  the  Council 
of  New- York,  Dongan  met  Governor 
Treat  on  February  23,  1685,  in  Mil- 
ford,  and  together  they  signed  a  rati- 
fication which  was  ordered  to  be  re- 
corded in  both  colonies,  and  which  was 
confirmed  in  England  fifteen  years 
later.  This  boundary-line  still  remains 
in  force. 

In  the  mean  while,  however,  the 
commissioners  from  Connecticut  in- 
formed the  magistrates  of  Eye  that 
they  could  not  help  giving  up  that  GREAT  SEAL>  JAMES  "• 

town,  but  that  "Dongan  was  a  noble  gentleman  and  would  do  for 
others'  welfare  whatever  they  should  desire  in  a  regular  manner." 
Dongan's  opinion  was  perhaps  a  trifle  less  favorable,  for  he  wrote  to 
the  Duke  of  York  that  "Connecticut  was  always  grasping,  tenacious, 
and  prosperous  at  her  neighbors'  expense,  of  evil  influence  over  the 
New- York  towns  of  Long  Island,  whose  refractory  people  would  carry 
their  oil  to  Boston  and  their  whalebone  to  Perth,  rather  than  to  their 
own  capital." 

According  to  the  instructions  of  the  Duke  of  York,  Dongan  was  to 
consider  and  report  upon  the  desirability  of  granting  to  the  City  of 
New- York  "immunities  and  privileges  beyond  what  other  parts  of  my 
territory  doe  enjoy,"  and  in  consequence,  on  November  9, 1683,  Dongan 
received  a  petition  signed  by  William  Beekman,  Mayor,  Johannes 
Van  Brugh,  John  Laurence,  Peter  J.  Morris,  James  Graham,  Cornelius 
Steenwyck,  and  Nicholas  Bayard,  Aldermen  of  the  city,  asking  that 
certain  "  ancient  customs,  privileges,  and  immunities,"  which  had 
been  granted  them  in  1665,  should  be  confirmed  by  a  charter  from  the 
Duke  of  York,  with  some  additions  —  the  latter  to  include  "  the  divi- 
sion of  the  corporation  into  six  wards,  the  annual  election  of  alder- 
men and  other  officers  by  the  freemen  in  each  ward;  the  local 
government  of  the  city  to  be  intrusted  to  them,  and  to  a  mayor  and 
recorder,  to  be  annually  appointed  by  the  governor  and  council;  that  a 


412  HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YOEK 

sheriff,  coroner,  and  town  clerk  be  appointed  in  the  same  way ;  that 
the  corporation  appoint  their  own  treasurer ;  and!  finally,  that  what- 
ever else  was  necessary  for  its  welfare  should  be  confirmed  to  the 
city  as  fully  as  his  Majesty  hath  been  graciously  pleased  to  grant  to 
other  corporations  within  his  realm  of  England." 

These  additions  at  first  failed  to  meet  with  the  Governor's  approval, 
but  after  full  explanation  they  were  accepted  by  him.  Early  in  No- 
vember, Cornelius  Steenwyck  had  been  appointed  Mayor  by  Dongan, 
who  likewise  selected  Nicholas  Bayard,  John  Inians,  William  Pin- 
horne,  Gulian  Verplanck,  John  Eobinson,  and  William  Cox  to  be 
Aldermen.  These  officers  were  reappointed  to  their  places  by  the  Gov- 
ernor on  November  24,  1683,  and  at  the  same  time  he  named  John 
West  as  City  Clerk  and  John  Tudor  as  City  Sheriff.  James  Graham, 
formerly  an  Alderman,  was  commissioned  first  Recorder  of  the  city  of 
New- York.  All  of  these  officials  were  sworn  to  fidelity  in  Fort  James 
on  December  4,  1683,  by  Dongan,  except  the  new  recorder,  who  took 
the  oath  on  January  16,  1684,  and  who  then,  coming  to  the  City  Hall, 
"  took  his  place  on  the  bench  on  the  right  hand  of  the  mayor." 

The  Corporation  asked  for  further  privileges,  and  in  reply  received 
word  that  the  Governor  "much  wonders  that  haueing  lately  granted  all 
and  every  particular  of  a  large  and  considerable  petition  preferred  by 
the  preceding  Mayor  and  Aldermen  should  so  suddenly  receive  another 
petition  from  the  present  magistrates  to  request  what  was  before 
granted  or  anything  contrary  to  their  former  petition,  however  is 
willing  to  oblige  them  as  farre  as  can  be  reasonably  done,  as  may  be 
seen  by  the  following  particulars : 

"  Their  first  request  concerning  the  Charter  is  allready  granted  and 
a  Recorder  according  to  their  own  former  desires. 

"The  ferry  is  granted  with  a  provision  that  two  boats  for  passengers 
be  kept  on  each  side  of  the  river  and  one  boat  for  cattle  on  each  side 
allso. 

"  The  town  clerk  is  referred  to  his  Royal  Highness  his  nomination. 

"  The  vacant  lands  to  low  water  marke  within  this  Island  are  all- 
ready  disposed  of. 

"The  whole  Island  to  be  surveyed,  and  when  done  some  land  in  the 
woods,  not  patented,  to  be  given  to  the  city. 

"  Docks  and  wharfe  allowed  to  the  city,  on  condition  to  keep  them 
cleared  or  to  be  forfeited ;  no  bridge  toll. 

"  No  new  ferry. 

"Licenses  belong  to  government,  but  market  and  market-houses 
allowed  to  the  City.  Wednesday  and  Saturday  only  market  days. 

"  Clerk  of  the  market  to  be  appointed  by  the  Governor. 

"  Only  twenty  carmen  to  be  licensed. 

"  Bakers  under  supervision  of  Mayor  as  to  weight  and  price  of  bread. 


THOMAS  DONGAN  AND  THE  NEW-YORK  CHARTER 


413 


SEAL    OF    NEW-YORK,    1686. 


"  City  to  appoint  surveyors  of  chimneys. 

"All  houses  to  keep  one  or  more  leather  fire  buckets."  Dated  Decem- 
ber 6,  1683. 

On  December  10,  1683,  the  Governor  ordered  that  the  Corporation's 
petition  be  put  in  practice  "  until  such  time  as  his  Royal  Highnesses 
pleasure  shall  be  further  known  therein."  Meanwhile  the  mayor  and 
aldermen  had  very  promptly  divided  the  city  into  six  wards,  known 
as  South,  Dock,  East,  North,  West,  and 
Out  Wards,  to  each  of  which  an  alder- 
man was  assigned. 

Numerous  ordinances  for  the  better 
government  of  the  city  were  adopted. 
Those  concerning  the  religious  observ- 
ance of  the  Sabbath  are  interesting.1 
"  No  youthes,  maydes,  or  other  persons 
may  meete  together 'on  the  Lord's  Day 
for  sporte  or  play,  under  a  fine  of  one 
shilling."  No  public-houses  were  per- 
mitted to  keep  open  doors  or  give 
entertainment  on  Sunday,  except  to 
strangers,  under  a  fine  of  ten  shillings. 
Children  were  not  allowed  to  play  in 
the  streets  on  the  Sabbath,  and  not  more  than  four  Indians  or  negro 
slaves  might  assemble  together,  and  at  no  time  were  they  allowed  to 
bear  any  firearms,  under  a  fine  of  six  shillings  to  their  owners. 

The  landlords  of  public-houses  were  ordered  to  report  all  strangers 
who  arrived,  and  were  forbidden  to  entertain  any  person,  man  or 
woman,  suspected  of  a  bad  character,  under  fine  of  ten  shillings. 
Indians  were  allowed  by  a  special  license  to  sell  firewood  and  also 
gutters  for  houses,  which  were  long  strips  of  bark  so  curved  at  the 
sides  as  to  conduct  water,  but  it  was  required  that  "  the  number  of 
such  [Indian]  traders  be  small  and  what  so  traded  for  no  great  value." 
Under  penalty  of  forfeiture  it  was  proclaimed  that  "  noe  firewood  shall 
be  imported  or  exposed  for  sale  in  this  citty  but  such  as  shall  be  cutt 
after  ye  manner  of  coard  wood  and  sold  by  the  coard  accordingly, 
which  coard  is  to  continue  eight  foot  in  length,  four  foot  in  highth, 
and  four  foot  in  breadth."  All  horses  ranging  loose  were  to  be  branded 
and  enrolled,  and  an  ample  reward  was  offered  to  all  who  should 
destroy  wolves. 

A  committee  was  appointed  to  collect  for  permanent  preservation 
the  ancient  records  of  the  city  and  also  the  laws.  The  proper  officials 
were  ordered  to  "  use  their  utmost  endeavors  and  care  at  the  day  of 
Election  that  none  appeare  but  ffree  holders."  Surveyors  were  chosen 

1  See  "Annals  of  New-York,"  by  John  F.  Watson,  1846,  p.  160. 


414  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

to  see  that  "  all  new  buildings  bee  uniform  and  of  party  walls."  A 
constable  was  appointed  to  see  that  the  laws  were  obeyed,  also  a 
haven-inaster  was  chosen  to  look  after  the  shipping  and  collect  the 
bills.  The  sheriff  was  placed  in  charge  of  the  markets,  and  ordered 
to  strictly  observe  the  rules  for  regulating  them.  There  was  a  public 
chimney-sweep,  who  made  his  presence  known  by  crying  through 
the  streets,  and  cleaned  the  chimneys  at  the  rate  of  one  shilling  or 
eighteen  pence  each,  according  to  the  height  of  the  house.  An  "  in- 
viter  to  funerals "  was  likewise  a  public  official ;  and  no  one,  unless 
formally  asked,  thought  of  attending  a  funeral.  This  service  was 
rendered  free  to  those  who  were  unable  to  pay. 

An  important  request  made  to  the  Governor  on  March  17, 1684,  was 
that  an  order  be  granted  "  prohibiting  any  bolting  mills,  or  fflower  or 
bread  to  be  made  for  sale  or  transportation  in  any  place  throughout 
this  province  but  in  this  city  only,  noe  fflower  or  bread  to  be  imported 
into  this  Citty  from  any  other  part  of  the  Province  under  penalty  of 
forfeiture."  Dongan  required  "  reasons- at-large  "  for  this  request,  and 
on  being  informed  that  "  as  the  manufacture  of  flour  was  the  chief 
support  of  the  trade  of  the  metropolis,  the  high  reputation  of  its 
breadstuffs  should  not  be  taken  away,  as  it  would  be  if  bolting  were 
allowed  elsewhere."  Other  reasons  being  apparent,  the  Governor 
issued  a  proclamation  as  desired,  and  his  action  received  the  sanction 
of  the  duke's  commissioners,  who  instructed  him  "by  all  means 
chiefly  to  encourage  the  city  of  New-Yorke."  There  were  twenty-four 
bakers  in  New -York  at  this  time,  who  were  divided  into  six  classes, 
one  for  each  working-day  in  the  week.  According  to  law  a  white 
loaf  of  bread  must  weigh  at  least  twelve  ounces,  and  for  it  the  price 
was  placed  at  six  stivers  in  wampum. 

The  question  of  boundaries  at  this  early  day  was  one  of  importance. 
The  extent  of  the  colonies  was  somewhat  vague,  and  each  province 
endeavored  to  encroach  on  its  neighbors.  Early  in  1684,  East  New 
Jersey  revived  her  claim  for  Staten  Island ;  moreover,  the  nearness  of 
the  boundary-line  of  New  Jersey  to  New -York  was  believed  by  Don- 
gan to  be  contrary  to  the  best  interests  of  the  latter  colony.  Accord- 
ingly he  consulted  with  the  recorder,  under  whose  advice  the  council 
and  city  authorities  presented  to  the  duke  an  address  in  which  the 
convenient  natural  situation  of  Manhattan  for  commerce  was  shown, 
as  well  as  the  hurtfulness  of  the  unhappy  separation  of  New  Jersey 
from  the  ancient  territory  of  New -York,  by  reason  of  which  its  trade 
was  diverted  at  the  expense  of  the  duke's  revenue.  He  was,  therefore, 
urged  to  reannex  East  Jersey  to  his  province,  "  by  purchase  or  other 
ways,"  and  thus  prevent  the  flourishing  of  the  adjacent  colony  at 
the  expense  of  New -York.  This  address,  which  was  prepared  in 
March,  1684,  was  sent  by  Dongan  to  the  duke  and  his  commissioners, 


THOMAS    DONGAN    AND    THE    NEW-YORK    CHARTER  415 

with  a  communication  calling  special  attention  to  the  "  great  incon- 
venience of  having  two  distinct  governments  upon  one  river,"  and 
"  how  convenient  it  would  be  to  regain  East  Jersey."  No  immediate 
action  appears  to  have  followed  this  suggestion,  but  the  advice  was 
not  ignored,  for  later,  when  the  duke  became  king, 
one  of  his  first  acts  was  to  consolidate  the  colo- 
nies into  a  single  province. 

In  nothing,  however,  did  the  masterly  diplomacy 
of  Governor  Dongan  show  itself  to  greater  advan- 
tage than  in  his  relations  with  the  French.  His 
predecessor,  Sir  Edmund  Andros,  had  claimed  in 
1677  that  New- York  included  all  the  territory  south 
of  the  St.  Lawrence  and  Lake  Ontario,  but  this 
claim  was  one  that  the  French  could  not  sanction. 

^u     .,..,,,,  ,  -,  ,,        T      -,.  THE   BEECKMAN   ARMS. 

Christianity  had  been  planted  among  the  Indians  by 
French  missionaries  long  before  any  other  Europeans  had  penetrated 
into  the  wilds  of  the  Northwest.  Jean  Nicollet,  Marquette,  Joliet, 
and  La  Salle  were  famous  discoverers  and  also  ardent  Catholics. 
With  them  came  missionaries  who  devoted  their  lives  to  the  conver- 
sion of  the  Indians. 

Antoine  Joseph  Lefevre  de  la  Barre  had  been  appointed  to  succeed 
Count  Frontenac  as  Governor  of  Canada,  and  one  of  the  earliest  of 
his  plans  was  to  compel  the  Indians  to  trade  with  Montreal  rather 
than  New- York.  Early  in  1684,  the  Senecas  and  Cayugas  having 
plundered  certain  French  parties,  De  la  Barre  determined  to  punish 
them,  and  refused  to  regard  them  as  British  subjects.  This  informa- 
tion seems  to  have  been  conveyed  to  Dongan,  for  he  writes :  "  I  do 
believe  that  you  have  bin  misinformed  as  to  the  Irequois,  they  have- 
ing  traded  with  this  Government  above  forty  years  and  nowhere  else, 
unlesse  they  did  it  by  stealth.  I  am  sure  they  are  nearer  to  this  place 
than  yours,  and  all  to  the  South  and  South  West  of  the  Lake  of  Can- 
ada ;  wee  have  pretences  too,  and  it  seemes  a  cleare  demonstration  that 
those  lands  belong  to  the  King  of  England,  haveing  all  his  Colonies 
close  upon  them,  those  Indians  who  have  pipes  through  their  noses 
would  fain  come  to  trade  at  Yorke,  did  not  other  Indians  hinder 
them,  haveing  from  hence  such  trade  as  they  want  which  is  in  no 
other  Government  and  that  you  have  none  but  what  you  have  from 
us.  As  for  any  dispute  about  them,  I  suppose  Your  people  and  ours 
may  trade  amongst  them  without  any  difference.  I  give  you  thanks 
for  the  passes  you  sent,  and  assure  you  nobody  hath  a  greater  desire 
to  have  a  strict  union  with  you  and  good  correspondence  than  myself 
who  served  long  time  in  France  and  was  much  obliged, by  the  King 
and  Gentry  of  that  Country ;  and  I  am  sure  no  man  hath  a  greater  re- 
spect for  them  than  myself  and  would  never  do  anything  that  may 


416  HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YOEK 

cause  a  misunderstanding,  but  I  am  a  servant  in  this  place,  and  there- 
fore need  say  no  more." 

De  la  Barre  was  not  appeased  by  this  letter,  and  at  once  directed 
the  Jesuit  missionaries  then  at  Oneida  and  Onondaga  to  so  intrigue 
as  to  divide  the  Indians  among  themselves.  It  was  this  policy,  which 
Dongan  endeavored  to  oppose  by  replacing  French  Jesuits  by  English 
Jesuits,  which  caused  the  enmity  of  Protestants  in  New- York.  In 
June,  1684,  De  la  Barre  advised  Dongan  of  his  intention  to  attack 
the  Indians,  and  asked  that  the  people  of  Albany  be  forbidden  to  sell 
arms  and  ammunition  to* the  Iroquois,  which  he  said  "can  alone  in- 
timidate them,  and  when  they  see  the  Christians  united  on  this  sub- 
ject they  will  show  them  more  respect  than  they  have  done  hitherto." 

To  this  Dongan  quickly  replied  that  the  Senecas  were  under  the 
government  of  New- York ;  that  the  duke's  territories  must  not  be  in- 
vaded ;  that  he  had  ordered  the  coats  of  arms  of  the  Duke  of  York  to 
be  placed  in  the  Indian  castles,  "  which  may  dissuade  you  from  acting 
anything  that  may  create  a  misunderstanding  between  us  " ;  moreover, 
all  differences  between  the  French  in  Canada  and  the  New- York 
Iroquois  ought  to  be  settled  by  their  masters  in  Europe ;  finally,  in 
order  "to  promote  the  quiet  and  tranquillity  of  this  country  and 
yours,"  he  proposed  to  visit  Albany  and  investigate  the  matter. 

This  decision  was  timely,  for  certain  of  the  Iroquois,  instigated  (as 
charged)  by  the  French  missionaries,  had  early  in  the  spring  of  1684 
committed  outrages  on  the  northern  boundary  of  Maryland  and  Vir- 
ginia which  violated  the  compact  made  in  August,  1682.  Lord  Effing- 
ham,  Governor  of  Virginia,  with  two  members  of  his  Council,  came  to 
New- York  in  June  to  persuade  Dongan  to  aid  him  in  a  war  against  the 
Indians.  Emngham  was  received  with  distinction.  He  became  a  guest 
of  the  Governor,  and  was  entertained  by  many  of  the  prominent  citizens. 
The  City  Corporation  made  him  a  freeman  of  the  metropolis,  and  he 
is  said  to  have  been  the  first  British  peer  upon  whom  this  distinction 
was  conferred. 

He  accepted  Dongan's  invitation  to  go  to  Albany,  and  on  July  30th 
met  in  council  deputies  from  the  Mohawks,  Oneidas,  Onondagas, 
and  Cayugas.  A  firm  peace  was  concluded,  in  recognition  of  which 
an  ax  was  buried  for  each  party ;  but  as  the  Mohawks  had  not  broken 
the  earlier  compact,  no  ax  was  needed  for  them.  Five  axes,  rep- 
resenting Maryland,  Virginia,  the  Oneidas,  Onondagas,  and  Cayugas, 
were  buried  in  the  southeast  corner  of  the  courtyard,  and  the  Indians 
threw  earth  upon  them.  Then  jointly  the  Indians  sang  a  peace-song 
with  demonstrations  of  much  joy,  and  thanked  Dongan  for  his  effec- 
tual mediation  in  their  favor  with  the  Governor  of  Virginia.  Some 
days  later  (August  5th)  delegates  from  the  more  remote  Senecas 
arrived,  and  confirmed  the  action  of  their  allies  by  giving  a  belt. 


THOMAS    DONGAN    AND    THE    NEW-YORK    CHARTER  417 

It  was  at  this  time  that  Dongan  obtained  from  the  Iroquois  their 
written  submission  to  the  Great  Sachem  Charles.  This  was  recorded 
on  two  white  dressed  deerskins,  which  were  to  be  sent  to  the  great 
sachem  in  England,  that  he  "  may  write  on  them  and  put  a  great  red 
seal  to  them."  By  this  treaty  all  the  Susquehanna  River  above  the 
"Washinta"  or  Wyalusing  Falls,  and  all  the  rest  of  the  land  of  the 
Iroquois,  were  confirmed  to  the  Duke  of  York  as  within  the  limits  of 
New- York.  Thus  Governor  Dongan  established  the  northern  and 
western  boundaries  of  our  great  commonwealth,  and,  as  has  been  well 
said, "  in  our  day  the  visitor  to  the  Great  Lakes  and  Falls  of  Niagara 
sees  the  American  flag  proudly  floating  where  Dongan  planted  its 
English  predecessor." l 

At  the  close  of  the  conference  the  Sieur  de  Salvaye,  a  representative 
of  De  la  Barre,  arrived  in  Albany  and  informed  Dongan  that  the 
Indians  would  be  attacked  towards  the  end  of  August.  A  force  of 
twelve  hundred  men  proceeded  against  the  natives,  but  exposure  and 
disease  so  reduced  their  ranks  that  De  la  Barre  gladly  concluded  a 
treaty  of  peace  with  them  on  September  5th.  He  reported  to  France 
that  his  campaign  had  "not  been  bloody,"  and  referred  to  Dongan 
as  one  "who  fain  would  assume  to  be  Sovereign  Lord  of  the  whole 
of  North  America,  south  of  the  River  Saint  Lawrence."  The  French 
king  had  made  request  of  the  Duke  of  York,  through  his  ambassador 
in  London,  to  prohibit  Dongan  from  aiding  the  Iroquois  and  to  order 
him  to  act  in  concert  with  De  la  Barre  "to  the  common  advantage  of 
both  nations,"  but  no  such  orders  could  be  given  by  the  duke,  who 
fully  sustained  Dougan's  policy,  save  alone  that  he  should  be  prudent, 
"always  avoiding,  as  much  as  possible,  any  proceedings  on  our  part 
that  may  run  us  into  disputes  with  the  French,  who,  in  our  present 
circumstances,  are  not  to  be  made  enemies." 

The  religious  freedom  of  New- York  was  well  known.  At  a  time 
when  a  Catholic  priest  would  meet  only  with  imprisonment  and  death 
in  the  New  England  colonies,  Jesuit  fathers  were  freely  received  in 
New- York  while  it  was  under  the  Dutch  government.  Indeed,  they 
were  openly  entertained  by  the  Governor  himself,  as  was  the  case  with 
Father  Isaac  Jogues,  who  was  rescued  from  the  Mohawk  Indians  and 
entertained  at  the  fort  by  Director  Kieft  in  1643.  Moreover,  in  his 
instructions  to  Dongan,  the  Duke  of  York  very  plainly  said :  "  You 
shall  permit  all  persons,  of  what  religion  soever,  to  quietly  inhabit 
within  your  government  without  giving  them  any  disturbance  or  dis- 
quiet whatsoever  for  or  by  reason  of  their  differing  Opinions  in  matters 
of  Religion,  Provided  they  give  noe  disturbance  to  ye  publick  peace 
nor  doe  molest  or  disquiet  others  in  ye  free  exercise  of  their  Religion." 

Still  the  fact  that  Dongan  worshiped  every  Sabbath  with  a  few 

i  "  The  Great  Colonial  Governor,"  by  Rev.  Patrick  P.  Dealy,  Mag.  Am.  Hist.,  8 : 110.     Feb.,  1882. 
VOL.  L— 27. 


418  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

Roman  Catholics  in  a  small  chamber  in  Fort  James  caused  some  un- 
easiness, and  even  unto  the  present  time  his  religion  has  been  a  re- 
proach to  him.  William  Smith,  whose  history  is  regarded  as  "  a  dull, 
heavy,  and  circumstantial  affair,"  says :  "  He  was  a  man  of  integrity, 
moderation,  and  genteel  manners,  and  though  a  professed  Papist,  may 
be  classed  among  the  best  of  our  Governors."  From  then  until  now 
historians  have  added  their  disapproval  of  his  religion,  and  even 
Justin  Winsor  permits  the  statement  that  "  though  a  Roman  Catholic, 

an  Irishman,  and  a  soldier,  he  proved 
himself  an  excellent  and  prudent  mag- 
istrate"; also,  "although  an  Irishman 
and  Roman  Catholic  [Dongan]  was 
aggressive  in  the  interests  of  Eng- 
land."1 

That  Dongan  was  faithful  to  his 
early  religious  training  and  truly 
pious  is  shown  by  his  attempt  to  es- 
tablish a  settlement  of  Catholic  In- 
dians at  "  Serachtogue "  (Saratoga), 
and  also  to  found  a  colony  of  Irish 
Catholics  in  the  interior  of  New- York, 
but  both  of  these  projects  failed  on 
,,  „  account  of  the  religious  animosity 

1  /  t"x*~  against  him,  which  perhaps  was  most 

strongly  shown  in  the  hope  expressed  at  the  time  of  his  downfall,  "that 
Papists  would  not  henceforth  come  so  freely  to  settle  in  the  colony." 
During  the  greater  part  of  his  administration  there  were  resident 
in  New- York  three  Jesuit  fathers.  These  undoubtedly  were  destined 
by  him  to  replace  similar  French  missionaries  among  the  Iroquois 
Indians.  Indeed  he  distinctly  writes  to  the  Indians,  "  Therefore  I  de- 
sire the  Brethren  not  to  receive  him  or  any  French  Priests  any  more, 
haveing  sent  for  English  Priests,  whom  you  can  be  supplied  with, 
all  to  content."  In  a  letter  to  Denonville,  written  on  December  1, 
1686,  he  says:  "I  have  written  the  King,  my  Master,  who  hath  as 
much  zeal  as  any  prince  liveing  to  propagate  the  Christian  faith,  and 
assure  him  how  necessary  it  is  to  send  hither  some  fathers  to  preach 
the  Gospell  to  the  nations  allyed  to  us,  and  care  would  then  be  taken 
to  dissuade  them  from  their  drunken  debauches,  though  certainly  our 
Rum  doth  as  little  hurt  as  your  Brandy,  and  in  the  opinion  of  Chris- 
tians is  much  more  wholesome;  however,  to  keep  the  Indians  temper- 
ate and  sober  is  a  very  good  and  Christian  performance,  but  to  prohibit 
them  all  strong  liquors  seems  a  little  hard  and  a  little  turkish."  His 
advice  to  that  effect,  sent  to  his  royal  patron,  was  not  heeded,  and 

l  "  Narrative  and  Critical  History  of  America,"  3:  404. 


THOMAS    DONGAN    AND    THE    NEW-YORK    CHARTER  419 

Brodhead  adds :  "The  English  disciples  of  Loyola  do  not  seem  to  have 
had  the  manly  spirit  of  adventure  among  the  savages  which  distin- 
guished their  order  in  France." ' 

It  was  doubtless  one  of  these  English  priests  who  took  charge  of  "  a 
Latin  School  opened  [on  October  14,  1684]  under  the  management 
of  a  learned  scholar,  a  Jesuit."  The  school  was  not  a  success.  Jacob 
Leisler  in  1689  wrote  to  Andros,  "I  have  formerly  urged  to  inform  your 
Hon.  that  Coll.  Dongan  in  his  time  did  erecte  a  Jesuite  College,"  to  which 
"  Judge  West,  Mr.  Graham,  Judge  Palmer,  and  John  Tudor  did  con- 
tribute their  sones  for  some  time,  but  no  boddy  imitating  them,  the 
collidge  vanished."  The  Earl  of  Bellomont  on  April  13,  1699,  writes : 
"In  Colonel  Dongan's  time  he  to  make  his  court  to  King  James  desired 
this  Farm  might  be  appropriated  to  the  maintenance  of  a  Jesuit  school, 
but  King  James  (bigot  though  he  was)  refused,  saying  he  would  not 
have  his  Governors  deprived  of  their  conveniences."  This  "King's 
Farm  "  in  1705  became  the  property  of  Trinity  Church. 

Early  in  1684  the  people  of  Esopus,  in  Ulster  county,  petitioned  the 
Governor  for  the  right  to  choose  their  own  town  officers,  but  this 
action  was  held  to  be  "  riot "  according  to  English  law,  and  they  were 
bound  over  to  keep  the  peace.  They  were  fined,  but,  on  acknowledg- 
ing that  they  had  been  ill-advised,  were  released.  The  magistrates  of 
Southold  were  ordered  to  show  cause  before  the  Governor  for  having 
fined  a  resident  of  Easthampton  "  only  for  bringing  home  an  ox  of  his 
on  the  Sunday."  The  residence  of  Bernardus  Arensius,  the  Lutheran 
minister,  having  been  assessed  by  the  Corporation  as  that  of  a  private 
person,  the  Governor  and  Council  declared  in  their  opinion  it  should 
be  as  free  and  exempted  from  taxes  as  those  of  the  Dutch  and  French 
ministers. 

On  October  13, 1684,  new  aldermen  and  common-councilmen  were 
chosen  for  the  six  wards  of  the  city,  in  accordance  with  the  form  and 
method  agreed  to  by  the  Governor  in  the  previous  autumn,  and  on 
October  14th  he  appointed  Gabriel  Minvielle,  whose  name  he  selected 
from  among  the  seven  submitted  to  him,  to  be  Mayor  of  the  city. 

Later  in  the  same  month  the  second  meeting  of  the  New- York  As- 
sembly was  held.  Matthias  Nicolls  was  continued  as  Speaker,  but 
Robert  Hammond  was  chosen  to  succeed  John  Spragg  as  Clerk. 
Thirty-one  laws  were  passed  by  the  Assembly  and  sanctioned  by  the 
Governor.  Among  these  was  an  act  to  confirm  previous  judg- 
ments and  to  abolish  the  General  Court  of  Assizes,  which  was  then 
replaced  by  the  Court  of  Oyer  and  Terminer.  In  accordance  with  a 
suggestion  from  the  duke's  commissioners,  the  Eevenue  Bill  was 
amended.  An  act  was  passed  for  the  encouragement  of  trade  and 

i  Charlevoix,  the  French  historian  of  Canada,  represents  Governor  Dongan's  strong  opposition 
to  the  introduction  of  the  Jesuits  among  the  Iroquois.— EDITOR. 


420  HISTORY    OF    NEW- YORK 

navigation  within  the  province,  levying  a  tax  of  ten  per  cent,  upon 
all  goods  imported  into  New- York  from  any  other  colony  where  such 
goods  were  not  produced. 

The  people  of  Long  Island  were  a  source  of  continual  annoyance 
to  the  Governor;  indeed,  he  informed  them  that  they  would  "neither  be 
easy  themselves,  nor  suffer  others  to  be  so."  Their  special  propensity 
seemed  to  be  the  smuggling  and  carrying  on  of  illicit  trade  with  Boston. 
"  The  inhabitants  of  Easthampton  having  refused  to  sell  their  oil  and 
commodities  unless  Boston  money  was  given  for  it,  or  pieces  of  eight 
equivalent  to  them,  and  several  abuses  committed  to  the  prejudice 
of  His  Majesty's  Customs  revenue  being  informed  of,"  Governor 
Dongan  "  ordered  that  a  Proclamation  be  sent  prohibiting  all  vessels 
to  come  and  trade  at  any  port  but  that  of  New- York." 

In  February,  1685,  the  Corporation  of  the  City  of  New- York  voted 
that  the  Governor  be  invited  to  confirm  to  it  all  the  vacant  land  in  and 
about  the  city  as  far  as  low- water  mark,  and  all  the  other  franchises 
which  it  claimed.  In  March,  the  Governor  and  his  Council  ordered  the 
Mayor  "  not  to  give  freedom  to  any  but  such  as  are  qualified,  and  will 
give  security  to  give  '  scott  and  lott '  for  three  years."  This  was  in 
accordance  with  the  ancient  Dutch  practice  which  held  that  all  traders 
must  keep  "  fire  and  light "  at  home,  thus  making  the  hearthstone 
the  only  test  of  citizenship.  It  is  also  interesting  to  note  that,  in  com- 
pliance with  an  order  from  the  Governor,  the  Corporation  on  March 
2,  1685,  "proposed  that  for  the  better  correspondence  between  the 
Colonies  of  America,  a  post-office  be  established,  and  that  the  rates 
for  riding  post  be  per  mile  three  pence  for  every  single  letter  not 
above  one  hundred  miles;  if  more,  proportion  ably." 

Mention  has  already  been  made  of  the  various  disputes  as  to  the 
boundaries  of  the  different  colonies.  The  country  between  the  Hud- 
son and  Connecticut  Rivers  had  been  granted  to  the  Duke  of  York  in 
1674,  but  this  act  was  disregarded  by  Massachusetts,  who  claimed 
that  her  territory  extended  westward  beyond  the  Hudson  River. 
Anticipating  a  dispute  about  this  matter,  Dongan  in  February,  1685, 
directed  John  West  to  claim  Westfield,  Northampton,  Deerfield,  and 
other  towns  which  had  been  founded  by  Massachusetts,  but  the  for- 
feiture of  the  charter  of  the  latter  colony  in  June  put  an  end  to  the 
dispute  and  confirmed  to  the  Duke  of  York  all  the  territorial  rights 
west  of  the  Connecticut  River,  as  claimed  by  him. 

Early  in  February  Charles  II.  died,  and  the  Duke  of  York  succeeded 
him  as  James  II.  This  brought  about  a  peculiar  condition  of  affairs. 
New- York  became  a  dependency  of  the  crown  and  no  longer  a  pro- 
prietary government.  Shortly  after  the  accession  of  James  to  the 
throne,  he  ordered  the  records  belonging  to  the  province  to  be  sent 
to  the  Plantation  Office.  These  included  the  various  acts  passed  by 


THOMAS    DONGAN    AND    THE    NEW-YORK    CHARTER 


421 


THE    LIVINGSTON    ARMS 


the  New- York  Assembly,  and  the  Charter  of  Franchises  and  Privileges, 
which,  though  ordered  to  be  delivered,  had  been  kept  back  and  was 
not  yet  perfected. 

Failing  to  confirm  the  charter,  the  king  wrote  on  March  3d  to  Don- 
gan,  concerning  the  government  of  the  colony:  "And  as  we  have  been 
pleased  by  our  Eoyal  Proclamation  to  direct 
that  all  men  being  in  office  of  government  shall 
so  continue  therein  until  further  order,  so  we 
do  hereby  charge  and  require  you  to  pursue 
such  powers  and  instructions  as  we  have  for- 
merly given  you,  and  such  further  powers,  au- 
thority, and  instructions  as  you  shall  at  any 
time  hereafter  receive  under  our  royal  signet 
and  sign  manual,  or  by  our  order  in  our  Privy 
Council.  And  that  you  likewise  give  our  said 
loving  subjects  to  understand  that,  having  com- 
mitted to  our  said  Privy  Council  the  care  of  our 
said  Province,  with  the  consideration  of  several 
Bills  and  Addresses  lately  presented  unto  us  from  our  Assembly 
there,  they  may  shortly  expect  such  a  generous  and  suitable  return, 
by  the  settlement  of  fitting  privileges  and  confirmation  of  their  rights, 
as  shall  be  found  most  expedient  for  our  service  and  the  welfare  of  our 
said  Province." 

This  letter  and  further  orders  from  the  Privy  Council  were  brought 
to  America  by  Captain  Jervis  Baxter,  who  reached  New- York  towards 
the  end  of  April.  In  accordance  with  his  instructions,  Governor 
Dongan  issued  the  following  preamble  and  proclamation: 

Haveing  Received  the  news  from  his  Majesties  Councill  of  England  that  it  hath 
Pleased  Almighty  God  to  Take  to  his  Mercy  out  of  this  Troublesome  Life  our  Late 
Sovereign  Lord  King  Charles  of  most  Blessed  Memory,  and  that  thereupon  his  Late 
Majesties  only  Brother  and  King  James  the  Second  hath  been  there  Proclaimed  his 
most  Sacred  Majesty  with  the  Solemnities  Requisite  on  the  lake  Occasions,  These 
are  therefore  to  Require  you  to  haue  all  the  fort  Militia  of  this  City  and  County  at 
nine  of  the  Clock  next  thursday  after  the  Date  hereof,  Compleate  in  Armes,  Accoutre- 
ments and  with  sufficient  Bandoleers  of  Powder,  and  to  draw  them  up  before  the  gate 
of  fort  James  in  this  City  hereof,  you  are  not  to  faile,  dated  at  fort  James  this  21 
day  of  Appril,  1685. 

The  proclamation  read : 

FOR  His  MAJESTIES  COLONY  OF  NEW- YORK  IN  AMERICA: 

Whereas,  It  hath  pleased  Almighty  God  to  Call  to  his  mercy  our  Late  Sovereign  Lord 
King  Charles  the  Second  of  most  Blessed  Memory,  by  whose  Decease  the  Imperiall 
Crown  of  England,  Scotland,  France,  and  Ireland,  as  also  the  Supream  Dominion  and 
Sovereign  Right  of  the  Plantation  and  Colony  of  New- York,  and  all  other  his  Late 
Majesties  Territoryes  and  Dominions  in  America,  are  Solely  and  Rightfully  come  to 
the  High  and  Mighty  Prince  James,  Duke  of  York  and  Albany,  his  Majesties  onely 


422  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

Brother  and  heir,  we  therefore  his  Majesties  Governour  and  Council!,  with  the  Prin- 
cipall  Officers  and  Inhabitants  of  the  Plantations  and  Colony  aforesaid,  Do  now  hereby 
-with  one  full  voice  and  Consent  of  Tongues  and  heart  Publish  and  Proclaim  that  the 
High  and  Mighty  Prince  James  the  Second  is  now  by  the  Decease  of  our  Late  Sovereign 
of  happy  Memory  become  our  onely  Lawfull,  Lineall,  and  Eightfull  Liege  Lord  James 
the  Second,  by  the  Grace  of  God,  King  of  England,  Scotland,  France,  and  Ireland, 
Defender  of  the  Faith,  Supream  Lord  of  the  Plantations  and  Colony  of  New- York,  and 
all  others  his  Late  Majesties  Territories  and  Dominions  in  America,  etc.,  To  whom 
wee  do  acknowledge  all  faith  and  Constant  Obedience  with  all  hearty  and  humble 
Affection,  Beseeching  God  by  whom  Kings  Do  Reign  to  Bless  the  Royall  King  James 
the  Second  with  Long  and  Happy  Yeares  to  Reign  over  us. 

God  Save  the  King,  James  the  Second. 

Printed  in  London  by  Assigns  of  John  Bill,  dec'd,  and  by  Henry  Hills  and  Thomas 
Newcomb. 

Early  in  May  the  Corporation  prepared  an  address  to  the  new  king, 
congratulating  him  on  his  accession,  and  wishing  him  "  a  long,  peace- 
able, and  prosperous  reign."  At  the  same  time  they  desired  his 
Majesty  "to  enlarge  this  government  Eastward,  and  confirm  and 
grant  to  this  his  Citty  such  privileges  and  immunities  as  may  again 
make  it  flourish,  and  increase  his  Majesty's  revenue." 

Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the  religious  freedom  existing 
in  this  colony.  An  interesting  question  concerning  the  rights  of  Jews 
was  brought  forward  for  consideration  in  September,  1685.  Saul 
Browne  made  complaint  to  Dongan  that  his  trade  was  being  inter- 
fered with,  apparently  claiming  protection  under  the  law  (see  p.  420) 
passed  on  March  23d  of  that  year  by  the  Corporation.  The  Governor 
referred  the  petition  to  that  body,  who  replied  "  that  no  Jew  ought  to 
sell  by  retail  within  the  city,  but  may  by  wholesale,  if  the  Governor 
think  fit  to  permit  the  same."  At  about  the  same  time  the  Jews  peti- 
tioned the  Governor  "for  liberty  to  exercise  their  religion."  This  was 
likewise  referred  by  him  to  the  Corporation,  who  replied  "that  no 
public  worship  is  tolerated,  by  act  of  Assembly,  but  to  those  that  pro- 
fess faith  in  Christ ;  and  therefore  the  Jews'  worship  not  to  be  al- 
lowed." Subsequently  it  appears  that  this  Saul  Browne  became 
Reader  in  the  Jews'  Synagogue  in  New- York,  and  therefore  no  arbi- 
trary action  followed  this  expression  of  opinion. 

Considerable  doubt  prevailed  in  the  autumn  as  to  the  propriety  of 
calling  a  meeting  of  the  Assembly  ordered  to  meet  in  September. 
Finally  it  was  decided  to  dissolve  the  old  Assembly  and  call  a  new 
one.  Writs  were  accordingly  issued  by  Dongan  for  the  election  of 
new  representatives  to  meet  in  New- York  on  October  20th.  At  the 
appointed  time  the  new  body  assembled  and  chose  William  Pinhorne 
to  be  Speaker  and  William  Hammond  to  be  Clerk.  It  continued  in 
session  until  November  3d,  and  passed  six  laws.  At  its  close  the  Assem- 
bly adjourned  to  meet  in  September  of  the  following  year,  but  when 
that  time  came,  other  changes  had  occurred,  so  that  it  never  met  again. 


THOMAS    DONGAN    AND    THE    NEW-YORK    CHARTER  423 

In  accordance  with  an  old  Dutch  custom,  the  Governor  proclaimed 
November  20th  to  be  a  day  of  thanksgiving  in  honor  of  the  successful 
subduing  of  the  invasion  of  Scotland  by  the  Earl  of  Argyll  and  that  6f 
England  by  the  Duke  of  Mon mouth. 

The  acquisition  of  wealth  at  the  expense  of  the  government  seems 
to  have  prevailed  in  New- York  at  even  this  early  date.  Lucas  Santen, 
who  had  been  appointed  Collector  of  the  port  in  April,  1683,  made 
charges  against  the  Governor  of  taking  perquisites  and  of  sharing  in 
the  booty  of  privateers,  many  of  whom  came  to  New- York  in  order  to 
dispose  of  their  plunder.  These  charges  Dongan  denied,  and  wrote : 
"  I  have  been  so  put  to  it  to  make  things  doe,  that  what  small  perqui- 
sites I  have  got  I  have  disbursed ;  and  I  have  pledged  my  credit  and 
pawned  my  plate  for  money  to  carry  on  the  King's  affairs";  also, 
"Concerning  my  covetousness,  as  he  is  pleased  to  term  it  (if  Mr.  San- 
ten  speaks  true  in  saying  I  have  been  covetous),  it  was  in  the  man- 
agement of  the  small  revenue  to  the  best  advantage,  and  had  Mr. 
Santen  been  as  just  as  I  have  been  careful, 
the  King  had  not  been  in  debt  and  I  had 
more  in  my  pocket  than  I  now  have."  Santen,  however,  was  unwill- 
ing to  give  any  satisfactory  explanation  of  his  affairs,  and  was  ordered 
to  produce  his  books  of  revenue  before  the  council.  Finally  he  was 
suspended  for  peculation,  arrested,  and  sent  to  England,  where  his 
commission  was  revoked. 

James  Graham  was  appointed  to  succeed  Thomas  Rudyard  as  At- 
torney-General on  December  10,  1685,  and  Isaac  Swinton  was  made 
Clerk  of  Chancery.  Nicholas  Bayard  had  become  Mayor  and  was  also 
appointed  a  royal  councilor.  An  important  act  towards  the  close  of 
the  year  was  the  formation,  on  December  14th,  of  a  Court  of  Exchequer 
to  determine  all  royal  revenue  cases.  It  was  composed  of  the  Gov- 
ernor and  Council,  and  met  in  the  City  of  New- York  on  the  first 
Monday  of  each  month.  This  court  was  found  necessary,  as  in  the 
other  tribunals  there  was  a  "  great  hazard  of  venturing  the  matter  on 
Country  Jurors ;  who,  over  and  above  that  they  are  generally  ignorant 
enough,  and  for  the  most  part  linked  together  by  affinity,  are  too 
much  swayed  by  their  particular  humors  and  interests." 

Throughout  his  career  Dongan  showed  himself  an  able  diplomat. 
The  boundary  disputes  between  New- York  and  the  adjoining  colonies 
he  settled  with  credit  to  himself  and  advantage  to  his  patron.  His 
firm  stand  against  the  advances  made  by  the  French  on  the  northern 
border  have  already  been  alluded  to.  His  policy  with  the  Indians 
was  a  masterly  one.  Prior  to  his  arrival  in  New- York  much  of  the 
trade  with  the  natives  had  found  its  outlet  through  Canada,  but  rec- 
ognizing the  value  of  the  fur  trade  he  gave  permission  during  the 
summer  of  1685  to  a  number  of  traders  to  visit  the  western  Indians, 


424  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

who  lived  beyond  the  Senecas,  and  to  collect  beaver-skins.  They  were 
well  received  by  the  Indians,  whom  they  found  more  inclined  to  trade 
with  them  than  with  the  French.  In  one  of  his  reports  to  Europe  he 
described  the  means  by  which  he  intended  to  secure  the  beaver  and  other 
Indian  trade  for  the  province.  As  evidence  of  his  success  it  appears 
that  the  Seneca  Indians  alone  carried  more  than  ten  thousand  beaver- 
skins  to  Albany  instead  of  sending  them  to  Canada  as  they  had  agreed 
to  do  in  their  treaty  with  De  la  Barre  at  the  Salmon  Eiver  the  year  pre- 
vious. Dougan's  success  with  the  Indians  gave  distinct  umbrage  to 
the  French,  and  early  in  the  year  De  la  Barre  was  superseded  by  the 
Marquis  de  Denonville.  Dongan's  desires  to  Christianize  the  Indians 
have  already  been  referred  to,  arid  his  efforts  have  been  closely  studied 
by  representatives  of  his  church  in  recent  times,  one  of  whom  has 
written:  "By  his  masterly  policy  Dongan  controlled  the  Five  Na- 
tions, broke  up  the  French  influence,  and  used  the  confederacy  as 
the  great  bulwark  of  New- York,  making  it,  with  English  support,  a 
terror  to  Canada  and  the  Western  tribes." 1 

The  western  boundary  of  New- York  had  not  been  defined  in  the  in- 
structions given  to  Dongan  by  the  Duke  of  York,  but  the  far-sighted 
policy  of  the  Governor  is  abundantly  shown  in  the  following  com- 
munication sent  to  the  Lords  of  the  Board  of  Trade  in  1687.  He  says: 
"  I  send  a  Map  by  Mr.  Spragg  whereby  your  Lords  may  see  the  sev- 
eral governments,  etc.,  how  they  lye;  .  .  .  alsoe  it  points  where  theres 
a  great  River,  discovered  by  one  Lassal,  a  Frenchman  from  Canada, 
who  thereupon  went  into  France,  and  as  its  reported  brought  two  or 
three  vessels  with  people  to  settle  there,  which  (if  true)  will  prove  not 
only  very  inconvenient  to  us  but  to  the  Spanish  alsoe  (the  river 
running  all  along  from  our  Lakes  by  the  Back  of  Virginia  and  Caro- 
lina into  the  Bay  of  Mexico),  and  its  beleeved  Nova  Mexico  cannot  be 
far  from  the  mountains  adjoyning  to  it,  that  place  being  36  d  North 
Latitude,  if  your  Lords  thought  fit  I  could  send  a  Sloop  or  two  from 
this  place  to  discover  that  River."  In  other  words,  Dongan  distinctly 
sought  permission  to  send  an  expedition  up  the  Mississippi  River  in 
order  to  take  possession  for  the  English  of  the  great  valley  through 
which  that  stream  courses,  but  his  superiors  failed  to  appreciate  the 
value  of  such  a  possession  at  that  time,  and  apparently  agreed  with 
the  French  king,  who  found  La  Salle's  exploration  "  very  useless  and 
[that]  such  enterprises  must  be  prevented  hereafter." 

For  some  time  the  Corporation  of  New- York  had  been  desirous  of 
obtaining  a  new  charter  from  the  king  which  should  confirm  their 
old  privileges  and  grant  to  them  all  the  vacant  land  in  and  about  the 
city.  By  the  aid  of  Nicholas  Bayard,  who  was  then  Mayor  and  also 
one  of  the  Council,  and  James  Graham,  who  was  Recorder  and  also 

l  "  The  Great  Colonial  Governor,"  by  Rev.  P.  F.  Dealy,  Mag.  Am.  Hist.,  8: 108.    February,  1882. 


THOMAS    DONGAN    AND    THE    NEW-YORK    CHARTER  425 

Attorney- General  of  the  province,  a  draft  of  the  desired  charter  was 
submitted  to  the  municipal  authorities.  The  engrossed  charter  was 
then  read  and  allowed  in  Council,  and  on  April  27 l  duly  signed  by  the 
Governor,  who  caused  it  to  be  sealed  with  the  old  provincial  seal  which 
the  Duke  of  York  sent  out  in  1669. 

The  charter  declares  New- York  to  be  "an  ancient  city;  and  that 
the  citizens  of  said  city  have,  anciently,  been  a  body  politic  and  cor- 
porate; and  have  had  various  rights,  grants,  and  immunities  under  sev- 
eral governors,  and  under  the  Nether  Dutch  Nation;  and  have  received 
the  same,  either  under  the  name  of  Schout,  Burgomasters,  and  Sche- 
pens,  or  in  their  name  as  Mayor,  Alderman,  and  Commonalty."  More- 
over, the  charter  confirmed  to  the  city  all  prior  grants,  liberties,  and 
franchises ;  also  specially  the  right  of  the  municipality  to  its  City 
Hall,  two  market-houses,  the  bridge  into  the  dock,  the  wharves  or 
dock,  the  new  burial-place  out  of  the  city  gate,  and  the  ferry  from 
the  city  to  Long  Island.  It  contains  a  grant  of  all  the  streets  and 
highways  for  the  public  use,  and  a  right  to  lay  out  others.  Prior 
grants  to  inhabitants  are  confirmed.  An  important  item  is  the  grant 
made  to  the  city  of  "  all  the  waste,  vacant,  and  unappropriated  lands 
on  Manhattan  Island,  extending  to  low-water  mark,  and  all  waters, 
creeks,  etc.,  not  theretofore  granted."  Hunting  and  mining  privileges 
were  conferred,  for  which  one  beaver-skin  was  to  be  rendered  annu- 
ally. Jurisdiction  was  given  over  all  the  Island  of  Manhattan  and 
its  waters  to  low-water  mark. 

The  city  officers  were  to  include  a  mayor,  recorder,  town  clerk,  six 
aldermen  and  six  assistants,  a  chamberlain,  a  sheriff,  and  some  minor 
officers.  The  aldermen  and  assistants  were  to  be  elected  by  the  people 
annually,  one  from  each  ward.  The  mayor,  sheriff,  and  town  clerk 
were  to  be  appointed  by  the  Governor,  and  the  city  was  made  a  body 
corporate  and  politic  under  the  name  of  "  the  Mayor,  Aldermen,  and 
Commonalty  of  the  City  of  New- York,"  and  was  to  have  perpetual 
succession,  with  power  to  get,  receive,  and  hold  lands,  rents,  liberties, 
franchises,  and  chattels,  and  to  transfer  the  same.  The  charter  also 
gave  to  the  mayor,  recorder,  and  aldermen  the  right  to  hold  a  court  of 
common  pleas  for  cases  of  debt  and  other  personal  actions.  Out  of 
the  grants  made  there  was  excepted  Fort  James,  a  piece  of  ground  by 

l  It  bears  the  date  of  April  22,  1686,  and  is  to  be  the  charter  are  several  receipts  for  beaver-skins 

seen  in  the  City  Hall  carefully  preserved  in  a  tin  as  quit-rent,  one  of  which  is  dated  as  late  as 

box,  which  also  contains  the  Montgomerie  charter.  1773.     On  the  signing  of  the  charter  the  Corpora- 

The  parchment  is  as  complete  and  the  writing  as  tion  voted  the  sum  of  £300  to  Governor  Dongan, 

legible  as  when  written ;  and  with  it,  but  now  de-  and  £24  to  John  Spragg,  as  their  official  fees, 

tached  by  time,  is  the  seal  of  the  province,  having  The  fac-simile,  on  another  page,  of  the  first  and 

on  it  the  lion,  the  Irish  harp,  the  thistles,  and  last  pages  of  the  Dongan  charter  is,  so  far  as 

the  fleurs-de-lys ;  with  these  is  the  legend  of  the  known,  the  first  that  has  ever  appeared  of  this 

Order  of  the  Garter  and  Sigillum  Novi  Eboraci.  ancient  and  most  interesting  document. 
To  the  document  is  appended  in  a  bold  hand  the  ••  EDITOR. 

signature  of  "  Thomas  Dongan.''    On  the  back  of 


426 


HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YORK 


the  gate  called  the  Governor's  G-arden,  "  and  the  land  without  the 
gate  called  the  King's  Farm,  with  the  swamp  next  to  the  same  land, 
by  the  Fresh  Water." 

Concerning  the  localities  mentioned  in  the  charter,  the  dock,  which 
was  the  only  landing-place  of  importance  in  the  city,  extended  along 
the  East  River  from  the  present  Broad  street  to  Whitehall  street;  the 
ferry  was  the  one  that  ran  from  the  foot  of  the  present  Peck  Slip  to 
"  Breuckelen."  The  new  burial-place  was  located  where  Trinity  Church- 
yard now  is,  and  the  Governor's 
Garden  adjoined  it,  extending 
from  Broadway  to  low-water 
mark.  The  King's  Farm  ex- 
tended at  that  time  from  Ful- 
ton to  Chambers  street,  and 
subsequently  formed  much  of 
the  land  given  to  Columbia  Col- 
lege by  Trinity  Church.  This 
charter  has  since  continued  to  be 
the  basis  of  the  municipal  laws, 
rights,  privileges,  public  prop- 
erty, and  franchises  of  the  city. 
It  was  worded  with  care,  and 
shows  that  those  who  framed 
it  were  "possessed  of  a  broad 
and  enlightened  sense  of  the 
sanctity  of  corporate  and  pri- 
vate rights."  Following  the  ex- 
ample of  New- York,  Albany,  on 
July  22,  1686,  was  incorporated 
as  a  city,  with  large  franchises,  including  the  management  of  the 
Indian  trade.  Peter  Schuyler,  the  most  conspicuous  of  the  early 
representatives  of  that  family,  became  its  first  Mayor.  Dongan  was 
promised  £300  for  this  charter. 

The  relations  with  the  French  continued  to  be  disturbed,  owing  to 
the  persistence  with  which  they  still  interfered  with  the  Iroquois 
Indians.  A  meeting  of  representatives  of  the  Five  Nations  and  Don- 
gan took  place  in  Albany  on  April  15,  1686.  The  French  had  de- 
termined to  erect  a  strong  post  at  Niagara,  and  Dongan  warned  the 
Indians  of  Denonville's  intention  of  attacking  them,  and,  promising 
his  friendship,  advised  retaliation.  Some  correspondence  between  the 
two  Governors  ensued,  in  which  Dongan  promised  to  do  all  that  he 
could  "  to  prevent  the  Iroquois  harming  the  French  missionaries,  and 
also  to  surrender  all  refugees  from  Canada."  Another  conference  was 
held  at  Fort  James  on  August  30th,  at  which  the  Indians  were  told 


THOMAS    DONGAN    AND    THE    NEW-YOBK    CHARTER  427 

not  to  meet  the  French,  and  assured  by  Dongan  that  if  they  were 
attacked  by  the  French  to  "  let  me  know;  I  will  come;  it  will  be  with 
me  he  shall  have  to  settle."  During  the  summer  months  trading  par- 
ties again  visited  the  western  Indians  with  Dongan's  permission,  and 
were  successful  in  gaining  much  valuable  material.  Denonville, 
irritated  at  Dongan's  success,  and  unable  to  cope  with  his  policy, 
wrote  to  France  towards  the  close  of  the  year  asking  for  specific 
orders,  saying,  "for  I  am  disposed  to  go  straight  to  Orange,  storm 
their  fort,  and  burn  the  whole  concern."  Meanwhile  important 
changes  in  the  government  of  the  colonies  had  occurred.  Those  in 
the  east  had  been  consolidated  into  the  "  Territory  and  Dominion  of 
New  England  in  America,"  over  which  Sir  Edmund  Andros  had 
been  commissioned  "  Captain-General  and  Governor-in-chief." 

A  new  commission  similar  to  that  issued  to  Andros  was  sent  to 
Dongan,  and  he  became  on  June  10,  1686,  the  king's  Captain-General 
and  Governor-in-chief  over  his  "  Province  of  New- York  and  the  terri- 
tories depending  thereon  in  North  America."  Dongan  was  empowered 
to  appoint  judges,  pardon  offenders,  collate  any  person  or  persons  in 
any  churches  which  might  be  vacant,  levy  and  command  the  military 
force  of  the  province,  execute  martial  law,  build  forts,  act  as  Vice- 
Admiral,  grant  lands,  appoint  fairs,  and  regulate  ports,  harbors,  and 
custom-houses;  and  he  was  required  "to  take  all  possible  care  for  the 
discountenance  of  vice  and  encouragement  of  virtue  and  good  living, 
that  by  such  example  the  infidels  may  be  invited  and  desire  to  partake 
of  the  Christian  Religion." 

In  the  instructions  sent  him,  and  which  bore  the  date  of  May  29, 
1686,  he  was  informed:  "You  are  to  declare  our  will  and  pleasure  that 
the  said  Bill  or  Charter  of  Franchises  be  forthwith  repealed  and  dis- 
allowed, as  the  same  is  hereby  repealed,  determined,  and  made  void : 
—  But  you  are,  nevertheless,  with  our  said  Council  to  continue  the 
duties  and  impositions  as  shall  be  sufficient  for  the  support  of  our 
Government  of  New- York.  And  our  further  will  arid  pleasure  is  that 
all  other  laws,  statutes,  and  ordinances  already  made  within  our  said 
Province  of  New- York  shall  continue  and  be  in  full  force  and  vigor, 
so  far  forth  as  they  doe  not  in  any  wise  contradict,  impeach  or  der- 
ogate from  the  Commission  or  the  orders  and  instructions  herewith 
given  you,  till  you  shall,  with  the  advice  of  our  Council,  pass  other 
laws  in  our  name  for  the  good  Government  of  our  said  Province, 
which  you  are  to  doe  with  all  convenient  speed."  Moreover,  any  inno- 
vation of  the  trade  of  the  river  of  New- York  by  East  Jerseymen  or 
others  was  prohibited,  and  all  goods  passing  up  the  Hudson  River 
were  required  to  pay  duties  at  New- York. 

Other  important  instructions  were  to  encourage  the  Indians,  upon 
all  occasions,  that  they  may  apply  themselves  to  English  trade  and 


428  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

nation,  rather  than  to  any  others  of  Europe.  "But  you  are  alsoe  to 
act  soe  prudently,  in  respect  to  your  European  neighbors,  as  to  give 
them  noe  just  cause  for  complaint  against  you."  Inhuman  severities 
which  bad  masters  might  use  against  their  Christian  servants  or  slaves 
were  to  be  restrained  by  law,  and  the  wilful  killing  of  Indians  and 
negroes  made  punishable  by  death.  In  this  connection  it  is  interest- 
ing to  note  that  during  the  year  previous  James  had  announced  to 
his  Privy  Council  his  resolution  "  that  the  negroes  in  the  Plantations 
should  all  be  baptized ;  exceedingly  declaiming  against  that  impiety 
of  their  masters  prohibiting  it,  out  of  a  mistaken  opinion  that  they 
would  be,  ipso  facto,  free."  Chancellor  Kent l  says :  "  It  ought,  how- 
ever, to  be  noted  in  honor  of  the  laws  promulgated  under  the  early 
administration  of  the  Colony  [New- York]  by  the  Duke  of  York,  and 
known  as  the  Duke's  Laws,  and  which  continued  in  force  from  1665  to 
1683,  that  it  was  forbidden  to  a  Christian  to  keep  a  slave,  except  per- 
sons adjudged  thereto  by  authority  or  such  as  have  willingly  sold  or 
shall  sell  themselves."  And  this  too  at  a  time  when,  according  to  Brod- 
head,2  "  The  New  England  Puritans  ruthlessly  enslaved  both  the  long- 
haired native  red  American  and  the  curly-haired  imported  black 
African.  But  New- York  was  more  just  towards  the  superior  aborigi- 
nal races  who  occupied  North  America  ages  before  Europeans  usurped 
their  lands." 

Another  important  item  in  the  instructions  was  this:  "And  for 
as  much  as  great  inconvenience  may  arise  by  the  liberty  of  printing 
within  our  Province  of  New- York,  you  are  to  provide  by  all  necessary 
orders,  that  no  person  keep  any  press  for  printing,  nor  that  any 
book,  pamphlet,  or  other  matters  whatsoever,  bee  printed  without 
your  special  leave  and  license  first  obtained." 

The  new  commission  and  instructions  duly  reached  Dongan  on 
September  14,  1686,  when  he  at  once  took  oath  "  to  execute  the  office 
and  trust  of  His  Majesty's  Captain-General  and  Govern or-in-chief  in 
and  over  the  Province  of  New- York,  and  the  territories  depending 
thereon."  The  new  counselors  were  sworn  excepting  Santen,  who  was 
deemed  "wholly  unfit  for  business."  In  October  a  commission  was 
given  to  the  Rev.  Alexander  Tunis  to  succeed  the  Rev.  Josiah  Clarke 
as  the  chaplain  of  the  king's  garrison  at  Fort  James. 

Early  in  December  the  Governor  and  his  Council  took  up  for  con- 
sideration the  instructions  from  the  king  vesting  all  legislative  power 
in  their  hands,  and,  after  due  deliberation,  on  December  9,  1686,  they 
ordered  "  that  all  the  branches  of  the  revenue,  and  all  other  laws  which 
have  been  made  since  the  year  1683,  except  such  as  His  Majesty  has 
repealed,  remaine  and  continue  as  they  are  now  till  further  consid- 
eration." A  few  days  later  it  was  directed  that  "every  Monday  be 

l "  Commentaries,"  2 :  281.  2  «  New  York,"  2 :  486. 


THOMAS    DONGAN    AND    THE    NEW-YORK    CHARTER 


429 


THE    SCHUYLER    ARMS. 


council  day  for  the  consideration  of  the  King's  affairs,  and  every 
Thursday  for  the  hearing  of  public  business."  The  population  of 
New- York  had  greatly  increased,  and  was  now  estimated  to  be  about 
eighteen  thousand.  In  accordance  with  the  powers  delegated  to  the 
Governor  and  his  Council,  a  proclamation 
was  issued  on  January  20th,  declaring  that 
the  General  Assembty  of  the  Province  of 
New- York  was  dissolved.  This  act,  which 
deprived  the  people  of  any  further  repre- 
sentation in  the  passing  of  laws  or  in  tax- 
ing themselves,  has  been  characterized  by 
Brodhead  as  "the  forerunner  of  revolu- 
tion"; and  in  truth  the  people,  no  longer 
governing  themselves,  did  in  the  course 
of  a  few  years  revolt,  as  will  hereafter 
appear.  Soon  the  Council  was  obliged  to 
make  laws,  and  the  first,  bearing  date  of 
February  24,  1687,  was  one  reenacting  the 
former  revenue  law  passed  by  the  Assem- 
bly in  October,  1683.  Other  laws  of  more 
or  less  importance  were  enacted  during  the  following  summer  and 
autumn,  but  none  of  them  had  any  special  bearing  on  the  city. 

Reference  has  been  made  to  the  request  of  the  Jews  for  permission 
"  to  exercise  their  religion,"  and  on  February  24,  1687,  the  Quakers  of 
New- York  presented  an  address  to  the  Governor  complaining  of  the 
seizure  of  their  goods  in  accordance  with  the  militia  law  which  directed 
that  all  persons  who  refused  to  train  were  liable  to  have  their  goods 
seized  if  they  did  not  pay  their  fines.  The  Quakers  claimed  that  any 
such  seizure  was  an  infringement  upon  the  liberty  accorded  by  the 
Charter  of  Liberty  to  all  peaceable  persons  professing  faith  in  Christ. 
The  Council,  however,  decided  otherwise,  and  unanimously  gave  it  as 
their  opinion  "  that  no  man  can  be  exempted  from  that  obligation, 
and  that  such  as  make  failure  therein,  let  their  pretents  be  what  they 
will,  must  submit  to  undergoing  such  penalties  as  by  the  said  act  is 
provided." 

The  difficulty  with  East  Jersey  continued,  and  in  February  Don- 
gan  wrote  to  the  Plantations  Committee  that,  the  inhabitants  there 
"  paying  noe  Custom  and  having  likewise  the  advantage  of  having 
better  land  and  most  of  the  Settlers  there  out  of  this  Government, 
Wee  are  like  to  be  deserted  by  a  great  many  of  our  Merchants  whoe  in- 
tend to  settle  there  if  not  annexed  to  this  Government."  He  com- 
plains of  the  smuggling  and  of  the  trade  with  the  Indians,  who  find  a 
better  market  in  Jersey,  because  the  people  there  pay  unoe  Custom  nor 
Excise  inwards  or  outwards  " ;  also  how  "  very  often  shipps  bound 


430  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

to  this  place  break  bulk  there  and  run  their  goods  into  that  Colony 
with  intent  afterwards  to  import  the  same  privately  and  at  more  lei- 
sure into  this  Province  notwithstanding  their  Oath,  they  salving  them- 
selves with  this  evasion  that  that  place  is  not  in  this  Government."  To 
prevent  all  further  inconveniences,  he  asks  for  an  order  "  to  make  up 
a  small  Fort  with  twelve  guns  upon  Sandys  Hook,  the  Channell  there 
being  soe  near  the  shore  that  noe  vessel  can  goe  in  nor  out  but  she  must 
come  soe  near  the  Point  that  from  on  board  one  might  toss  a  biscuit 
cake  on  shore."  He  discusses  the  desirability  of  annexation  at  some 
length,  and  then  abruptly  closes  with,  "  To  bee  short,  there  is  an  abso- 
lute necessity  those  Provinces  and  that  of  Connecticut  be  annexed." 

It  was  about  this  time  that  Lucas  Santen  was  sent  as  a  prisoner  to 
England,  and  in  the  same  ship  John  Spragg  and  Jervis  Baxter  con- 
veyed important  despatches  to  the  home  government.  In  place  of 
Santen,  Dongan  begged  the  king  to  allow  him  to  name  a  Collector 
from  among  those  who  lived  in  New- York,  for  those  who  came  from 
England  expect  "  to  run  suddenly  into  a  great  estate,  which  this  small 
place  cannot  afford  them." 

The  Governor's  report,  which  was  sent  to  the  Plantations  Committee 
at  their  request,  was  conveyed  by  the  two  messengers  just  mentioned, 
and  the  document  itself  has  been  referred  to  as  "  a  masterly  produc- 
tion." l  Brodhead  calls  it  "  one  of  the  most  careful  as  well  as  most 
honest  pictures  of  his  provincial  government  which  an  American  sub- 
ordinate ever  sent  home  to  his  English  Sovereign." 

It  gave  full  descriptions  of  the  judiciary  of  New- York  and  of  its 
workings,  and  of  the  military  resources  of  the  colony,  the  conditions 
of  the  fortifications  in  New- York,  Albany,  and  Pemaquid.  The  an- 
nexation of  Pemaquid  to  Massachusetts  and  of  Connecticut  to  New 
York  was  advocated.  Concerning  immigration  he  wrote :  "  I  believe 
for  these  seven  years  last  past  there  has  not  come  over  into  this  Prov- 
ince twenty  English,  Scotch,  or  Irish  families.  But  on  the  contrary 
on  Long  Island  the  people  increased  soe  fast  that  they  complain  for 
want  of  land,  and  many  remove  from  thence  into  the  neighbouring 
province.  But  of  French,  there  have,  since  my  coming  here,  severall 
families  come  both  from  St.  Christophers  and  England,  and  a  great 
many  more  are  expected;  as  alsoe  from  Holland  are  come  several 
Dutch  families,  which  is  another  great  argument  of  the  necessity  of 
adding  to  this  government  the  neighbouring  English  Colonies,  that  a 
more  equal  ballance  may  bee  kept  here  between  his  Majesty's  natural! 
born  subjects  and  Foreigners,  which  latter  are  the  most  prevailing 
part  of  this  government."  Reference  is  made  to  the  religious  beliefs 
of  the  Colonists  (see  page  403),  and  he  adds :  "Every  town  and  county 
are  obliged  to  maintain  their  own  poor,  which  makes  them  bee  soe 

1  Eev.  P.  F.  Dealy,  Mag.  Am.  Hist.,  8 : 109.     February,  1882. 


THOMAS  DONGAN  AND  THE  NEW-YOKK  CHARTER 


431 


careful  that  noe  vagabonds,  beggars,  nor  idle  persons  are  suffered  to 
live  here.  But  as  for  the  King's  natural-born  subjects  that  live  on 
Long  Island  and  other  parts  of  Government,  I  find  it  a  hard  task  to 
make  them  pay  their  ministers."  The  relations  with  the  Indians  were 
described,  and  his  own  policy  discussed  at  some  length  with  important 
recommendations. 

Meanwhile,  on  December  19,  1686,  Sir  Edmund  Andros,  Governor 
of  New  England,  had  arrived  in  Boston,  and  the  possession  of  Connec- 
ticut soon  became  a  question  of  dispute  between  himself  and  Dongan. 
On  the  one  hand,  Connecticut  was  asked  to  surrender  her  charter  and 
become  part  of  New  England,  while  on  the  other,  Dongan,  feeling  that 
the  giving  up  of  Pemaquid  to  New 
England  entitled  him  to  some  com- 
pensation, strongly  urged  that  Con- 
necticut be  annexed  to  New- York. 
Finally,  on  October  31,  1687,  Andros 
"  took  into  his  hands  the  government 
of  this  Colony  of  Connecticut,  it  being 
by  his  Majesty  annexed  to  the  Massa- 
chusetts and  other  Colony s  under  His 
Excellency's  Government." 

On  the  northern  frontier  the  French 
persisted  in  their  efforts  to  obtain  con- 
trol of  the  traffic  with  the  Indians  and 
to  compel  their  submission  to  the  Gov- 
ernor of  Canada,  but  Dongan  main- 
tained a. strong  stand  against  their 
encroachments,  even  after  the  pass- 
ing of  the  treaty  of  neutrality  between 
France  and  England,  by  which  it  was 
agreed  that  firm  peace  and  neutrality 
should  exist  between  the  English  and  French  subjects  in  America. 
A  copy  of  this  treaty  was  received  by  Dongan  early  in  June.  Denon- 
ville  was  not  slow  to  act  on  the  advantage  promised  by  this  agree- 
ment between  the  two  kings,  and  very  promptly  seized  fifty  Indians 
who  had  come  to  Catarocony  to  confer  with  the  Governor  of  Canada, 
and  sent  them  to  France  to  serve  in  the  galleys  there.  Many  trading 
parties  from  Albany  were  seized  and  the  territory  of  the  Senecas  oc- 
cupied by  the  French,  who  had  defeated  the  Indians  in  several  battles. 
In  August  a  conference  was  held  in  Albany  between  the  Indians  and 
Dongan,  and  the  latter  then  felt  justified  in  supplying  the  red  men  with 
arms  and  ammunition,  although  he  declined  to  assist  them  with  sol- 
diers. Matters  failed  to  improve,  and  Dongan  then  decided  to  spend 
the  winter  in  Albany. 


432 


HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 


THE    DONGAN    MAP.1 

Before  leaving  New- York  he  appointed  Stephanus  Van  Cortlandt  to 
be  Mayor  of  the  city,  and  James  Graham  was  admitted  to  the  Council. 
On  October  25,  1687,  it  was  ordered  in  Council  that  "  Major  Brockholls 
sign  all  warrants,  papers,  and  licenses,  usually  signed  by  his  Excel- 
lency, and  that  all  public  business  be  managed  by  him  and  the  Council 
as  if  his  Excellency  was  present."  He  reached  Albany  early  in  No- 

1  This  hitherto  unpublished  map  is  a  f  ac-simile  of  one  made  by  order  of  Colonel  Dongan.    The  original 
is  dated  Sept.  14,  1699,  and  acknowledged  Jan.  20,  1700.    The  map  was  recorded  Jan.  2,  1715. 

EDITOR. 


THOMAS  DONGAN  AND  THE  NEW-YORK  CHARTER     433 

vember,  and  there  found  the  inhabitants  of  that  place  in  considerable 
alarm  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  destruction  of  that  place  and  Sche- 
nectady  was  threatened  by  the  French,  who  further  announced  their 
intention  of  sending  the  inhabitants  of  these  places  to  Spain,  Portugal, 
and  the  West  Indies. 

Meanwhile,  in  September,  John  Palmer  had  been  sent  to  England 
with  full  instructions  from  Dongan  to  lay  before  the  king  the  condi- 
tion of  affairs  in  New-York  and  the  conduct  of  the  French  in  Canada. 
He  reached  London  at  about  the  same  time  that  Dongan  arrived  at 
Albany.  It  was  soon  made  apparent  that  a  treaty  of  neutrality  in 
America  was  not  for  the  interest  of  England.  The  claim  put  forward 
originally  by  Andros,  and  adhered  to  by  Dongan,  that  the  Five  Nations 
were  British  subjects,  was  now  accepted  by  James,  who,  on  November 
10, 1687,  instructed  Dongan  to  defend  and  protect  the  Iroquois  Indians 
from  the  Canadians ;  to  build  necessary  forts ;  to  employ  the  militia 
of  New- York,  and  to  call  on  all  the  neighboring  English  colonies  for 
assistance.  The  French  king,  however,  complained  to  James  of  the 
behavior  of  Dongan,  and,  to  appease  the  French  monarch,  an  agree- 
ment was  signed  to  the  effect  that  until  the  first  day  of  January,  1689, 
and  afterwards,  no  English  or  French  commander  in  America  should 
commit  any  act  of  hostility  against  the  territories  of  either  sovereign. 

Governor  Dongan  remained  in  Albany  until  March  28,  1688,  when 
he  returned  to  the  metropolis.  Earlier  in  March  he  had  sent  Jervis 
Baxter  with  a  message  to  the  Council  requiring  them  to  consider  ways 
and  means  to  meet  the  extraordinary  expenses  caused  by  the  trouble 
with  the  French.  These  it  appears  amounted  to  upwards  of  £8000,  and 
the  Council  decided  that,  as  New- York  "  alone  is  no  way  able  to  bear 
so  great  a  burthen,"  it  be  recommended  that  the  neighboring  colonies 
be  called  upon  to  bear  part  of  the  expenses. 

In  an  address  to  the  king  written  on  March  28th,  Dongan  said  u  that 
the  French  war  has  stop't  the  beaver  trade ;  so  that,  without  some 
speedy  help,  this  place  will  be  ruined."  He  also  wrote  to  the  govern- 
ments of  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  Virginia,  and  New  Jersey  to  aid 
that  of  New- York  with  money ;  as  New  England,  "  being  to  help  us 
with  six  hundred  men,  any  other  assistance  cannot  be  proposed  from 
them."  Dongan  himself  had  pledged  his  personal  credit  and  even 
mortgaged  his  farm  on  Staten  Island  to  secure  £2000,  which  he  had 
borrowed  from  Robert  Livingston  to  meet  the  expenses  of  the  Albany 
expedition.  The  colonies  appealed  to  failed  to  respond,  but  Lord 
Effingham  of  Virginia,  who  knew  personally  of  Dongan's  ability  in 
managing  the  Indians,  sent  him  £500.  In  May  the  province  found 
itself  so  in  debt  that  the  Council  passed  an  act  to  raise  £2555  in  the 
several  counties  at  a  fixed  rate;  the  same  to  be  paid  at  the  custom- 
house in  New- York  before  November,  1688. 
VOL.  I.— 28. 


434  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

Meanwhile  James  II.  was  busy  studying  over  his  policy  of  consoli- 
dation. The  recommendations  of  Dongau,  which  had  great  influence 
with  the  king,  all  indicated  that  a  stronger  government  would  ensue 
if  the  colonies  were  combined  under  one  management.  He  therefore 
decided  to  annex  New- York  and  New  Jersey  to  the  other  colonies, 
and  form  the  Dominion  of  New  England.  Acting  on  this  decision,  he 
appointed  Sir  Edmund  Andros  on  March  23,  1688,  to  be  Grovernor- 
General  of  the  whole  "  Territory  and  Dominion  of  New  England  in 
America,"  which  included  all  of  British  North  America  between  Dela- 
ware Bay  and  Passamaquoddy,  and  stretching  across  the  continent 
from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  "  our  Province  of  Pennsylvania  and 
Country  of  Delaware  only  excepted." 

Early  in  April  the  ministers,  elders,  and  deacons  of  the  ancient  met- 
ropolitan church  petitioned  Dongan  that,  as  they  wished  to  build  their 
new  church  outside  the  fort,  he  would  establish  them  "as  a  body 
corporate  and  ecclesiastic,  and  thereby  qualified  persons,  capable  in 
law  to  have,  hold,  and  enjoy  lands  and  tenements,  etc.,  under  the 
name  and  style  of  the  Minister  or  Ministers,  Elders,  and  Deacons  of 
the  Dutch  Reformed  Church  in  America." 

In  May,  1688,  news  came  from  Albany  that  the  French  were  again 
troublesome,  and  it  was  deemed  necessary  by  the  Council  that  Dongan 
should  go  there  at  once  and  that  soldiers  be  sent  up  the  river  to  watch 
the  enemy.  He  named  Stephanus  Van  Cortlandt,  Frederick  Philipse, 
and  Nicholas  Bayard  as  proper  persons  to  manage  provincial  affairs 
during  his  absence,  and  gave  them  full  instructions  how  to  act  as  his 
temporary  representatives.  He  returned  in  July,  and  then  found  the 
king's  letter  of  April  22d  awaiting  him,  which  informed  him  of  An- 
dros's  appointment,  also  advising  him  that  on  the  arrival  of  the  new 
Governor  in  New- York  the  seal  and  records  of  that  province  must  be 
delivered  to  him.  This  communication  was  read  in  Council  and 
ordered  to  be  recorded  amongst  the  records  of  the  province  of  New 
York.  Dongan,  however,  continued  in  the  active  administration  of 
affairs  for  some  weeks  longer,  and  among  the  last  acts  of  his  Council 
is  one  passed  on  July  30th  "  for  the  care  of  this  his  Majesty's  Province, 
which  it  is  his  Majesty's  pleasure  should  be  annexed  to  his  Govern- 
ment of  New  England,  Ordered  that  all  further  proceedings  towards 
the  levying  the  late  tax  and  imposition  of  £2555,  to  be  paid  by  the 
first  day  of  November  next,  do  cease,  and  it  is  hereby  suspended  till 
further  order."  The  last  law  passed  by  him,  on  August  2d,  was  one  "  to 
prohibit  shoemakers  from  using  the  mystery  of  tanning  hides."  An- 
dros in  the  mean  time  had  set  out  for  New- York,  and  on  August  11, 
1688,  reached  the  city,  where  he  was  received  by  Colonel  Nicholas 
Bayard's  regiment  of  foot  and  a  troop  of  horse. 

Thus  the  administration  of  Thomas  Dongan  came  to  an  end.    It 


THOMAS  DONGAN  AND  THE  NEW- YORK  CHARTER     435 

has  been  well  said  that  "his  firm  and  judicious  policy,  his  steadfast 
integrity,  and  his  pleasing  and  courteous  address  soon  won  the  affec- 
tions of  the  people  and  made  him  one  of  the  most  popular  of  the 
Royal  governors." '  Even  Thomas  Hinckley,  who  was  Governor  of 
Plymouth,  said  of  him  that  "  he  was  of  a  noble,  praiseworthy  mind 
and  spirit,  taking  care  that  all  the  people  in  each  town  do  their  duty 
in  maintaining  the  minister  of  the 
place,  though  himself  of  a  different 
opinion  from  their  way." 

The  subsequent  career  of  Don- 
gan  is  not  without  interest,  and  is 
somewhat  connected  with  the  later 
history  of  New- York.  The  king 
offered  him  the  command  of  a  regi- 
ment with  the  rank  of  major-gen- 
eral, but  these  evidences  of  royal 
satisfaction  were  declined,  and  the 
late  Governor  determined  to  re- 
main in  the  vicinity  of  New-York.  DONGAN,S  HOUSE  ON  STATEN  "ISLAND> 
He  owned  considerable  property 
within  what  are  now  the  city  limits  of  New- York,  and  a  farm  in  Hemp- 
stead,  Long  Island,  to  which  he  retired  when  Andros  left  the  city. 
Also,  in  1687,  he  had  purchased  a  manor-house  and  some  twenty-five 
thousand  acres  of  ground  on  Staten  Island,  which  he  formed  into  "the 
lordship  and  manor  of  Cassiltowne."  On  this  property  was  a  grist- 
mill and  a  hunting-lodge,  the  latter  of  which  is  shown  in  the  illustra- 
tion as  it  was  recently.  It  is  also  said  that  he  owned  land  in 
Martha's  Vineyard.  His  governorship  had  not  been  a  source  of  profit 
to  him,  and  he  remained  in  New- York  in  order  to  care  for  his  property.2 

With  the  news  of  the  flight  of  James  to  France  there  came  troubled 
times  to  New- York.  It  was  feared  that  the  adherents  of  the  late  king 
would  seize  the  colony,  and  it  was  said  that  Dongan  was  the  instigator 
of  a  plot  to  burn  the  city.  It  was  noised  about  that  Staten  Island  was 
full  of  roaming  Papists,  and  later,  when  Jacob  Leisler  assumed  the  con- 
trol of  the  government,  Dongan's  residence  on  that  island  was  searched 
for  arms.  The  finding  of  four  guns  there  was  regarded  as  great  evidence 
against  him.  Hunted  from  place  to  place,  he  finally  took  refuge  on  a 
brigantine  belonging  to  him,  and  remained  hidden  there  in  the  bay  for 
a  fortnight,  seeking  to  sail  for  England ;  but  the  weather  being  un- 
favorable, he  returned  to  the  colony,  and  made  his  way  to  New  Lon- 
don. There  he  was  joined  by  Andros,  who  had  escaped  from  prison, 

1  "History  of  the  City  of  New- York,"  by  Mary  way,  between  Maiden  Lane  and  Ann  street.     It 
L.  Booth,  p.  207.  covered  several  acres,  and  many  of  his  leisure 

2  Governor  Dongan  had  a  beautiful  garden,  to  hours  were  spent  there  among  his  flowers, 
which  he  was  greatly  attached,  fronting  on  Broad-  EDITOB. 


436  HISTORY  or  NEW-YORK 

arid  it  was  said  that  he  was  engaged  in  a  scheme  to  sell  Martha's 
Vineyard.  Subsequently  he  returned  to  Hempstead,  Long  Island, 
but  early  in  1690  writs  were  issued  for  the  apprehension  of  various 
Papists,  including  Dongan.  He  then  made  his  way  to  New  Jersey, 
and  finally  reached  Boston,  where  he  remained  (as  far  as  is  known) 
until  some  time  in  1691,  when  he  sailed  for  England.1 

His  brother,  who  had  been  made  Earl  of  Limerick  in  1685,  followed 
James  into  exile  and  died  in  Saint  Germains  in  1698,  but  the  estates 
in  Ireland  were  confiscated  and  made  over  to  the  Earl  of  Athlone. 
The  title  passed  to  Thomas  Dongan,  who  was  then  introduced  to  Wil- 
liam at  Kensington,"  whose  hand  he  kissed  on  the  occasion  of  succeed- 
ing to  the  Earldom  of  Limerick." 

Greatly  reduced  in  circumstances,  the  late  Governor  made  frequent 
applications  to  the  government,  asking  that  his  family  estates  be  re- 
stored to  him.  He  also  endeavored  to  secure  the  payment  of  long 
arrears  of  his  pension  as  well  as  for  the  advances  made  by  him  to  the 
government  while  in  America.  It  was  not,  however,  until  1702  that 
he  was  allowed  £2500  in  tallies,  being  part  payment  of  advances  made 
by  him  while  Governor  of  New- York.  In  May  of  the  same  year,  an 
act  of  Parliament  was  passed  recognizing  his  succession  to  his  brother's 
estates ;  but  he  was  only  to  be  permitted  to  redeem  these  on  the  pay- 
ment of  claims  of  purchasers  from  the  Earl  of  Athlone.  His  property 
in  America  was  at  first  left  in  the  charge  of  agents  for  rental  or  sale, 
and  ultimately  passed  into  the  hands  of  his  nephews,  Thomas,  John, 
and  Walter  Dongan.  In  the  deed  making  over  the  estate  to  his 
relatives  he  says  that  it  is  given  to  them  "  in  order  that  they  may 
preserve,  advance,  and  uphold  the  name  of  Dongan."  The  farm  at 
Hempstead  was  sold  by  Thomas  Dongan  to  pay  the  Governor's  debts. 
The  estate  on  Staten  Island  seems  to  have  been  retained  as  a  family 
residence,  and  passed  to  the  heirs  of  Walter  Dongan,  as  the  other  kins- 
men died  without  issue.  In  1704  Dongan  made  an  appeal  to  Queen 
Anne,  saying  that  if  a  third  of  what  was  due  him  were  paid  he  would 
release  the  rest,  and  that  it  would  be  better,  under  the  circumstances, 
to  live  in  Turkey  than  in  England;  but  no  attention  appears  to  have 
been  paid  to  this  request.  Ten  years  later,  in  a  petition  to  the  Com- 
missioners of  the  Treasury,  he  writes  that,  after  paying  his  brother's 
debts  and  his  own,  he  had  little  left  for  his  support.  He  never  married, 
and  finally  died  in  London,  and  his  remains  were  interred  in  St. 

1 "  After  he  gave  up  his  position  Governor  Don-  his  administration  he  was  tolerant  to  all  creeds, 

gan  retired  to  his  farm  at  Hempstead.    When  the  not  only  because  his  instructions  so  enjoined,  but 

anti-Catholic  fever  raged  he  was  brought  under  because  his  own  spirit  was  generous  and  liberal, 

suspicion.     Because  he  constructed  a  brigantine  Those  were  evil  times  which  chose  such  a  man  for 

for  a  visit  to  England,  he  was  charged  with  get-  a  victim,  and  heaped  false  charges  upon  him,  and 

ting  up  a  force  to  maintain  the  authority  of  James  drove  him,  even  temporarily,  from  his  rural  home, 

against  William  and  Mary,  and  in  Leisler's  time  a  where  he  was  illustrating  the  modest  virtues  of  a 

warrant  was  issued  for  his  arrest.    He  withdrew  private   person."— "History   of   New-York,"  by 

across  the  border  until  the  craze  passed  away.    In  Ellis  H.  Roberts,  1 : 196. 


THOMAS    DONGAN    AND    THE    NEW-YORK    CHARTER  437 

Pancras  Churchyard,  Middlesex.     On  his  tombstone  appears  the  fol- 
lowing inscription : 

THE  RIGHT  HONOURABLE  THOMAS  DONGAN 

EARL  OP  LYMERICK 

DIED  DECEMBER  14TH  AGED  EIGHTY-ONE  YEARS,  1715, 
REQUIESCAT  IN  PACE.    AMEN. 

"  The  highest  eulogy,"  says  Dealy,  "  that  can  be  pronounced  upon 
him  is  that  it  was  he,  beyond  even  and  above  his  able  predecessors, 
who  by  his  magnanimous  statesmanship,  moderation  of  temperament, 
and  unaffected  respect  for  the  rights  and  liberties  of  others  prepared 
the  way  for  all  that  is  most  admirable  in  the  constitution  and  policy 
of  our  great  Eepublic,  which  arose  from  out  the  ruins  of  a  neglected 
and  ill-governed  colony  to  be  glorious  in  the  future  with  the  brilliant 
records  of  conquest  in  the  domains  of  peace,  liberty,  and  religious 
freedom." 


THE   CHARTER  OF   THE  CITY  OF  NEW-YORK,    1686. 

THOMAS  DONGAN,  lieutenant-governor  and  vice-admiral  of  New-York,  and  its  de- 
pendencies, under  his  majesty  James  (the  second)  by  the  grace  of  God,  of  England, 
Scotland,  France,  and  Ireland,  king,  defender  of  the  faith,  supreme  lord  and  proprietor 
of  the  colony  and  province  of  New- York,  and  its  dependencies  in  America,  &c.  To 
all  to  whom  this  shall  come,  sendeth  greeting :  Whereas,  the  city  of  New- York,  is  an  ancient 
city  within  the  said  province,  and  the  citizens  of  the  said  city  have  anciently  been  a 
body  politic  and  corporate  ;  and  the  citizens  of  the  said  city  have  held,  used,  and  en- 
joyed, as  well  within  the  same,  as  elsewhere,  in  the  said  province,  divers  and  sundry 
rights,  liberties,  privileges,  franchises,  free-customs,  preeminences,  advantages,  juris- 
dictions, emoluments,  and  immunities,  as  well  by  prescription  as  by  charter,  letters 
patent,  grants,  and  confirmations,  not  only  of  divers  governors  and  commanders-in- 
chief,  in  the  said  province,  but  also  of  several  governors,  directors,  generals,  and  com- 
manders-in-chief,  of  the  Nether  Dutch  nation,  whilst  the  same  was  or  has  been  under 
their  power  and  subjection.  And  ivhereas  divers  lands,  tenements,  and  hereditaments, 
jurisdictions,  liberties,  immunities,  and  privileges,  have  heretofore  been  given  and 
granted,  or  mentioned  to  be  given  and  granted,  to  the  citizens  and  inhabitants  of  the 
said  city,  sometimes  by  the  name  of  Schout,  Burgomasters,  and  Schephens  of  the  city 
of  New  Amsterdam  ;  and  sometimes  by  The  name  of  the  Mayor,  Aldermen,  and  Com- 
monalty of  the  city  of  New- York  ;  sometimes  by  the  name  of  The  Mayor,  Aldermen, 
and  Sheriff  of  the  city  of  New- York ;  sometimes  by  the  name  of,  The  Mayor  and  Al- 
dermen of  the  city  of  New-York ;  and  by  divers  other  names  as  by  their  several  letters 
patents,  charters,  grants,  writings,  records,  and  minuments,  amongst  other  things,  may 
more  fully  appear.  And  whereas  the  citizens  and  inhabitants  of  the  said  city  have 
erected,  built,  and  appropriated,  at  their  own  proper  costs  and  charges,  several  public 
buildings,  accommodations,  and  conveniencies  for  the  said  city,  That  is  to  say,  the  City 
Hall,  or  Stat-House,  with  the  ground  thereunto  belonging,  two  Market- Houses,  the 
bridge  into  the  dock,  the  wharves  or  docks,  with  their  appurtenances ;  and  the  new 
burial  place  without  the  gate  of  the  city  ;  and  have  established  and  settled  one  ferry 


438  HISTORY    OF    NEW- YORK 

from  the  said  city  of  New- York  to  Long  Island,  for  the  accommodation  and  conve- 
niency  of  passengers,  the  said  citizens,  and  travellers. 

And  wJiereas  several  the  inhabitants  of  the  said  city,  and  of  Manhattan's  Island,  do 
hold  from  and  under  his  most  sacred  majesty  respectively,  as  well  by  several  and 
respective  letters  patents,  grants,  charters,  and  conveyances,  made  and  granted  by  the 
late  lieutenants,  governors,  or  commanders-in-chief ,  of  the  said  province,  as  otherwise, 
several  and  respective  messuages,  lands,  tenements,  and  hereditaments,  upon  Manhat- 
tan's Island,  and  in  the  city  of  New- York,  aforesaid,  and  as  well  as  the  said  Mayor,  Al- 
dermen, and  Commonalty,  of  the  said  city,  and  their  successors,  as  also,  the  inhabitants 
of  the  said  Manhattan's  Island,  and  the  city  of  New- York,  aforesaid,  and  their  heirs, 
and  assigns  respectively,  may  hold,  exercise,  and  enjoy,  not  only  such  and  the  same 
liberties,  privileges,  and  franchises,  rights,  royalties,  free  custom,  jurisdictions,  and 
immunities,  as  they  have  anciently  had,  used,  held,  and  enjoyed ;  but  also  such  public 
buildings,  accommodations,  conveniencies,  messuages,  tenements,  lands,  and  heredita- 
ments, in  the  said  city  of  New- York,  and  upon  Manhattan's  Island  aforesaid,  which, 
as  aforesaid,  have  been  by  the  citizens  and  inhabitants  erected  and  built,  or  which 
have,  as  aforesaid,  been  held,  enjoyed,  granted,  and  conveyed  unto  them,  or  any  of 
them,  respectively. 

Know  ye,  therefore,  That  I,  the  said  Thomas  Dongan,  by  virtue  of  the  commission 
and  authority  unto  me  given,  and  power  in  me  residing,  at  the  humble  petition  of  the 
now  Mayor,  Aldermen,  and  Commonalty  of  the  said  city  of  New- York,  and  for  divers 
other  good  causes  and  considerations,  me  thereunto  moving,  have  given,  granted,  rati- 
fied, and  confirmed,  and  by  these  presents,  for  and  on  the  behalf  of  his  most  sacred 
majesty  aforesaid,  his  heirs,  successors,  and  assigns,  do  give,  grant,  ratify,  and  confirm 
unto  the  said  Mayor,  Aldermen,  and  Commonalty  of  the  said  city,  all  and  every  such 
and  the  same  liberties,  privileges,  franchises,  rights,  royalties,  free  customs,  jurisdic- 
tions, and  immunities,  which  they  by  the  name  of  The  Mayor,  and  Commonalty,  or 
otherwise,  have  anciently  had,  held,  used,  or  enjoyed,  Provided  always,  That  none  of 
the  said  liberties,  privileges,  franchises,  rights,  free  customs,  jurisdictions,  or  immu- 
nities be  inconsistent  with,  or  repugnant  to,  the  laws  of  his  majesty's  kingdom  of  Eng- 
land, or  any  other  the  laws  of  the  general  Assembly  of  this  province ;  and  the 
aforesaid  public  buildings,  accommodations,  and  conveniencies  in  the  said  city,  That  is 
to  say,  The  aforesaid  City-Hall,  or  Stat-House,  with  the  ground  thereunto  belonging, 
two  Market-houses,  the  bridge  into  the  dock,  the  wharves  or  dock,  the  said  new  burial 
place,  and  the  aforementioned  ferry,  with  their  and  every  of  their  rights,  members  and 
appurtenances,  together  with  all  the  profits,  benefits  and  advantages  which  shall  or 
may  accrue  and  arise  at  all  times  hereafter,  for  dockage  or  wharfage,  within  the  said 
dock,  with  all  and  singular  the  rents,  issues,  profits,  gains,  and  advantages  which  shall 
or  may  arise,  grow,  or  accrue  by  the  said  City-Hall,  or  Stat-House,  and  ground  there- 
unto belonging,  market-houses,  bridge,  dock,  burying  place,  ferry,  and  other  the 
above  mentioned  premises,  or  any  of  them  ;  and  also,  all  and  every  the  streets,  lanes, 
highways  and  alleys  within  the  said  city  of  New- York,  and  Manhattan's  Island  afore- 
said, for  the  public  use  and  service  of  the  said  Mayor,  Aldermen,  and  Commonalty  of 
the  said  city,  and  of  the  inhabitants  of  Manhattan's  Island  aforesaid,  and  travellers 
there ;  together  with  full  power,  license  and  authority  to  the  said  Mayor,  Aldermen, 
and  Commonalty,  and  their  successors  for  ever,  to  establish,  appoint,  order,  and  direct 
the  establishing,  making,  laying  out,  ordering,  amending,  and  repairing  of  all  streets, 
lanes,  alleys,  highways,  water-courses,  ferry  and  bridges,  in  and  throughout  the  said 
city  of  New-York  and  Manhattan's  Island,  aforesaid  necessary,  needful  and  convenient 
for  the  inhabitants  of  the  said  city,  and  Manhattan's  Island  aforesaid,  and  for  all 
travellers  and  passengers  there :  Provided  always,  That  this  said  license  so  as  above 
granted,  for  the  establishing,  making,  laying  out  of  streets,  lanes,  alleys,  highways, 
ferries  and  bridges,  be  not  extended  or  be  construed  to  extend,  to  the  taking  away  of 


THOMAS  DONGAN  AND  THE  NEW- YORK  CHARTER     439 

any  person  or  person's  right  or  property,  without  his,  her,  or  their  consent,  or  by  some 
known  law  of  the  said  province.  And  for  the  considerations  aforesaid,  I  do  likewise 
give,  grant,  ratify,  and  confirm  unto  all  and  every  the  respective  inhabitants  of  the  said 
city  of  New- York  and  of  Manhattan's  Island  aforesaid,  and  their  several  and  respective 
heirs,  and  assigns,  all  and  every  the  several  and  respective  messuages,  tenements,  lands, 
and  hereditaments,  situate,  lying  and  being  in  the  said  city,  and  Manhattan's  Island  afore- 
said, to  them  severally  and  respectively  granted,  conveyed  and  confirmed,  by  any  the 
late  Governors,  Lieutenants,  or  Commanders-in-Chief,  of  the  said  Province,  or  by  any 
of  the  former  Mayors  and  Aldermen  of  the  said  city  of  New- York,  by  deed,  grant,  con- 
veyance, or  otherwise  howsoever ;  To  hold  to  their  several  and  respective  heirs  and 
assigns  for  ever. 

And  I  do  by  these  presents,  give  and  grant  unto  the  said  Mayor,  Aldermen  and 
Commonalty  of  the  said  city  of  New-York,  all  the  waste,  vacant,  unpatented  and  un- 
appropriated lands,  lying,  and  being  within  the  said  city  of  New-  York,  and  on  Man- 
hattan's Island  aforesaid,  extending  and  reaching  to  the  low  water  mark,  in,  by  and 
through  all  parts  of  the  said  city  of  New-York,  and  Manhattan's  Island  aforesaid,  to- 
gether with  all  rivers,  rivulets,  coves,  creeks,  ponds,  waters  and  water-courses,  in  the 
said  city  and  island,  or  either  of  them,  not  heretofore  given  or  granted,  by  any  of  the 
former  Governors,  Lieutenants,  or  Cominanders-in-Chief ,  under  their  or  some  of  their 
hands  and  seals,  or  seal  of  the  Province,  or  by  any  of  the  former  Mayors  or  Deputy 
Mayors  and  Aldermen  of  the  said  city  of  New-York,  to  some  respective  person  or  per- 
sons, late  inhabitants  of  the  said  city  of  New-York,  or  Manhattan's  Island,  or  of  other 
parts  of  the  said  province. 

And  I  do  by  these  presents,  give,  grant,  and  confirm  unto  the  said  Mayor,  Aldermen 
and  Commonalty  of  the  said  city  of  New-York,  and  their  successors  for  ever,  the 
royalties  of  fishing,  fowling,  hunting,  hawking,  minerals  and  other  royalties  and  privi- 
leges, belonging  or  appertaining  to  the  city  of  New- York,  and  Manhattan's  Island 
aforesaid  (gold  and  silver  mines  only  excepted)  to  have,  hold  and  enjoy  all  and  singu- 
lar the  premises,  to  the  said  Mayor,  Aldermen  and  Commonalty  of  the  said  city  of 
New- York,  and  their  successors  for  ever,  rendering  and  paying  therefore  unto  his 
most  sacred  majesty,  his  heirs,  successors  or  assigns,  or  to  such  officer  or  officers,  as 
shall  be  appointed  to  receive  the  same,  yearly  for  ever  hereafter,  the  annual  quit-rent 
or  acknowledgment  of  one  Beaver  skin,  or  the  value  thereof  in  current  money  of  this 
province,  in  the  said  city  of  New- York,  on  the  five  and  twentieth  day  of  March,  yearly 
forever. 

And,  moreover,  I  will,  and  by  these  presents  do  grant,  appoint,  and  declare,  that 
the  said  city  of  New-York,  and  the  compass,  precincts  and  limits  thereof,  and  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  same,  shall  from  henceforth  extend  and  reach  itself,  and  may  and  shall 
be  able  to  reach  forth  and  extend  itself,  as  well  in  length  and  in  breadth  as  in  circuit, 
to  the  farthest  extent  of,  and  in,  and  throughout  all  the  said  Island  Manhattan's,  and 
in  and  upon  all  the  rivers,  rivulets,  coves,  creeks,  waters  and  water-courses,  belonging  to 
the  same  island,  as  far  as  low  water  mark.  And  I  do  also,  for  and  on  the  behalf  of 
his  most  sacred  majesty  aforesaid,  his  heirs  and  successors,  firmly  enjoin  and  com- 
mand, that  the  aforesaid  Mayor,  Aldermen  and  Commonalty  of  the  city  aforesaid,  and 
their  successors,  shall  and  may  freely  and  quietly  have,  hold,  use,  and  enjoy,  the 
aforesaid  liberties,  authorities,  jurisdictions,  franchises,  rights,  royalties,  privileges, 
exemptions,  lands,  tenements,  hereditaments,  and  premises  aforesaid,  in  manner  and 
form  aforesaid,  according  to  the  tenor  and  effect  of  the  aforesaid  grants,  patents,  cus- 
toms, and  letters  patents  of  grant  and  confirmation,  without  the  let,  hinderance,  or 
impediment  of  me,  or  any  of  my  successors,  governors,  lieutenants,  or  other  officers 
whatsoever. 

And  also,  I  do,  for  and  on  the  behalf  of  his  most  sacred  majesty  aforesaid,  his  heirs  and 
successors,  grant  to  the  Mayor,  Aldermen  and  Commonalty  of  the  said  city  of  New- 


440  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YOEK 

York,  and  their  successors,  by  these  presents,  that  for  the  better  government  of  the 
said  city,  liberties  and  precincts  thereof,  there  shall  be  forever  hereafter  within  the  said 
city,  a  Mayor  and  Recorder,  Town  Clerk,  and  six  Aldermen,  and  six  Assistants,  to  be 
appointed,  nominated,  elected,  chosen,  and  sworn,  as  hereinafter  is  particularly  and 
respectively  mentioned,  who  shall  be  forever  hereafter  called,  The  Mayor,  Aldermen 
and  Commonalty  of  the  city  of  New- York ;  and  that  there  shall  be  forever,  one  Chamber- 
lain, or  Treasurer,  one  Sheriff,  one  Coroner,  one  Clerk  of  the  Market,  one  High  Constable, 
seven  sub-constables,  and  one  marshal  or  serjeant  at  mace,  to  be  appointed,  chosen, 
and  sworn  in  manner  hereinafter  mentioned. 

And  I  do,  by  these  presents,  for,  and  on  the  behalf  of  his  most  sacred  majesty 
aforesaid,  his  heirs,  successors,  and  assigns,  declare,  constitute,  grant,  and  appoint, 
that  the  Mayor,  Recorder,  Aldermen,  and  Assistants,  of  the  said  city  of  New-York,  for 
the  time  being,  and  they  which  hereafter  shall  be  the  Mayor,  Recorder,  and  Aldermen, 
and  Assistants,  of  the  said  city  of  New-York,  for  the  time  being,  and  their  successors, 
forever  hereafter,  be,  and  shall  be,  by  force  of  these  presents,  one  body  corporate  and 
politic,  in  deed,  fact,  and  name,  by  the  name  of,  The  Mayor,  Aldermen,  and  Commonalty 
of  the  city  of  New-York;  and  them  by  the  name  of,  The  Mayor,  Aldermen,  and  Com- 
monalty of  the  city  of  New- York,  one  body  corporate  and  politic,  in  deed,  fact,  and 
name ;  I  do  really  and  fully  create,  ordain,  make,  constitute,  and  confirm  by  these 
presents  ;  and  that,  by  the  name  of,  The  Mayor,  Aldermen,  and  Commonalty  of  the  city  of 
New- York,  they  may  have  perpetual  succession ;  and,  that  they,  and  their  successors, 
forever,  by  the  name  of,  The  Mayor,  Aldermen,  and  Commonalty  of  the  city  of  New- York, 
be,  and  shall  be,  forever  hereafter,  persons  able,  and  in  law  capable,  to  have,  get,  re- 
ceive, and  possess  lands,  tenements,  rents,  liberties,  jurisdictions,  franchises,  and  here- 
ditaments to  them  and  their  successors,  in  fee-simple,  or  for  term  of  life,  li ves,  or  years, 
or  otherwise ;  and  also  goods  and  chattels ;  and  also,  other  things,  of  what  nature, 
kind,  or  quality  soever ;  and  also  to  give,  grant,  let,  set,  and  assign,  the  same  lands, 
tenements,  hereditaments,  goods  and  chattels ;  and  to  do  and  execute  all  other  things 
about  the  same,  by  the  name  aforesaid.  And,  also,  that  they  be,  and  forever  shall  be 
hereafter,  persons  able  in  law,  capable  to  plead,  and  be  impleaded,  answer,  and  be  an- 
swered unto,  defend,  and  be  defended,  in  all  or  any  of  the  courts  of  his  said  majesty, 
and  other  places  whatsoever,  and  before  any  judges,  justices,  and  other  person  or  per- 
sons whatsoever,  in  all  and  all  manner  of  actions,  suits,  complaints,  demands,  pleas, 
causes,  and  matters,  whatsoever,  of  what  nature,  kind,  or  quality  soever,  in  the  same, 
and  in  the  like  manner  and  form  as  other  people  of  the  said  province,  being  persons 
able,  and  in  law  capable,  may  plead,  and  be  impleaded,  answer,  and  be  answered 
unto,  defend,  and  be  defended,  by  any  lawful  ways  and  means  whatsoever ;  and  that 
the  said  Mayor,  Aldermen,  and  Commonalty  of  the  said  city  of  New- York,  and  their 
successors,  shall  and  may  forever  hereafter,  have  one  common  seal  to  serve  for  the 
sealing  of  all  and  singular  their  affairs  and  businesses  touching  or  concerning  the  said 
corporation.  And  it  shall  and  may  be  lawful  to  and  for  the  said  Mayor,  Aldermen, 
and  Commonalty  of  the  said  city  of  New-York,  and  their  successors,  as  they  shall  see 
cause  to  break,  change,  alter,  and  new-make,  their  said  common  seal,  when,  and  as 
often  as  to  them  it  shall  seem  convenient. 

And  further,  know  ye,  That  I  have  assigned,  named,  ordained,  and  constituted,  and, 
by  these  presents,  do  assign,  name,  ordain,  and  constitute,  Nicholas  Bayard,  now 
Mayor,  of  the  said  city  of  New- York,  to  be  present  Mayor  of  the  said  city  ;  and  that 
the  said  Nicholas  Bayard,  shall  remain  and  continue  in  the  office  of  Mayor  there,  until 
another  fit  person  shall  be  appointed  and  sworn  in  the  said  office,  according  to  the 
usage  and  custom  of  the  said  city ;  and  as  in  and  by  these  presents  is  hereafter  men- 
tioned and  directed.  And  I  have  assigned,  named,  ordained,  and  constituted,  and,  by 
these  presents,  do  assign,  name,  ordain,  and  constitute,  create,  and  declare  James 
Graham;  Esq.,  to  be  the  present  Recorder  of  the  said  city ;  to  do  and  execute  all  things, 


THOMAS    DONGAN    AND    THE    NEW-YORK    CHARTER  441 

which  unto  the  said  office  of  Recorder  of  the  said  city  doth,  or  may  in  anywise  apper- 
tain or  belong.  And  I  have  assigned,  named,  ordained,  and  constituted,  and  by  these 
presents,  do  assign,  name,  ordain,  constitute,  create,  and  declare  John  West,  Esq., 
Town  Clerk  of  the  said  city ;  to  do  and  execute  all  things  which  unto  the  office  of 
Town  Clerk  may  any  wise  appertain  or  belong.  And  I  have  named,  assigned,  consti- 
tuted, and  made,  and  by  these  presents,  do  assign^  name,  constitute,  and  make,  Andrew 
Bown,  John  Robinson,  William  Beekman,  John  Delaval,  Abraham  De  Peyster,  and 
Johannes  Kip,  citizens  and  inhabitants  of  the  said  city  of  New- York,  to  be  the  present 
Aldermen  of  the  said  city.  And  also,  I  have  made,  assigned,  named,  and  constituted, 
and  by  these  presents,  do  assign,  name,  constitute,  and  make,  Nicholas  De  Myer, 
Johannes  Van  Brugh,  John  De  Brown,  Teunis  De  Key,  Abraham  Corbit,  and  Wolfert 
Webber,  citizens  and  inhabitants  of  the  said  city,  to  be  the  present  Assistants  of  the 
said  city.  And,  also,  I  have  assigned,  chosen,  named,  and  constituted,  and  by  these 
presents  do  assign,  choose,  name,  and  constitute  Peter  De  Lanoy,  citizen  and  inhabi- 
tant of  the  said  city,  to  be  the  present  Chamberlain  or  Treasurer  of  the  city  aforesaid. 
And  I  have  assigned,  named,  constituted,  and  appointed,  and  by  these  presents,  do 
assign,  name,  constitute,  and  appoint  John  Knight,  Esq.,  one  other  of  the  said  citizens 
there,  to  be  present  Sheriff  of  the  said  city,  and  have  assigned,  named,  constituted, 
and  appointed,  and  by  these  presents  do  assign,  name,  constitute,  and  appoint  Jarvis 
Marshal,  one  other  of  the  said  citizens  there,  to  be  the  present  Marshal  of  the  said 
city.  And  I  do,  by  these  presents,  grant  to  the  said  Mayor,  Aldermen,  and  Common- 
alty of  the  said  city  of  New-York,  and  their  successors,  That  the  Mayor,  Recorder, 
Aldermen,  and  Assistants  of  the  said  city  for  the  time  being,  or  the  Mayor,  Recorder, 
and  any  three  or  more  of  the  Aldermen,  and  any  three  or  more  of  the  Assistants,  for  the 
time  being,  be  and  shall  be  called,  The  Common  Council  of  the  said  city,  and  that  they, 
or  the  greater  part  of  them,  shall  or  may  have  full  power  and  authority,  by  virtue  of 
these  presents,  from  time  to  time,  to  call  and  hold  common  council,  within  the  com- 
mon council  house,  or  City  Hall  of  the  said  city  :  and  there,  as  occasion  shall  be,  to 
make  laws,  orders,  ordinances,  and  constitutions,  in  writing  ;  and  to  add,  alter,  dimin- 
ish or  reform  them,  from  time  to  time,  as  to  them  shall  seem  necessary  and  convenient 
(not  repugnant  to  the  prerogative  of  his  most  sacred  majesty  aforesaid,  his  heirs  and 
successors,  or  to  any  of  the  laws  of  the  Kingdom  of  England,  or  other  the  laws  of  the 
general  Assembly  of  the  province  of  New-York,)  for  the  good  rule,  oversight,  correc- 
tion, and  government  of  the  said  city  and  liberties  of  the  same,  and  of  all  the  officers 
thereof,  and  for  the  several  tradesmen,  victuallers,  artificers,  and  of  all  other  the  people 
and  inhabitants  of  the  said  city,  liberties,  and  precincts,  aforesaid,  and  for  the  better 
preservation  of  government,  and  disposal  of  all  the  lands,  tenements,  and  heredita- 
ments, goods  and  chattels  of  the  said  corporation ;  which  laws,  orders,  ordinances, 
and  constitutions,  shall  be  binding  to  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  said  city,  liberties,  and 
precincts  aforesaid ;  and  which  laws,  orders,  ordinances,  and  constitutions,  so  by  them 
made,  as  aforesaid,  shall  be  and  remain  in  force  for  the  space  of  three  months,  and  no 
longer,  unless  they  shall  be  allowed  of,  and  confirmed  by,  the  governor,  and  council  for 
the  time  being.  And  I  do  further,  on  the  behalf  of  his  sacred  majesty  aforesaid,  his 
heirs  and  successors,  appoint  and  grant,  that  the  said  common  council  of  the  said  city, 
for  the  time  being,  as  often  as  they  make,  ordain,  and  establish  such  laws,  orders, 
ordinances,  and  constitutions,  as  aforesaid,  shall  or  may  make,  ordain,  limit,  provide, 
set,  impose,  and  tax,  reasonable  fines  and  amerciaments  against,  and  upon  all  per- 
sons offending  against  such  laws,  orders,  ordinances,  and  constitutions,  as  aforesaid, 
or  any  of  them,  to  be  made,  ordained,  and  established  as  aforesaid,  and  the  same 
fines,  and  amerciaments  shall  and  may  require,  demand,  levy,  take,  and  receive 
by  warrants  under  the  common  seal,  to  and  for  the  use  and  behoof  of  the  Mayor, 
Aldermen,  and  Commonalty  of  the  said  city,  and  their  successors,  either  by  dis- 
tress and  sale  of  the  goods  and  chattels  of  the  offender  therein,  if  such  goods  and 


442  HISTORY    OF    NEW- YORK 

chattels  may  be  found  within  the  said  city,  liberties,  and  precincts  thereof,  render- 
ing to  such  offender  and  offenders,  the  overplus,  or  by  any  other  lawful  ways  or 
means  whatsoever. 

And  I  do,  by  these  presents,  appoint  and  ordain  the  assigning,  naming,  and  ap- 
pointment of  the  Mayor  and  Sheriff  of  the  said  city,  that  it  shall  be  as  followeth  (viz.) 
upon  the  feast  day  of  St.  Michael  the  Arch-angel,  yearly,  the  Lieutenant- Governor, 
or  Commander-in-Chief,  for  the  time  being,  by  and  with  the  advice  of  his  council, 
shall  nominate  and  appoint  such  person  as  he  shall  think  fit  to  be  Mayor  of  the  said 
city,  for  the  year  next  ensuing  ;  and  one  other  person  of  sufficient  ability  and  estate, 
and  of  good  capacity  and  understanding,  to  be  Sheriff  of  the  said  city  of  New- York, 
for  the  year  next  ensuing  ;  and  that  such  person  as  shall  be  named,  assigned,  and  ap- 
pointed Mayor,  and  such  person  as  shall  be  named,  assigned,  and  appointed  Sheriff  of 
the  said  city,  as  aforesaid,  shall,  on  the  fourteenth  day  of  October  then  next  following, 
take  their  several  and  respective  corporal  oaths,  before  the  governor  and  council,  for 
the  time  being,  for  the  due  execution  of  their  respective  offices,  as  aforesaid ;  and,  that 
the  said  Mayor  and  Sheriff,  so  to  be  nominated,  assigned,  and  appointed,  as  aforesaid, 
shall  remain  and  continue  in  their  said  respective  offices,  until  another  fit  person  shall 
be  nominated,  appointed,  and  sworn,  in  the  place  of  Mayor ;  and  one  other  person 
shall  be  nominated  and  appointed  in  the  place  of  Sheriff  of  the  said  city,  in  manner 
aforesaid.  And  further,  That  according  to  the  now  usage  and  custom  of  the  said  city, 
the  Recorder,  Town  Clerk,  and  Clerk  of  the  Market  of  the  said  city,  shall  be  persons 
of  good  capacity  and  understanding,  and  such  persons  as  his  most  sacred  majesty 
aforesaid,  his  heirs  and  successors,  shall,  in  the  said  respective  offices  of  Recorder, 
Town  Clerk,  and  Clerk  of  the  Market,  appoint  and  commissioiiate ;  and  for  defect 
of  such  appointments,  and  commissionating,  by  his  most  sacred  majesty  aforesaid,  his 
heirs  and  successors,  to  be  such  persons  as  the  Lieutenant  Governor  and  Commander- 
in-Chief  of  the  said  province  for  the  time  being,  shall  appoint  and  commissionate ; 
which  persons  so  commissionated  to  the  said  offices  of  Recorder,  Town  Clerk,  and 
Clerk  of  the  Market,  shall  have,  hold,  and  enjoy,  the  said  offices,  according  to  the 
tenor  and  effect  of  their  said  commissions,  and  not  otherwise.  And  further,  That  the 
Recorder,  Town  Clerk,  Clerk  of  the  Market,  Aldermen,  Assistants,  Chamberlain,  High 
Constable,  Petty  Constables,  and  all  other  officers  of  the  said  city,  before  they,  or  any 
of  them,  shall  be  admitted  to  enter  upon  and  execute  their  respective  offices,  shall  be 
sworn  faithfully  to  execute  the  same,  before  the  Mayor,  or  any  three  or  more  of  the 
Aldermen  for  the  time  being.  And  I  do,  by  these  presents,  for  and  on  the  behalf  of  his 
most  sacred  majesty,  his  heirs  and  successors,  grant  and  give  power  and  authority  to 
the  Mayor  and  Recorder  of  the  said  city,  for  the  time  being,  to  Administer  the  same 
respective  oaths  to  them  accordingly.  And  further,  I  do  by  these  presents,  grant,  for 
and  on  the  behalf  of  his  most  sacred  majesty  aforesaid,  his  heirs  and  successors,  that 
the  Mayor  and  Recorder  of  the  said  city  for  the  time  being,  and  three  or  more  of  the 
Aldermen  of  the  said  city,  not  exceeding  five,  shall  be  justices  and  keepers  of  the 
peace  of  his  most  sacred  majesty,  his  heirs  and  successors,  and  justices  to  hear  and 
determine  matters  and  causes  within  the  said  city  and  liberties,  and  precincts  thereof ; 
and  that  they  or  any  three  or  more  of  them,  whereof  the  Mayor  and  Recorder,  or  one  of 
them,  for  the  time  being,  to  be  there,  shah1  and  may  forever  hereafter,  have  power  and 
authority,  by  virtue  of  these  presents,  to  hear  and  determine  all  and  all  manner  of 
petty  larcenies,  riots,  routs,  oppressions,  extortions,  and  other  trespasses  and  offences 
whatsoever,  within  the  said  city  of  New- York,  and  the  liberties  and  precincts  aforesaid, 
from  time  to  time,  arising  and  happening,  and  which  arise  or  happen  and  any  ways 
belonging  to  the  offices  of  justices  of  the  peace,  and  the  correction  and  punishment  of 
the  offences  aforesaid,  and  every  of  them,  according  to  the  laws  of  England,  and  the 
laws  of  the  said  Province ;  and  to  do  and  execute  all  other  things  in  the  said  city, 
liberties,  and  precincts  aforesaid,  so  fully  and  in  ample  manner,  as  to  the  commission- 


THOMAS    DONGAN    AND    THE    NEW-YORK    CHARTER  443 

ers  assigned,  and  to  be  assigned  for  the  keeping  of  the  peace  in  the  said  county  of 
New-York,  doth  or  may  belong. 

And,  moreover,  I  do  by  these  presents,  for  and  on  the  behalf  of  his  most  sacred 
majesty  aforesaid,  his  heirs  and  successors,  appoint,  that  the  Aldermen,  Assistants, 
High  Constable,  and  Petty  Constables,  within  the  said  city,  be  yearly  chosen  on  the 
feast  day  of  St.  Michael  the  Arch  angel  forever  (viz.)  one  Alderman,  one  Assistant, 
and  one  Constable,  for  each  respective  ward,  and  one  Constable  for  each  division  in 
the  out  ward,  in  such  public  place  in  the  said  respective  wards,  as  the  Alderman  for  the 
time  being,  for  each  ward,  shall  direct  and  appoint ;  and  that  the  Aldermen,  Assis- 
tants, and  Petty  Constables,  be  chosen  by  majority  of  voices  of  the  inhabitants  of 
each  ward ;  and  that  the  High  Constable  be  appointed  by  the  Mayor  of  the  said  city 
for  the  time  being ;  and  that  the  Chamberlain  shall  be  yearly  chosen,  on  the  said  feast 
day,  in  the  said  City  Hall  of  the  said  city,  by  the  Mayor  and  Aldermen  and  Assistants, 
or  by  the  Mayor,  or  three  or  more  of  the  Aldermen,  and  three  or  more  of  the  Assistants 
of  the  said  city,  for  the  time  being.  And  I  do,  by  these  presents,  constitute  and  appoint 
the  said  John  West,  to  be  the  present  Town  Clerk,  Clerk  of  the  Peace,  and  Clerk  of  the 
Court  of  Pleas,  to  be  holden  before  the  Mayor,  Recorder,  and  Aldermen,  within  the 
said  city,  and  the  liberties  and  precincts  thereof.  And  further,  I  do  by  these  presents,  for 
and  on  the  behalf  of  his  most  sacred  majesty  aforesaid,  his  heirs  and  successors,  require 
and  strictly  charge  and  command,  that  the  Sheriff,  Town  Clerk,  Clerk  of  the  Peace, 
High  Constable,  Petty  Constables,  and  all  other  subordinate  officers  in  the  said  city, 
for  the  time  being,  and  every  of  them  respectively,  jointly  and  severally,  as  cause  shall 
require,  shall  attend  upon  the  said  Mayor,  Recorder,  and  Aldermen,  of  the  said  city, 
for  the  time  being,  and  every  or  any  of  them,  according  to  the  duty  of  their  respec- 
tive places,  in  and  about  the  executing  of  such  the  commands,  precepts,  warrants,  and 
processes,  of  them  and  every  of  them,  as  belongeth  and  appertaineth  to  be  done  or 
executed ;  and  that  the  aforesaid  Mayor,  Recorder,  and  Aldermen,  and  every  of  them, 
as  justices  of  the  peace  for  the  time  being,  by  their  or  any  of  their  warrants,  all  and 
every  person  and  persons  for  high  treason  or  petty  treason,  or  for  suspicion  thereof, 
or  for  other  felonies  whatsoever,  and  all  malefactors  and  disturbers  of  the  peace,  and 
other  offenders  for  other  misdemeanors,  who  shall  be  apprehended  within  the  said  city, 
or  liberties  thereof,  shall  and  may  send  and  commit,  or  cause  to  be  sent  and  committed, 
to  the  common  gaol  of  the  said  city,  there  to  remain  and  be  kept  in  safe  custody,  by 
the  keeper  of  the  said  gaol,  or  his  deputy,  for  the  time  being,  until  such  offender  and 
offenders  shall  be  lawfully  delivered  thence.  And  I  do,  by  these  presents,  for  and  on 
the  behalf  of  his  most  sacred  majesty  aforesaid,  his  heirs  and  successors,  charge  and 
require  the  keeper  and  keepers  of  the  said  gaol  for  the  time  being,  and  his  and  their 
deputy  and  deputies,  to  receive,  take,  and  in  safe  custody  to  keep,  all  and  singular  such 
person  and  persons  so  apprehended,  or  to  be  apprehended,  sent,  and  committed,  to 
the  said  gaol,  by  warrant  of  the  said  justices,  or  any  of  them  as  aforesaid,  until  he  and 
they  so  sent  and  committed  to  the  said  gaol,  shall  from  thence  be  delivered  by  due 
course  of  law. 

And  further,  I  do  grant  and  confirm  for  and  on  the  behalf  of  his  most  sacred  maj- 
esty aforesaid,  his  heirs  and  successors,  that  the  said  Mayor  of  the  said  city,  for  the 
time  being,  and  no  other  (according  to  the  usage  and  custom  practised  in  the  said 
city  of  New- York,  in  the  times  of  my  predecessors,  the  several  Lieutenants,  Governors, 
and  Commanders-in-Chief  of  this  Province)  shall  have  power  and  authority  to 
give  and  grant  licenses  annually,  under  the  public  seal  of  the  said  city,  to  all  tavern 
keepers,  innkeepers,  ordinary  keepers,  victuallers,  and  all  public  sellers  of  wine,  strong 
waters,  cyder,  beer,  or  any  other  sort  of  liquors,  by  retail  within  the  city  aforesaid, 
Manhattan's  Island,  or  their  liberties  and  precincts  thereof  ;  and  it  shall  and  may  be 
lawful  to  and  for  the  said  Mayor  of  the  said  city,  for  the  time  being,  to  ask,  demand, 
and  receive,  for  such  license,  by  him  to  be  given  and  granted,  as  aforesaid,  such  sum 


444  HISTOEY    OF    NEW- YORK 

or  sums  of  money,  as  he  and  the  person  to  whom  such  license  shall  be  given  or 
granted,  shall  agree  for,  not  exceeding  the  sum  of  thirty  shillings  for  each  license.  All 
which  money,  as  by  the  said  Mayor  shall  be  so  received,  shall  be  used  and  applied  to 
the  public  use  of  the  said  Mayor,  Aldermen,  and  Commonalty,  of  the  said  city  of  New- 
York,  and  their  successors,  without  any  account  thereof  to  be  rendered,  made  or  done, 
to  any  of  the  Lieutenants  or  Governors  of  this  province,  for  the  time  being,  or  any  of 
their  deputies. 

And  know  ye,  That  for  the  better  government  of  the  said  city,  and  for  the  welfare  of 
the  said  citizens,  tradesmen,  and  inhabitants  thereof,  I  do  by  these  presents,  for  and 
on  the  behalf  of  his  most  sacred  majesty,  his  heirs  and  successors,  give  and  grant  to  the 
said  Mayor,  Aldermen,  and  Commonalty  of  the  said  city,  and  their  successors  that  the 
Mayor,  Recorder,  and  Aldermen,  or  the  Mayor  and  any  three  or  more  of  the  Alder- 
men for  the  time  being,  shall,  from  time  to  time,  and  all  times  hereafter,  have  full 
power  and  authority,  under  the  common  seal,  to  make  free  citizens,  of  the  said  city, 
and  liberties  thereof;  and  no  person  or  persons  whatsoever,  other  than  such  free 
citizens,  shall  hereafter  use  any  art,  trade,  mystery,  or  manual  occupation,  within  the 
said  city,  liberties,  and  precincts  thereof,  saving  in  the  times  of  fairs  there  to  be 
kept,  and  during  the  continuance  of  such  fairs  only.  And  in  case  any  person  or 
persons  whatsoever,  not  being  free  citizens  of  the  said  city,  as  aforesaid,  shall  at  any 
time  hereafter  use  or  exercise  any  art,  trade,  mystery,  or  manual  occupation,  or  shall, 
by  himself,  themselves,  or  others,  sell  or  expose  to  sale,  any  manner  of  merchandize  or 
wares  whatsoever,  by  retail,  in  any  house,  shop,  or  place,  or  standing  within  the  said 
city,  or  the  liberties  or  precincts  thereof :  no  fair  being  then  kept,  in  the  said  city,  and 
shall  persist  therein  after  warning  him  or  them  given,  or  left  by  the  appointment 
of  the  Mayor  of  the  said  city,  for  the  time  being,  at  the  place  or  places  where  such 
person  or  persons  shall  so  use  or  exercise  any  art,  trade,  mystery,  or  manual  occupa- 
tion ;  or  shall  sell  or  expose  to  sale,  any  wares  or  merchandizes,  as  aforesaid,  by  retail ; 
then  it  shall  be  lawful  for  the  Mayor  of  the  said  city  for  the  time  being,  to  cause  such 
shop  windows  to  be  shut  up,  and  also  to  impose  such  reasonable  fine  for  such  offence, 
not  exceeding  five  pounds  for  every  respective  offence  ;  and  the  same  fine  and  fines  so 
imposed,  to  levy  and  take  by  warrant  under  the  common  seal  of  the  said  city,  for  the 
time  being,  by  distress  and  sale  of  the  goods  and  chattels  of  the  person  or  persons  so 
offending  in  the  premises,  found  within  the  liberties  or  precincts  of  the  said  city,  ren- 
dering to  the  party  or  parties  the  overplus ;  or  by  any  other  lawful  ways  or  means 
whatsoever  to  the  only  use  of  the  said  Mayor,  Aldermen,  and  Commonalty,  of  the  said 
city  of  New-York,  and  their  successors,  without  any  account  to  be  rendered,  made,  or 
done,  to  the  Lieutenants,  Governors,  or  Commanders-in-Chief,  of  this  province  for  the 
same :  Provided,  That  no  person  or  persons  shall  be  made  free  as  aforesaid,  but  such 
as  are  his  majesty's  natural  born  subjects,  or  such  as  shall  first  be  naturalized  by  act 
of  General  Assembly ;  or  shall  have  obtained  letters  of  denization,  under  the  hand  of 
the  Lieutenant  Governor  or  Commander-in- Chief  for  the  time  being,  and  seal  of  the 
province  :  and  that  all  persons  to  be  made  free  as  aforesaid,  shall  and  do  pay  for  the 
public  use  of  the  said  Mayor,  Aldermen,  and  Commonalty,  of  the  said  city,  such  sum 
and  sums  of  money  as  heretofore  hath  been  used  and  accustomed  to  be  paid  and  received 
on  their  being  admitted  freemen  as  aforesaid :  Provided,  it  is  not  exceeding  the  sum 
of  five  pounds. 

And  further,  I  do  by  these  presents,  for  and  on  the  behalf  of  his  most  sacred  majesty 
aforesaid,  his  heirs  and  successors,  grant  to  the  Mayor,  Aldermen,  and  Commonalty, 
of  the  said  city,  that  they  and  their  successors  be  forever,  persons  able  and  capable, 
and  shall  have  power  to  purchase,  have,  take,  and  possess  in  fee  simple,  lands,  tene- 
ments, rents,  and  other  possessions  within  or  without  the  same  city ;  to  them  and  their 
successors  forever,  so  as  the  same  exceed  not  the  yearly  value  of  one  thousand  pounds 
per  annum,  the  statute  of  Mortmain,  or  any  other  law  to  the  contrary  notwithstand- 


THOMAS    DONGAN    AND    THE    NEW- YORK    CHARTER  445 

ing ;  and  the  same  lands,  tenements,  hereditaments,  and  premises,  or  any  part  thereof, 
to  demise,  grant,  lease,  set  over,  assign,  and  dispose  at  their  own  will  and  pleasure  ; 
and  to  make,  seal  and  accomplish,  any  deed  or  deeds,  lease  or  leases,  evidences  or 
writings,  for  or  concerning  the  same,  or  any  part  thereof,  which  shall  happen  to  be 
made  and  granted  by  the  said  Mayor,  Aldermen,  and  Commonalty,  of  the  said  city 
for  the  time  being. 

And  further,  I  do  by  these  presents,  for  and  on  the  behalf  of  his  most  sacred  majesty 
aforesaid,  his  heirs  and  successors,  grant  to  the  said  Mayor,  Aldermen,  and  Common- 
alty, that  they  and  their  successors  shall  and  may  forever  hereafter,  hold  and  keep 
within  the  said  city,  in  every  week  of  the  year,  three  market  days,  the  one  upon  Tues- 
day, the  other  upon  Thursday,  and  the  other  upon  Saturday,  weekly  for  ever. 

And  also,  I  do  by  these  presents,  for  and  on  the  behalf  of  his  most  sacred  majesty 
aforesaid,  his  heirs  and  successors,  grant  to  the  Mayor,  Aldermen,  and  Commonalty, 
of  the  said  city,  that  they  and  their  successors  and  assigns,  shall  and  may  at  any  time 
or  times  hereafter,  when  it  to  them  shall  seem  fit  and  convenient,  take  in,  fill,  and 
make  up,  and  lay  out,  all  and  singular  the  lands  and  ground  in  and  about  the  said 
city  and  Island  Manhattan's,  and  the  same  to  build  upon,  or  make  use  of,  in  any  other 
manner  or  way,  as  to  them  shall  seem  fit,  as  far  into  the  rivers  thereof,  and  that 
encompass  the  same,  at  low  water  mark  aforesaid. 

And  I  do,  by  these  presents,  for  and  on  the  behalf  of  his  most  sacred  majesty  afore- 
said, his  heirs  and  successors,  give  and  grant  unto  the  aforesaid,  Mayor,  Aldermen, 
and  Commonalty,  of  the  said  city  of  New-York,  and  their  successors,  that  they  and 
their  successors  shall  and  may  have,  hold,  and  keep,  within  the  said  city,  and  liberties, 
and  precincts  thereof,  in  every  week  in  every  year  forever,  upon  Tuesday,  one  Court 
of  Common  Pleas,  for  all  actions  of  debt,  trespass,  trespass  upon  the  case,  detinue, 
ejectment,  and  other  personal  actions ;  and  the  same  to  be  held  before  the  Mayor, 
Recorder,  and  Aldermen,  or  any  three  of  them,  whereof  the  Mayor  or  Recorder  to  be 
one,  who  shall  have  power  to  hear  and  determine  the  same  pleas  and  actions,  accord- 
ing to  the  rules  of  the  common  law,  and  acts  of  general  assembly  of  the  said  province. 

And  I  do,  by  these  presents,  for  and  on  behalf  of  his  most  sacred  majesty  aforesaid, 
his  heirs,  and  successors,  grant  to  the  said  Mayor,  Aldermen,  and  Commonalty,  of  the 
said  city  of  New-York,  and  their  successors,  that  the  said  Mayor,  Aldermen,  and 
Commonalty,  of  the  said  city,  and  their  successors,  shall  have  and  enjoy  all  the  privi- 
leges, franchises,  and  powers,  that  they  have  and  use,  or  that  any  of  their  prede- 
cessors at  any  time  within  the  space  of  twenty  years  last  past,  had,  took,  or  enjoyed, 
or  ought  have  had,  by  reason,  or  under  any  pretence  of  any  former  charter,  grant, 
prescription,  or  any  other  right,  custom,  or  usage,  although  the  same  have  been  for- 
feited, lost,  or  have  been  ill  used,  or  not  used,  or  abused,  or  discontinued,  albeit  they 
be  not  particularly  mentioned ;  and  that  no  officer  shall  disturb  them  therein  under 
.any  pretence  whatsoever,  not  only  for  their  future,  but  their  present  enjoyment 
thereof  ;  provided  always  that  the  said  privileges,  franchises,  and  powers,  be  not  in- 
consistent with,  or  repugnant  to  the  laws  of  his  majesty's  kingdom  of  England,  or 
other  the  laws  of  the  General  Assembly  of  this  province  as  aforesaid.  And  saving  to 
his  most  sacred  majesty  aforesaid,  his  heirs,  successors,  and  assigns,  and  the  Lieuten- 
ants, Governors,  and  Commanders-in-Chief,  and  other  officers  under  him  and  them, 
in  Fort  James,  in  or  by  the  city  of  New- York,  and  in  all  the  liberties,  boundaries,  ex- 
tents, privileges  thereof,  for  the  maintenance  of  the  said  fort  and  garrison  there,  all 
the  right,  use,  title,  and  authority,  which  they  or  any  of  them,  have  had,  used,  or  ex- 
ercised there ;  and,  also,  one  messuage  or  tenement,  next  the  City  Hall ;  and  one  mes- 
suage by  the  Fort,  now  in  the  possession  of  Thomas  Coker,  gent.  The  piece  of  ground 
by  the  gate,  called  the  Governor's  Garden,  and  the  land  without  the  gate,  called  the 
King's  Farm ;  with  the  swamp  next  to  the  same  land,  by  the  fresh  water ;  and  saving 
the  several  rents  and  quit  rents,  reserved,  due,  and  payable,  from  several  persons,  in- 


446 


HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 


habiting  within  the  said  city,  and  Island  Manhattan's,  by  virtue  of  former  grants  to 
them  made  and  given,  and  saving  to  all  other  persons,  bodies  politic  and  corporate, 
their  heirs,  successors,  and  assigns,  all  such  right,  title,  and  claim,  possessions,  rents, 
services,  commons,  emoluments,  interest  in  and  to  any  thing  which  is  their's  (save  only 
the  franchises  aforesaid)  in  as  ample  manner  as  if  this  charter  had  not  been  made. 

And  further,  I  do  appoint  and  declare,  that  the  incorporation  to  be  founded  by  this 
charter,  shall  not  at  any  time  hereafter  do  or  suffer  to  be  done,  any  thing  by  means 
whereof  the  lands,  tenements,  or  hereditaments,  stock,  goods,  or  chattels  thereof,  or 
in  the  hands,  custody,  possession  of,  any  of  the  citizens  of  the  said  city,  such  as  have 
been  sett,  lett,  given,  granted,  or  collected,  to,  and  for  pious  and  charitable  uses,  shall 
be  wasted  or  misemployed,  contrary  to  the  trust  or  intent  of  the  founder  or  giver 
thereof,  and  that  such  and  no  other  construction  shall  be  made  thereof,  than  that 
which  may  tend  most  to  advantage  religion,  justice,  and  the  public  good  ;  and  to  sup- 
press all  acts  and  contrivances  to  be  invented,  or  put  in  use,  contrary  thereunto.  In 
witness  whereof,  I  have  caused  these  presents  to  be  entered  in  the  Secretary's  office, 
and  the  seal  of  the  said  province  to  be  hereunto  affixed,  this  seven  and  twentieth  day 
of  April,  in  the  second  year  of  the  reign  of  his  most  sacred  majesty  aforesaid,  and  in 
the  year  of  our  Lord  God,  One  Thousand  Six  Hundred  and  Eighty-six. 

THOMAS  DONGAN. 


LIST  OF  CHURCH  MEMBERS  AND  THEIR  RESIDENCES  IN  1686,   KEPT  BY  THE  REV. 
HENRICUS  SELYNS,   PASTOR  OF  THE  DUTCH  REFORMED  CHURCH.  1 


Breede  Weg  (Broadway). 


Ariaentje  Cornells,  huysvrou  van  Albert  Barents. 

Paulus  Turck,  en  zyn  huysvrou  Aeltje  Barents, 

Maria  Tnrck,  huysvrou  van  Abraham  Kermer, 

Coenrad  Ten  Eyck,  en  zyn  huysvrou 

Annetjo  Daniels, 

Gerrit  Jantze  Rocs,  en  zyn  huysvrou 

Tryntje  Arents, 

Tobias  Stoutenburg,  en  zyn  huysvrou 

Annetje  van  Hillegorn, 

Marretje  Cornells,  h.  v.  van  Elias  Post, 

Jurriars  Blanck,  en  zyn  h.  v.    ) 

Hester  Vanderbeeck,  > 

Johannes  van  Gelder  en  zyn  h.  v.   ? 

Janneken  Montenack,  > 

Peter  Willemse  Roome,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ? 

Hester  van  Gelder,  ) 

Willem  Vanderschuuren,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ? 

Grietje  Plettenburg,  > 

l  This  list  is  copied  from  a  small  blank-book  be- 
longing to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Selyns,  and  preserved  to 
this  day  in  his  own  handwriting.  We  have  de- 
parted from  our  usual  custom  of  reproducing 
Dutch  Christian  names  in  their  English  equiva- 
lents as  more  in  consonance  with  propriety  in  an 
English  book.  The  reason  for  this  is  obvious, 
not  only  as  thereby  a  more  exact  copy  of  the  Pas- 
tor's Record  is  secured,  but  because  even  after 
the  English  supremacy  in  civic  life  the  Reformed 
Church  retained  the  use  of  the  Dutch  language  in 
her  preaching,  her  ecclesiastical  proceedings,  and 
her  records.  Not  till  a  full  century  after  the  con- 
quest by  the  English,  or  in  1764,  did  a  pastor  of 


Annetje  Berding,  h.  v.  van  Cornells  Kregier, 
Tryntje  Cornells,  weduwe  van  Christian  Pieter- 

sen, 

Hendrick  Obee,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 
Aeltje  Claes,  > 

Evert  Aertsen,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 
Marretie  Herck,  ) 

Willem  Aertsen,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 
Styntie  Nagel,  ) 

Olphert  Seurt,  en  zyn  h.  v.  > 
Margareta  Klopper,  ) 

Helena  Pieterse,  h.  v.  van  Abraham  Mathysen, 
Geurt  Gerritsen,  en  zyn  h.  v.  > 
Elizabeth  Cornells,  > 

Seurt  Olphertsen,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 
Ytie  Roelofse,  $ 

Anneken  Mauritz,  weduwe  van  Dom.  Wilhelmus 

van  Nieuwenhuysen, 

the  Dutch  Church  preach  in  her  pulpits  in  the 
English  language.  Some  explanations  of  terms 
and  abbreviations  seem  necessary  : 

h.  v signifies huisvrouw,  wife ; 

h.  v.  van "       wife  of ; 

en  zyn  h.  v "        and  his  wife ; 

Heer,  or  De  Heer,     "        Sir,  or  Mr.,  and  is  meant 

to  describe  a  person  of  wealth  or  official  position ; 
Juffrou signifies  Lady,  or  Mrs.,  the  wife 

of  such  a  person. 

weduwe  van "        widow  of. 

(  Opposite  two  or  more  names  indicates  members 
c  of  one  household. 


CHUBCH    MEMBERS    AND    THEIR    RESIDENCES    EN    108(5 


447 


Jireede  Weg  ( liroadwa y).—  Continued. 


Tryntjo  Bickers,  h.  v.  van  Walter  Heyers, 
De  Heer  Francois  Kombout,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 
Helena  Teller,  $ 

Isaac  Stephensen,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ? 
Margareta  van  Veen,  > 

Lucas  Andriesen,  en  zyn  h.  v.  > 
Aeftjo  Laurense,  ) 

M.  Gerrit  van  Tricht,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 
Maria  Vandegrift,  > 


Balthazar  Bayard,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ? 

Marretjo  Lookormans,  $ 

Blandina  Kierstede,  h.  v.  van  Pieter  Bayard, 

Rachel  Kierstede, 

Jaa  Peek,  en  zyn  h.  v.       > 

Elizabeth  van  Imburgh,  > 

Gysbert  van  Imburgh, 

Tryntje  Adolph,  h.  v.  van  Thomas  Hoeken, 

Elizabeth  Lucas,  wed u we  van  Jan  Stephensen. 


lieurs  Straat  (Kxchange  Street). 


Margareta  Pieters,  h.  v.  van  Frederick  Arentse, 

Jacob  Teller,  en  zyn  h.  v.  > 

Christina  Wessels,  ) 

Jacob  De  Kay,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 

Hillegond  Theunis,  ) 

Sarah  Bedlo,  h.  v.  van  Claes  Berger, 


Pieter  De  Riemer,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ? 

Susanna  De  Foreest,  ) 

Isaac  Do  Riemer, 

*  Juffrou  Marg.  De  Riemer  weduwe  van  De  Heer 

Cornelis  Steenwyk, 
Andries  Grevenraedt,  en  zyn  h.  v.  > 
Anna  van  Brug.  $ 


Paerl  Straat  (Pearl   Street). 


Jan  Willemsen,  en  zyn  h.  v.  > 

Elizabeth  Frederick,  > 

Martin  Cregier, 

Tryntjo  Cregier,  weduwe  van  Stoffel  Hoogland, 

Margareta  Blanck,  h.  v.  van  Philip  Smit, 

Gerrit  Hardenberg,  en  zyn  h.  v.  > 

Jaepje  Schepmoes,  > 

Sara  Hardenberg, 

Isaac  Grevenraedt,  en  zyn  h.  v.   ? 

Marritje  Jans,  ) 

Hendrick  Jillisen  Meyert,  en  zyn  h.  v.  £ 

Elsje  Rosenvelt,  > 

Andries  Breesteede,  en  zyn  h.  v.  > 

Annetje  van  Borsum,  > 

Aeltje  Schepmoes,  weduwe  van  Jan  Evertse  Ke- 

teltas, 

Susanna  Marsuryn,  weduwe  van  Claes  Berding, 
Gerrit  van  Gelder, 
Pieter  Le  Grand,  en  zyn  h.  v.  £ 
Janneken  de  Windel,  $ 


Jan  Schouten,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 

Sara  Jans,  ) 

Elizabeth  Schouten, 

Dirck  Teunisen,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ? 

Catalina  Frans,  ) 

Warner  Wessels,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ? 

Elizabeth  Cornelis,  ) 

Nicolaes  Blanck, 

Catharina  Blanck,  h.  v.  van  Justus  Wilvelt, 

Claesje  Blanck,  huysvrou  van  Vietar  Bicker, 

Tryntje  Claes,  weduwe  van  Jurriaen  Blanck, 

Pieter  JacobsenMari us,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 

Marretje  Beeck,  S 

Aeltje  Willemse,  weduwe  van  Pieter  Cornelisen, 

Thomas  Laurensen,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 

Marretje  Jans,  > 

Cornelis  van  Langevelt,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ? 

Maria  Groenlant,  > 

Tryntje  Michiels,  h.  v.  van  Andries  Claesen. 


Lang's  Strant  (Along  the  Strant). 


Rebecca  Delaval,  h.  v.  van  Willem  Dervall, 

Elsje  Thymens,  h.  v.  van  Jacob  Leydsler, 

Susanna  Leydsler, 

Daniel  Veen  vos,  en  zynh.  v.  > 

Christina  Vandergrift,  ) 

Jacob  Leendertse  Vandergrift,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 

Rebecca  Frederick,  $ 

Nicholas  Vandergrift, 

Rachel  Vandergrift, 

Rachel  Kip,  h.  v.  van  Lucas  Kierstede, 

Celetje  Jans,  h.  v.  van  Paulus  Richard, 

Elizabeth  Grevenvaedt,  weduwe  van  Dom.  Samuel 

Drisius, 

Pieter  Delanoy,  en  zyn  h.  v.  > 
Elizabeth  De  Potter,  S 

Catharina  Bedlo, 

Frederick  Gysbertse  Vandenberg,  en  zyn  h.  v. ) 
Maria  Lubberts,  ) 

Jannetje  Tienhoven,  h.  v.  van  John  Smit, 
Henriette  Weasels,  weduwe  van  Allard  Anthony, 


Maria  Wessels, 

Benjamin  Blanck,  en  zyn  h.  v.  > 

Judith  Etsall,  $ 

Jacobus  Kip,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 

Hondrickjo  Wessels,  ) 

Marntje  Wessels,   weduwe  van  Nicolaes  Jansen 

Backer, 

Deborah  Do  Meyert,  h.  v.  van  Thomas  Crundall, 
Albert  Bosch,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 
Elsje  Blanck,  ) 

Anna  Maria  Jans,  h.  v.  van  Cornelis  Jansen  van 

Hoorn, 

Hillegond  Cornelis,  h.  v.  van  Olfert  Kreeftberg, 
Vrouwtje  Cornelis, 
Pieter  Janson  Messier,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 
Marritje  Willemse,  > 

Coenrad  Ten  Eyck,  Junior,  en  zyn  h.  v.  > 
Belitje  Hercks,  > 

Tobias  Ten  Eyck,  en  zyn  h.  v.  > 
Elizabeth  Hegeman,  ) 


1  Dom.  Selyns  was  afterwards  married  to  this  lady. 


448 


HISTORY    OF    NEW-YOBK 


Lang's  Strant  f  Along  the  Strant). —  Continued. 


Benjamin  Hegeman, 
Hemanus  Berger, 

Engeltje  Mans,  weduwe  van  Berger  Jorisse, 
Johannes  Berger, 
Lucas  Tienhoven,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 
Tryntje  Berdings,  ) 

Cornelis  Verduyn,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 
Sara  Hendrickh,  > 

Albert  Klock,  en  zyn  h.  v.  > 
Trintje  Abrahams,  ) 

Martin  Klock,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 
Elizabeth  Abrahams,  ) 

Geesje    Barentse,    weduwe   van    Thomas    Lieu- 
wen  sen, 
Catharina  Lieuwensen, 


Johannes  van  Brug,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 

Catharina  Roelofse,  > 

Cornelia  Beeck,  h.  v.  van  Jacobus  De  Hardt, 

Margareta  Hendrickse,  h.  v.  van  John  Robertson. 

Carsten  Leursen,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 

Geertje  Quick,  ) 

Aeltje  Gysberts,  h.  v.  van  Zacharias  Laurensen, 

Francyritje  Andries,   h.  v.  van  Abraham    Lub- 

berts, 
Annetje  van  Borsum,  weduwe  van  Egbert  van 

Borsum, 

Pieter  Vandergrief ,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 
Janneken  van  Borsum,  ) 

Robert  Sinclair,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ? 
Maria  Duycking.  ) 


Lang's  de  Waal  (Along  the  Wharf J. 


Willemtje  Claes,  h.  v.  van  Gysbert  Elbertse, 

Neeltje  Gysberts, 

Adrian  Dircksen,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 

Elizabeth  Jans,  ) 

Heyltje  Delachair,  h.  v.  van  John  Cavallier, 

Anna  Maria  van  Giesen,  h.  v.  van  Johannes  Jan- 
sen, 

Marritje  Pieters,  h.  v.  van  Jacob  Pietersen, 

Bernardus  Hassing,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 

Neeltje  van  Couwenhoven,  ) 

Geertruid  Jans  van  Gravenswaert,  h.  v.  van  Jan 
Otten, 


Neeltje  van  Thuyl, 

Sophia  Claes,  h.  v.  van  Rutgert  Parker, 
Gerrit  Cornelis  van  Westveen,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 
Wyntje  Stoutenburg,  $ 

Urseltje  Duytman,  weduwe  van  Johannes  Har- 

denbrook, 

Metje  Hardenbrook,  h.  v.  van  Evert  Heudrickse, 
Casparus  Hardenbrook, 
Harmanus  van  Borsum,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ? 
Wybrug  Hendrickse,  > 

Claertje  Dominicus,  h.  v.  van  Jan  Pieter  Slot, 
Gerritje  Quick,  h.  v.  van  Leendert  De  Grauw. 


Nieuwe  Straat  (New  Street). 


Janneken  Jans,  h.  v.  van  Isaac  Abrahamsen, 

Daniel  Waldron,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ? 

Sarah  Rutgers,  > 

Adriaentje  Jans,  h.  v.  van  Vincent  De  la  Montague, 

Marritje  Waldron,  h.  v.  van  Hendrick  Gerritsen, 

Aefje  Roos,  h.  v.  van  Johannes  van  Gelder, 

Heyman  Koning,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 

Marritje  Andries,  ) 

Melje  Davids,  weduwe  van  Abraham  Kermer, 


Jan  Willemsen  Roome,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 

Maria  Bastiaens,  ) 

Annetje  Ackerman,  h.  v.  van  Daniel  Pietersen, 

Arent  Fredericksen,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ? 

Sara  Theunis,  ) 

Jurriaen  Nagel,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 

Jannetje  Phillipsen,  $ 

Willein  Peers,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 

Guetje  Kierse.  > 


Sever  Straat  (Heaver  Street). 


Jacob  Kolve, 

Janneken  Lucas,  h.  v.  van  Jacob  van  Saun, 

Jacob  PhoBnix,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 

Anna  van  Vleek,  > 

Engeltje  Hercks,  h.  v.  van  Jan  Evedse, 

Hendrick  Bosch,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 

Egbatje  Dircksen,  > 

Catalina  De  Vos,  h.  v.  van  Nicolaes  Depu, 

Jacob  De  Koninck, 


Henricus  Selyns, 
Hendrick  Boelen,  en  zyn  h.  v.  > 
Anneken  Coert,  > 

Cornelis  van  der  Cuyl,  en  zyn  h.  v.  } 
Elizabeth  Arents,  ) 

Sarah  Waldron,  h.  v.  van  Laurens  Colevelt, 
Mr.  Abraham  Delanoy,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 
Cornelia  Tol.  > 


Marckvelt  Straat  (Marketfield  Street). 


Jan  Adamsen  Metselaer,  en  zyn  h.  v.  > 
Geertje  Ducksen,  > 

Herman  De  Grauw,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 
Styntie  van  Steenbergen,  ) 


Dirck  Jansen  De  Groot,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 
Rachel  Phillipse,  > 

Baetje  Jans,  huysvrou  van  Pieter  Meyer, 
Arent  Leendertse  De  Grauw,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 
Maria  Hendricks.  > 


CHUKCH    MEMBEES    AND    THEIK    RESIDENCES    IN    1686        449 


Brouwers  Straat  (Brouwer's  Street,  now  part  of  Stone). 


De  Heer  Frederick  Phillipse, 

Johanna  van  Swaanenburg, 

Anna  Blanck,  h.  v.  van  Joris  Brugerton, 

Janneken  De  Kay,  h.  v.  van  Jeremias  Tothill, 

Isaac  De  Foreest,  en  zyn  h.  v.  > 

Elizabeth  van  der  Spiegel,        ) 

Sara  Philipse,  weduwe  van  Isaac  De  Foreest, 

Jan  Dircksen,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 

Baetje  Kip,  > 


De  Heer  Stephanus  van  Cortland,  en  zyn  h.  v.  > 
Qeertruid  Schuyler,  S 

Jacobus  van  Cortland, 
Juffrou    Susanna    Schrick,   h.  v.   van    De   Heer 

Anthony  Brockholst, 

Sarab  van  der  Spiegel,  h.  v.  van  Rip  van  Dam, 
Johannes  van  der  Spiegel, 
Ariaentje  Gerritsen,  h.  v.  van  Pieter  Jansen. 


Brug  Straat  (Bridge  Street). 


Otto  Gerritsen,  en  zyn  h.  v.  > 

Engeltje  Pieters,  > 

Jeremias  Jansen,  en  zyn  h.  v.  > 

Catharina  Rappailje,  > 

Metje  Grevenraedt,  weduwe  van  Anthony  Jansen, 

Abraham  Kip, 

Abraham  Jansen,  en  zyn  h.  v.  £ 

Tryntje  Kip,  > 


Maria  Abrahams, 

Mr.  Hartman  Wessels,  en  zyn  h.  v. 
Elizabeth  Jans  Cannon, 
Andries  Meyert,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 
Vrouwetje  van  Vorst.  ) 

Jan  der  Vail,  en  zyn  h.  v.  > 
Catharina  van  Cortlandt.   > 


Heeren  Gracht  (west  zyde).   Broad  Street  (west  side). 


Carel  Lodowick, 

Johannes  Provoost, 

Brandt  Schuyler,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 

Cornelia  van  Cortlandt,  > 

Mr.  Hans  Kierstede,  en  zyn  h.  v.  > 

Janneken  Loockermans,  > 

Evert  Arentsen, 

Isaac  Arentsen, 

Maria  Bennet,  h.  v.  van  Jacobus  Verhulst, 

Pieter  Abrahamse  van  Duursen,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ? 

Hester  Webbers  j 

Helena  Fiellart, 

Harmentje  Ducksen,  h.  v.  van  Thomas  Koock, 

Dirck  Ten  Eyck,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 

Aefje  Boelen,  > 

Dr.  Johannes  Kerfbyl,  en  zyn  h.  v.  i 

Catharina  Hug,  ) 

Margareta  Hagen, 

Aechje  Jane,  weduwe  van  Pieter  van  Naerden, 

Tryntje  Pieters, 

Hendrick  Jans  van  Tuurden,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 

Sara  Thomas,  > 

Boele  Roelofse,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 

Bayken  Arentse,  > 

Cornells  Quick,  en  zyn  h.  v.  > 

Maria  van  Hoogten,  > 


Theunis  De  Kay,  en  zyn  h.  v.  > 

Helena  van  Brug,  S 

Aginetje  Bouen,  h.  v.  van  Lodowick  Post, 

Gerrit  Leydekker,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 

Neeltje  van  der  Cuyl,  > 

Hendrick  Kermer,  en  zyn  h.  v.  £ 

Annetje  Thomas,  ) 

Jan  Jansen  Moll,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 

Engeltje  Pieters,  > 

Jacob  Boelen,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 

Catharina  Clerk,  S 

Dirck  Fransen,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 

Urseltje  Schepmoes,  > 

Elizabeth  Jacobsen,  h.  v.  van  Wybrant  Abra- 
hamse, 

C.  Magdalena  Dumsteede,  h.  v.  van  Hermanns 
Wessels, 

Johannes  Kip,  en  zyn  h.  v.  > 

Catharina  Kierstede,  > 

Styntie  Paulus,  weduwe  van  Paulus  Jurrison, 

Isaac  van  Vleck,  en  zyn  h.  v.  > 

Catalina  Delanoy,  ) 

Mietje  Theunis,  h.  v.  van  Jan  Corsen, 

Rutgert  Willemsen,  en  zyn  h.  v.  > 

Gysbertje  Mauritz, 

Magdaleentje  Rutgers,  h.  v.  van  Joris  Walgraef. 


Diaconie's  Huys  (Deacons  House  for  the  Poor,  in  Broad  Street). 


Willem  Janse  Roome,  en  zyn  h.  v.  > 
Marritje  Jans,  > 

Geertje  Jans,  h.  v.  van  Reyer  Stoffelson, 
Jannetje  Hendricks,  h.  v.  van  Cregera  Golis, 


Albert  Cuynen,  en  zyn  h.  v. 

Tryntje  Jans, 

Elizabeth  Jacobs,  weduwe  van  Jacob  Mons, 

Clara  Ebel,  h.  v.  van  Pieter  EbeL 


Heeren  Gracht  (oost  zyde).    Broad  Street  (east  side). 


Hendrick  Arentse,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 
Catharina  Hardenbrook,  ) 

Anna  Thyssen,  h.  v.  van  Hendrick  Reniers, 
Marritje  Cornells,  h.  v.  van  Frans  Claesen, 
Anna  Wallis,  h.  v.  van  Wolfert  Webber, 
VOL.  L— 29. 


Albertus  Ringo,  en  zyn  h.  v.  > 

Jannetje  Stoutenburg,        '    > 

Jan  De  la  Montagne,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 

Annetje  Waldron,  ) 

Jannetje  van  Laer,  h.  v.  van  Simon  Breestede, 


450 


HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YOEK 


Heeren  Gracht  (oost  zyde).  Broad  Street  (east  side).  —  Continued. 


Catharina  Kregiers,   weduwe  van    Nicasius    De 

Silla, 

Leendert  De  Kleyn,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 
Magdalena  Wolsum,  > 

Magdalena  Pieters,  h.  v.  van  Joris  Jansen, 
Huyg  Barentse  De  Kleyn,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 
Mayken  Bartels,  ? 

Pieter  Stoutenburg, 
Willem  Waldron,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ? 
Engeltje  Stoutenburg,  > 

Maria  Bon,  h.  v.  van  Jillis  Provost, 
Grietje  Jillis,  h.  v.  van  David  Provoost, 
Catharina  Vanderveen,  h.  v.  van  Jonathan  Pro- 
voost, 

Jan  Willem  se  Nering,  en  zyn  h.  v.  > 
Catharina  de  Meyert,  > 


Gresje  Idens,  weduwe  van  Pieter  Nuys, 

Jacob  Mauritzen,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 

Gretje  van  der  Grift,  ) 

Willem  Bogardus,  en  zyn  h.  v.  > 

Walburg  de  Silla,  $ 

Kniertje  Hendricks,  h.  v.  van  Claee  Leet, 

Cornelia  Lubberts,  h.  v.  van  Johannes  de  Pey- 

ster, 

Paulus  Schrick,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 
Maria  de  Peyster,  S 

Jan  Vincent,  en  zyn  h.  v.  > 
Annetje  Jans,  > 

Arent  Isaacson,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 
Elizabeth  Stevens.  > 


Hoogli  Straat  (High  Street). 


Rynier  Willemsen,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 

Susanna  Arents,  > 

Tryntje  Arents, 

Geertruyd  Reyniers, 

Adolf  Pietersen  De  Groot,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ? 

Aefje  Dircksen,  ) 

Anietje  De  Groot, 

Maria  De  Groot, 

Mr.  Evert  Keteltas,  en  zyn  h.  v.  > 

Hillegond  Joris,  ) 

Anna  Hardenbrook,  h.  v.  van  John  Lillie, 

Johannes  Hardenbrook, 

Jacob  Abrahamse  Santvoort,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ? 

Magdalena  van  Vleck,  > 

Laurens  Holt,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 

Hilletje  Laurens,  > 

Janneken  van  Dyck,  h.  v.  van  Jan  Cooley, 

Elizabeth  Cooley, 

Barent  Coert,  en  zyn  h.  v.  > 

Christina  Wessels,  ) 

Geertruyd  Barents,  weduwe  van  Jan  Hyben, 

Sara  Ennes,  h.  v.  van  Barent  Hyben, 

De  Heer  Nicolas  de  Meyert,  en  zyn  h.  v.  > 

Lydia  van  Dyck,  > 

Elizabeth  de  Meyert, 

Christina  Steentjens,  h.  v.  van  Guillam  D'Hon- 

neur, 

Claes  Janse  Stavast,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 
Aefje  Gerritsen,  > 

Evert  Wessels,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 
Jannetje  Stavast,  ) 


Laurens  Wessels,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ? 
Aefje  Jans,  ) 

Anneken  Duycking,   h.  v.  van  Johannes  Hoag- 

land, 

Fraus  Godorus,  en  zyn  h.  v.  > 
Rebecca  Idens,  > 

Jan  Janse  van  Langendyck,  en  zyn  h.  v.  > 
Grietje  Wessels,  $ 

Jan  Harberdink,  en  zyn  h.  v.  > 
Mayken  Barents,  > 

Gerret  Duycking,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 
Maria  Abeel,  S 

Christina  Cappaeus,  h.  v.  van  David  Jachemsen, 
Anna  Tebbelaer,  h.  v.  van  Elias  de  Windel, 
Marriatje  Andries,  h.  v.  van  Jan  Breesteede. 
Hendrick  Wesselse  Ten  Broeck,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 
Jannetje  Breestede,  ) 

Geertruid  Breestede, 
De  Heer  Nicolas  Bayard,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 
Judith  Verleth,  S 

Francina  Hermans, 
Evert  Duycking,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ? 
Hendrickje  Simons,  ) 

Cytie  Duycking,  h.  v.  van  Willem  Bleek, 
Antony  De  Mill,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 
Elizabeth  van  der  Liphorst,    5 
Pieter  De  Mill, 
Sarah  De  Mill, 

De  Heer  Abraham  De  Peyster,  en  zyn  h,.  v.  ? 
Catharina  De  Peyster.  ) 


Slyck  Straat  (Ditch  Street). 


Jan  Hendrick  van  Bommel,  en  zyn  h.  v. 

Annetje  Abrahams, 

Geertruid  De  Haes,  h.  v.  van  Jan  Kreeck, 


Emmerentje  Laurens,  weduwe  van  Hendrick  Oos- 

terhaven, 
Leendert  Oosterhaven. 


Princen  Straat  (Prince's  Street). 


Jan  Langstraten,  en  zyn  h.  v. 

Marritje  Jans, 

Albertje  Jans,  h.  v.  van  Jan  Janse  van  Quistokut, 

Hendrick  De  Foreest,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 

Femmetje  Flaesbeeck,  > 

Barent  Flaesbeek,  en  zyn  h.  v. 

Marritje  Hendricks, 

Susanna  Verleth,  h.  v.  van  Jan  De  Foreest, 


Metje  Pieters,  h.  v.  van  Jan  Pietersen, 

Nicolaes  Jansen,  en  zyn  h.  v.  > 

Janneken  Kiersen,  $ 

Annetje  Jans,  h.  v.  van  William  Moore, 

Ambrosius  De  Waran,  en  zyn  h.  v. 

Ariantje  Thomas, 

Susanna  De  Negrin,  h.  v.  van  Thomas  De  Meer. 


451 


Koninck  Straat  (King  Street). 


Elsje  Berger,  h.  v.  van  Jan  Sipkens, 
Cornells  Pluvier,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 
Neeltje  van  Couwenhoven,       ) 
Frederick  Hendricksen,  en  zyn  h.  v. 
Styntie  Jans, 


Geesje  Schuurmans,  weduwe  van  Bruin  Hage, 
Elizabeth  Schuurmans. 
Jacob  Fransen,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 
Magdalena  Jacobs.  $ 


Smit  Straat  (Smith  Street). 


Cornelia  Roos,  weduwe  van  Elias  Provoost, 

Jan  Vinge,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 

Wieske  Huypkens,         > 

Assnerus  Hendricke,  en  zyn  h.  v.  > 

Neeltje  Jans,  ) 

Hester  Pluvier,  h.  v.  van  Thymen  Fransen, 

Jan  Meyert,  en  zyn  h.  v.  > 

Anna  van  Vorst,  > 

Pieter  Jansen,  en  zyn  h.  v.  > 

Elizabeth  van  Hoogten,        S 

Jan  Jansen  van  Flembrug,  en  zyn  h.  v.  > 

Willemyntie  De  Kleyn,  ) 

Laurens  Hendrickse,  en  zyn  h.  v.   > 

Marretje  Jans,  5 

Hendricke  van  Borsum,  en  zyn  h.  v.  > 

Marritje  Cornells,  S 


Jannetje  Cornells, 

Thymen  van  Borsum,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 

Grietje  Focken,  \ 

Wyd  Timnier, 

Grietje  Langendyck,  weduwe  van  Dirck  Dey, 

Jannetje  Dey,  h.  v.  van  Frans  Cornelisen, 

Jan  Pietersen  Bosch,  en  zyn  h.  v.   > 

Jannetje  Barents,  ) 

Jannetje  Frans,  h.  v.  van  William  Buyell, 

David  Provoost,  en  zyn  h.  v.  > 

Tryntje  Laurens,  S 

Tryntje  Reymers,  weduwe  van  Meynardt  Barent- 

sen, 
Marritje  Jan  Pietersen,  h.  v.  van  Jan  Pietersen. 


Smit's  Vallye  (Smith's  Valley). 


Elizabeth  Lubberts,  weduwe  van  Dirck  Fluyt, 

Jan  Jansen  van  Langendyck, 

Pieter  Jansen  van  Langendyck, 

Herman  Jansen,  en  zyn  h.  v.  } 

Breehje  Ellswaert,  > 

Tryntie  Hadders,  h.  v.  van  Albert  Wantenaer, 

Hilletje  Pieters,  weduwe  van  Cornelis  Clopper, 

Johannes  Clopper, 

Margareta  Vermeulen,  weduwe  van  Hendrick  van 

de  Water, 

Adriaentje  van  de  Water, 
Abraham  Moll,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ? 
Jacomyntie  van  Darlebeek,  !> 
Fytie  Sipkens,  h.  v.  van  Roelofse, 
Wilhelmus  De  Meyert,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ? 
Catharina  Bayard,  > 


Jacob  Swart,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 
Tryntie  Jacobs,  > 

Sarah  Joosten,  h.  v.  van  Isaac  De  Mill, 
Dirck  Vandercliff,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 
Geesje  Hendrickse,  > 

Styntie  Jans,  h.  v.  van  Joost  Carelse, 
Willem  Hillacker,  en  zyn  h.  v.  > 
Trynte  Boelen,  > 

Anna  Maria  Englebert,  h.  v.  van  Clement  Ells- 
waert, 

Wilhelmus  Beekman,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ? 
Catharina  De  Boog,  > 

Johannes  Beekman,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 
Aeltje  Thomas.  ) 


Buy  ten  de  Land  Poort  (Beyond  the  Land  Port). 
Anneke  Schouten,  h.  v.  van  Theunis  Dey. 


Over  het  Versch  Water  (Beyond  the  Fresh  Water). 


Wolfert  Webber,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 
Geertruyd  Hassing,  > 

Neeltje  Cornelis,  h.  v.  van  Dirck  Cornelison, 
Arie  Corneliseu,  en  zyn  h.  v.  > 
Rebecca  Idens,  S 

Franciscus  Bastiaense,  en  zyn  h.  v.  > 
Barbara  Emanuel,  S 

Solomon  Pieters,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 
Marritje  Anthony,  > 

Anthony  Saileyren,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 
Josyntie  Thomas,  > 

Francois  Vanderhook,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ? 
Wyntie  De  Vries,  > 

Daniel  De  Clerco^  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 
Grietje  Cozyns,  i 


Cozyn  Gerritsen,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 

Vrouwtje  Gerritse,  > 

Jan  Thomassen,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 

Apollonia  Corneles,  ? 

Pieter  Jansen,  en  zyn  h.  v.  > 

Marrietje  Jacobs,  > 

Jacob  Kip,  en  zyn  h.  v.  £ 

Maria  De  la  Montagne,  > 

Maria  Kip, 

Juffrou  Judith  Isendoorn,  weduwe  van  de  Heer 

Petrus  Stuyvesant, 

Nicolaes  Willem  Stuyvesant,  en  zyn  h.  v.  > 
Elizabeth  Slechtenhorst,  S 

Marritje  Jacobs,  h.  v.  van  Gysbert  Servaes, 
Abraham  van  de  Wostyne, 


452 


HISTORY    OF    NEW-YOBK 


Over  het  Versch  Water  (Beyond  the  Fresh  Water). —  Continued. 


Catalyntje  van  de  Wooestyne, 
Abel  Bloottgoet,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 
Ida  Adriaense,  > 

Pieter  Jacobsen,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ? 
Beletje  Anaense,  i 

Jan  De  Groot,  en  zyn  h.  v.  > 
Margrietje  Gerritse,  ) 

Jacob  De  Groot,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ) 
Grietje  Jans,  ) 


Jillis  Mandevi],  en  zyn  h.  v.  > 
Elsje  Hendricks,  > 

Grietje  Mandevil, 
Egbert  Foekensen,  en  zyn  h.  v.  ? 
Elsje  Lucas,  > 

Johannes  Thomasen,  en  zyn  h.  v.  > 
Aef je  Jacobs,  S 

Johannes  van  Couwenhoven,  en  zyn  h.  v. 
Sara  Frans. 


A  en  de  Groote  Kill  (By  the  Big  Creek). 


Conradus  Vanderbeeck,  en  zyn  h.  v. 
Elsje  Jans, 


Claes  Emanuels, 
Jan  De  Vries, 


Arme  Bouwery  (Poor  Farm). 

Arnout  Webber,  en  zyn  h.  v.  Abraham  Bycking, 

Janneken  Cornelia,  Wyntie  Teunis,  h.  v.  van  Herck  Tiebout, 

Margareta   Meyrink,   h.   v.    van  Hendrick  Mar-     Annetje  Claes,  h.  v.  van  Teunis  Cornelisen. 
tense. 


A    CROWN    OF    THE    REIGN    OP    JAMES    II. 


CHAPTER    XII 

THE   PERIOD   OF   THE   LEISLER   TROUBLES 

1688-1692 

N  the  midst  of  the  activities  of  his  excellent  administration, 
Governor  Dongan  received  notice  that  he  had  been  super- 
seded. The  man  who  had  submitted  to  his  master  the 
charter  which  gave  New-York  legislation  by  the  people, 
and  who  before  it  had  passed  the  seals  had  already  put  into  operation 
this  important  concession,  was  not  one  to  be  depended  on  to  carry 
into  effect  the  despotic  measure  which  King  James  had  in  mind.  This 
was  the  consolidation  of  the  United  Colonies  of  New  England  with 
the  Provinces  of  New- York  and  New  Jersey,  to  be  placed  under  one 
Governor-General  with  viceregal  authority.  In  July,  1688,  Governor 
Dongan  received  a  letter  from  the  royal  hand,  announcing  that  Sir 
Edmund  Andros  had  been  appointed 
to  this  exalted  position,  and  requiring 

him  to  resign  the  administration  of    ^  ^ 

New- York.    Almost  at  the  same  time  r 

Andros  received  his  new  commission  at  Boston,  where  he  ruled  as 
Governor  of  New  England.  On  August  llth  he  was  in  New- York, 
to  take  the  government  of  that  province  from  the  hands  of  Dongan, 
and  on  August  15th  his  commission  was  proclaimed  at  Elizabeth- 
town,  the  capital  of  the  New  Jersey  colony. 

To  the  people  of  New- York  the  change  of  governors  was  more  ac- 
ceptable than  the  change  in  provincial  government.  They  were  not 
"  pleased  that  their  province  should  lose  its  individuality  and  be 
consolidated  with  New  England,"  says  Brodhead.  "  Geographically, 
politically,  and  socially,  New- York  was  unlike  any  British  possession 
in  North  America.  Her  eclectic  people  never  wished  to  be  ruled  by 
incorporated  oligarchies  similar  to  those  in  New  England.  The 
people  of  New- York  felt  themselves  in  an  '  unmerited  state  of  degra- 
dation.' Their  metropolitan  city  especially  lamented  '  that  unhappy 
annexation  to  New  England.' " l 

l  Brodhead,  "  History  of  the  State  of  New- York,"  2:  513,  514. 
453 


454 


HISTOEY    OF    NEW- YORK 


In  significant  contrast  with  this  popular  dissatisfaction,  those  of  the 
citizens  who  occupied  a  seat  in  the  Council  rather  enjoyed  the  change. 
Bayard,  Brockholls,  Philipse,  and  Van  Cortlandt  found  that  from 
being  merely  consulted  on  matters  appertaining  to  a  single  province, 
they  now  had  an  influential  voice  in  the  affairs  of  several,  and  they 
soon  passed  at  New- York  ordinances  which  Andros  had  sought  in 
vain  to  enact  at  Boston.  His  stay  in  New- York,  however,  was  very 
brief.  On  August  30th  Indian  affairs  on  the  frontiers  between  New- 
York  and  Canada  required  his 
presence  in  Albany,  and  he 
summoned  Lieutenant-Governor 
Francis  Nicholson,  whom  he  had 
left  in  command  in  Boston,  to 
meet  him.  When  the  Indians 
had  been  assured  of  aid  against 
the  French,  and  the  old  friend- 
ship with  the  Iroquois  had  once 
more  been  cemented  at  a  council- 
fire,  Indian  hostilities  of  a  se- 
rious nature  which  had  broken 
out  in  Maine  necessitated  the 
immediate  repairing  of  the  Gov- 
ernor-General to  Boston.  He 
therefore  ordered  Nicholson  to 
assume  the  command  at  New- 
York,  where  he  arrived  on  Oc- 
tober 1,  1688.  His  Council  was 
composed  of  Frederick  Philipse,  Stephen  Van  Cortlandt,  Nicholas 
Bayard,  and  Anthony  Brockholls,  and  their  first  care  was  to  place 
the  fort  in  better  condition.  The  advent  of  Nicholson  was  at  first 
hailed  with  much  delight.  But  the  consciences,  or  the  prejudices, 
of  the  citizens  were  soon  offended  by  his  tolerance  of  a  priest  whom 
Dongan  had  employed,  and  whom  he  allowed  to  place  some  images 
of  saints  in  an  apartment  of  his  own  choosing,  presumably  to  accom- 
modate Roman  Catholic  worshipers.  And  thus  the  eventful  year  1688 
was  drawing  peacefully  to  a  close  in  America.  But  on  November 
5th  William  of  Orange  had  landed  in  England ;  in  December  James 
II.  had  abandoned  throne  and  kingdom  and  fled  a  fugitive  to  the 
court  of  Louis  XIV.  of  France.  Before  the  year  1689  was  six  weeks 
old,  William  and  Mary  were  proclaimed  King  and  Queen  of  Great 
Britain.1 


iThe  material  to  this  point  was  added  by  the 
editor  as  an  introduction  to  Dr.  Vermilye's  study 
on  the  '•  Leisler  Troubles,"  which  concludes  with 
the  words  "  Let  us  turn  his  face  from  the  wall," 


on  p.  486.  The  paragraphs  succeeding  it  were 
also  added  to  complete  the  history  of  this  period 
to  the  coming  of  Governor  Fletcher. 

EDITOR. 


THE    PERIOD    OF    THE    LEISLER    TROUBLES 


455 


Of  this  bloodless  but  important  revolution  it  has  been  truthfully 
said,  "  it  was  time  that  James  should  go,  it  was  time  that  William 
should  come."  Full  of  the  royal  prerogative,  and  growingly  tyranni- 
cal, James  was  fast  subverting  the  laws  and  liberties  of  the  people ; 
so  that  the  reply  to  William  of  an  old  lawyer  of  ninety  years  was 
witty  and  might  have  become  true :  "  Why,  Mr.  Sergeant,"  said 
William,  "  you  have  survived  all  the  lawyers  of  your  standing ! " 
"  Yes,  sir,"  he  replied,  "  and  but  for  your  Highness  I  should  have 
survived  the  laws  too."  Mention  only  is  needed  here  of  the  persistent 
efforts  made  by  James  to  reestablish  Romanism.  But  William  landed 
at  Torbay,  and  there  was  an  end  of  James  and  with  him  of  the  unfor- 
tunate dynasty  of  the  Stuarts.  From  the  kingly  altitude  they  speed- 
ily descended  to  r 
an  insignificant 
level,  like  me- 
teors come  to 
the  ground,  mere 
lusterless  metal. 
The  revolution 
under  William 
of  Orange  was 
not  a  popular 
revolution ;  for 
that,  for  the  peo- 
ple as  a  political 
factor,  we  must 
cross  the  Atlan- 
tic. In  it,  says 
Hallam,  "  there 
was  certainly  no 
appeal  to  the 

people."  It  was  an  aristocratic  rebellion,  inclusive  of  property  and 
wealth,  against  tyrannous  evils ;  and  yet  it  sufficiently  voiced  the 
nation.  Hence  it  was  peaceful,  and  it  was  also  Protestant.  And  if 
not  perfect,  it  was  merely  as  the  germ  is  not  the  perfect,  full-blown 
flower.  Out  of  it  emerged  the  word  parliament,  in  place  of  royal  pre- 
rogative ;  the  press  was  liberated ;  there  were  in  it  the  seeds  of  a  won- 
drous development,  the  England  of  to-day.  So  good  was  the  augury 
and  so  ripe  the  time  that  its  very  beginning,  the  landing  of  William, 
sent  a  reflex  wave  of  joy  from  Torbay  to  Boston. 

In  what  Matthew  Arnold  calls  "  the  hubbub  of  our  sterile  politics" 
there  is  nothing  revolutionary — much  noise,  excitement,  and  there  it 
ends.  But  dead  wires,  hanging  loosely  from  the  pole,  may  be  fatal; 
it  needs  only  a  crossing  somewhere,  a  circuit  made  and  then  a  touch, 


THE    CITY    HALL    AT    THE    HAGUE. 


456  HISTOEY    OF    NEW- YORK 

to  reveal  the  unsuspected  danger.  Boston  endurance  had  lasted  three 
years  or  more,  and  no  outbreak.  The  news  of  William's  landing 
(April  4,  1689)  crossed  the  wires  and  set  the  current  in  motion,  yet 
with  no  immediate  result  more  than  what  Andros  calls  "  a  general 
buzzing  among  the  people" — so  that  he  had  his  soldiers  ready.  One 
morning  (April  18th),  however,  the  captain  of  the  frigate  Eose  stepped 
ashore  as  usual,  entered  into  a  wordy  altercation  with  some  ship- 
carpenters,  and  they  seized  him.  That  was  the  touch  that  revealed 
the  latent  electricity.  Crowds  formed,  arrested  the  sheriff  and  others. 
An  eye-witness  saw  boys  running,  clubs  in  hand,  and  "  men  running 

some  with  and  some  for  arms" — a  regular 
popular  uprising.  Then  the  drums  beat,  rally- 
ing the  companies  to  the  Town  Hall,  where 
the  captains  and  other  citizens  "  consulted 
matters."  Meantime  old  Simon  Bradstreet,  a 
former  Governor,  came  in.  And  although  he 
was  now  nearly  ninety  years  old,  as  the  most 
fitting  thing  to  do  they  immediately  made  him 
and  other  old  magistrates  under  the  charter  a 
committee  of  safety.  Such  was  the  inception 

MEDAL    OF    THE    REVOLUTION.  "       .  -.  ,  ,    . 

of  the  Boston  revolution,  a  "sudden  taking  up 

arms "  by  the  people  (they  tell  Andros),  an  "  accident,"  to  their  own 
surprise  and  that  of  those  with  them  at  the  Town  Hall.  But  now  the 
whole  town  rose  in  arms,  "with  the  most  unanimous  resolution,"  says 
one,  "that  ever  inspired  a  people " ;  and  in  two  days  the  revolution 
was  accomplished  and  Andros  a  prisoner. 

The  narrative  thus  far  was  necessary,  since  it  was  news  from  Bos- 
ton and  the  push  of  her  example  that  set  New- York  in  motion ;  but 
the  revolution  there  had  a  local  coloring  of  its  own,  scenes  more 
exciting,  an  ending  more  tragic.  It  ended  in  the  trial  and  execution 
of  acting  Lieuten ant-Governor  Leisler  for  high  treason — the  only 
such  execution  in  our  State  history.  In  both  society  and  politics  that 
culmination  of  party  passion  left  its  fretmark  and  furrow  for  many 
years.  Nor  has  the  story  yet  become  a  mere  fossil,  an  unknown  some- 
thing raked  out  of  the  rubbish  of  history. 

As  the  groundwork,  then,  let  us  first  have  in  mind  the  New- York  of 
that  time.  A  small  city,  compressed  below  Wall  street,  with  Harlem 
as  an  "  out-ward "  beyond  the  fields ;  its  population  about  thirty-five 
hundred,  and  that  of  the  whole  province  to  Albany  and  Schenectady 
not  more  than  twenty  thousand.  The  rest  was  wilderness,  with  Indian 
tribes,  and  beyond  them,  on  the  north,  Canada  or  New  France,  the  con- 
stant breeding-place  of  intrigues  and  dangers,  which,  like  arctic  birds, 
the  season  might  bring  south.  On  the  other  side,  again,  the  little  city 
had  the  sea  as  a  danger,  and  for  defense  only  a  fort  out  of  repair.  Add 


THE    PERIOD    OF    THE    LEISLEB    TROUBLES 


457 


the  heterogeneous  population,  so  different  from  homogeneous  Boston 
— English,  Dutch,  and  French  refugees  (of  the  latter  some  two  hundred 
families) — and  we  have  a  foundation  for  some  things  to  come.  At  what 
moment,  for  instance,  might  not  war  in  Europe  between  France  and 
Holland  or  England  involve  themselves ;  and  what  wonder,  if  rumors, 
whether  home-bred  or  imported,  made 
them  tremulous !  Facts  traveled  but 
slowly  those  days,  by  small  Dutch  lug- 
gers or  the  primitive  messenger-boy, 
whilst  rumor  sped  rapidly  here,  there, 
and  everywhere.  Truth  was  but  a  lame 
horse  in  any  race  with  rumor.  It  could 
not  be  telegraphed,  as  it  now  is,  before 
rumor  landed.  Nor  were  the  rumors 
and  their  fears  always  baseless.  What 
were  the  actual  instructions  of  Louis 
XIV.  to  Count  Frontenac  as  we  now 
know  them  ?  If  he  found  in  the  city 
any  French  refugees,  "  particularly  those 
of  the  pretended  Reformed  religion," 
they  were  to  be  shipped  back  to  France; 
any  Catholics,  English  or  Dutch,  on 
whom  he  could  rely,  he  might  leave  in 
their  habitations;  the  other  principal 
inhabitants  were  to  be  held  in  prison  for 
ransom,  and  outlying  settlements  to  be  destroyed !  Shipped  back  to 
France !  Bemeinber  what  it  portended  for  many  of  them  —  an  en- 
forced Romanism,  or  persecution  and  endangered  liberties ;  and  re- 
member that  the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes  and  its  sequel, 
the  dragonades,  were  so  recent  as  1685.  Therefore  they  doubted 
and  watched  the  sea,  and  more  than  once  rumor  played  tricks  with 
their  fears.  Nor  were  they  less  excitable  over  matters  inland.  On  the 
north,  Canada,  whose  Jesuit  missionaries  were  the  busiest  and  best 
of  propagandists.  Consumed  with  an  indefatigable  zeal,  these  men 
obeyed  orders,  went  wherever  sent,  and  throughout  the  North  were 
the  ablest  architects  of  French  power.  A  danger  too  distant,  it  may 
seem  to  us,  to  have  much  effect,  but  not  so  to  them.  As  when  some 
strong  insect  touches  the  end  of  a  spider's  web,  even  a  thread,  it  thrills 
at  once  to  the  center,  and  may  endanger  the  whole ;  so  a  French,  or 
French  and  Indian,  invasion  at  any  point  affected  the  province.  The 
burning  of  Schenectady  in  1690,  although  only  sixty  lives  were  lost, 
startled  every  northern  colony  into  action.  And  for  the  reason  of  this 
danger,  they  feared  the  Jesuits.  Good  and  simple-hearted  as  were 
some  of  these  missionaries,  a  Jesuit  was  to  them  a  bee  with  wings  and 


458  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

a  sting  —  no  errand  for  his  faith  too  remote,  and  to  be  feared  always 
and  everywhere  for  the  harm  he  might  do.  His  presence  in  the  north- 
ern woods  was  almost  itself  a  danger-signal  of  French  intrigues,  In- 
dian alliances,  attempted  conquest,  and  what  that  meant  under  Louis 
XIV.  But  there  was  something  more  than  this,  and  yet  connected 
with  it.  The  efforts  of  James  to  advance  his  own  religion  among 
them  had  alarmed  them  thoroughly,  had  made  the 
word  "  popish"  first  and  uppermost  in  the  popular 
mind,  even  over  their  civil  grievances.  In  that 
heterogeneous  population,  not  in  full  national 
sympathy,  what  might  not  be  done  by  informa- 
tion given  to,  or  some  effort  in  behalf  of,  an  out- 
side enemy?  It  bred  suspicion  and  rumors  and 
fears.  There  were  two  dangers,  Louis  and  James, 
each  standing  in  the  popular  mind  for  popery. 
THE  PHILIPSE  ARMS,  what  wonder  if,  later,  when  words  of  stigma  flew 
between  the  parties  like  shuttlecocks,  whoever  or  whatever  savored 
of  James  or  reaction,  or  opposition  to  the  revolution,  should  be  dub- 
bed "  popish"  !  It  all  made  the  landing  of  William  an  event  of  joy. 

It  is  not  unimportant  to  know  what  lay  behind  that  revolution  and 
gave  it  peculiarity.  Emotions,  popular  or  personal,  have  roots  more 
or  less  deep-seated ;  and  when  at  last  the  revolution  appeared  above 
ground,  it  had  a  strength  and  diffusion  and  coloring  not  to  be  ac- 
counted for  by  superficial  causes.  It  was  no  such  performance  as  an 
Indian  juggler  achieves  who  plants  a  seed  in  the  sand,  waters  it,  and  at 
length  produces  an  outspread  bush,  by  means  hidden  by  him  under  a 
basket.  It  had  roots  enough  in  their  situation,  in  long-continued  civil 
exactions,  in  religious  fears  excited  by  Louis  and  James,  and  the  dis- 
affection thereto  consequent.  The  officials  of  James  when  it  began  (as 
we  have  seen)  were  Nicholson,  the  Lieutenant-Go vernor  under  Andros 
at  Boston ;  with  a  resident  Council  consisting  of  Bayard,  Philipse,  and 
Van  Cortlaudt  —  names  of  constant  recurrence  in  this  chapter.  And 
now  late  in  April,  1689,  there  occurred  in  the  city  a  great  "  uproar  "  (I 
am  quoting  the  Council),  an  "  uproar  through  people  coming  from  Bos- 
ton," who  brought  "  the  surprising  news  that  its  inhabitants  had  set  up 
a  government  for  themselves  and  disabled  his  Excellency  from  acting." 
An  exciting  yeast  to  the  prevailing  discontent,  one  sure  to  cause  a 
rising !  But  what  thought  Nicholson  and  his  Council  about  it  ?  We 
have  it  in  their  letter  to  Andros,  "  We  cannot  imagine  that  any  such 
actions  can  proceed  from  any  person  of  quality  amongst  them,  but 
rather  that  they  were  promoted  by  the  rabble,"  —  the  key-note  (as  I 
think  we  shall  find)  to  much  of  this  chapter.  First,  it  will  be  seen, 
they  ignore  utterly  any  grounds  of  general  disaffection  to  James  and 
Andros  and  his  government ;  it  must  have  been  "  the  rabble."  And 


THE    PERIOD     OF    THE     LEISLEB    TROUBLES 


459 


second,  what  a  sharp  distinction  they  draw  between  persons  of  quality 
and  "the  rabble"!  No  "person  of  quality"  would  join  in  "such 
actions  "  —  these  were,  to  them,  the  two  classes  composing  the  com- 
munity. And  when  it  comes  to  New.- York,  where  they  themselves 
are  the  responsible  government,  under  Andros,  it  will  be  the  same ; 
no  cause,  "the  lower  classes,  the  rabble"!  It  is  most  important, 
at  this  point,  to  get  their  position.  Of  course  they  sympathized 
with  Andros  and  not  with  the  revolution  in  Boston ;  but  that  does 
not  explain  everything.  As  to  Francis  Nicholson,  he  was  an  old 
soldier  whose  royal  master  at  present  was  James.  Being  out  of  the 
whirl  and  sweep  of  things  in  England,  he  had  no  belief  as  yet  in  Wil- 
liam's success  against 
him.  "  Nonsense,"  he 
exclaimed  contemptu- 
ously, "  the  very  'pren- 
tice boys  of  London 
would  drive  him  out 
again."  Of  course,  there- 
fore, he  would  do  no- 
thing till  William  was 
king,  or  he  was  forced 
to.  Frederick  Philipse, 
his  oldest  councilor,  was 
the  wealthiest  man  in 
the  city,  the  first  pro- 
prietor of  the  Philipse  manor,  "  den 
Philipse, .  who,  as  a  councilor  also,  had  held  proud  preeminence  for 
twenty  years;  reserved,  cautious,  and  it  is  said  a  wonderfully  shrewd 
trimmer  for  safety  or  profit,  but  not  one  to  be  ousted  from  office 
if  he  could  help  it,  not  one  to  yield  willingly  his  place  in  the  gov- 
ernment whoever  might  be  king,  William  or  James.  Stephen  Van 
Cortlandt  was  also  known  as  "den  Heer"  Van  Cortlandt,  his  wife 
as  Mevrouw  (Lady)  Van  Cortlandt ;  a  man  personally  most  estimable 
and  respected;  as  Mayor  of  the  city,  public-spirited;  charitable, 
an  elder  in  the  Dutch  Church,  but  with  the  pride  and  prejudices  of 
class  and  position  and  wealth.  The  most  conspicuous  in  these  events, 
however,  although  the  youngest,  was  Nicholas  Bayard,  described  to  us 
as  bright,  witty,  elegant,  and  with  warm  friends  among  his  social  and 
political  equals,  but  fond  of  display,  imperious,  quick-tempered,  and 
vindictive,  and  by  his  inferiors  feared  and  disliked  —  a  point  to  be  re- 
membered in  the  sequel.  It  now  connects  our  narrative  with  the  past 
and  accounts  for  much,  to  say  that  these  three,  Philipse,  Van  Cort- 
landt, and  Bayard,  with  five  others  —  all  well  known  at  Whitehall  — 
had  been  carefully  selected  as  councilors  by  James  when,  in  1686,  he 


THE    PHILIPSE 
MANOR-HOUSE. 


460  HISTORY    OF    NEW- YORK 

annulled  the  liberties  of  the  people ;  when  he  made  Dongan  and  the 
Council  the  absolute  law-makers  and  tax-gatherers.  They  were  there 
as  the  Council  during  his  administration;  when,  as  Secretary  Eandolph 
pithily  put  it,  the  people  were  being  "  squeezed  dry  " ;  when  old  titles 
to  real  estate  were  disputed,  that  larger  fees  might  be  exacted;  when 
six  farmers  of  Easthampton,  who  protested  against  the  tyranny, 
were  arraigned  before  them;  there,  compliant  agents  of  James  in 
whatever  he  ordered,  and  concerned  in  whatever  was  done.  Could 
they  expect  to  hold  the  emoluments  without  sharing  the  odium  ? 
Could  they  expect  it  to  be  forgotten,  when,  for  a  time,  they  chose  to  ac- 
knowledge William?  Could  they  expect  at  once  so  to  sever  themselves 
from  James  and  Andros  and  their  obnoxious  acts  as  to  go  right  on,  still 
the  government  because  they  claimed  it  ?  They  did  expect  it,  they  did 
claim  it,  and  that  was  the  trouble.  They  belonged  to  a  class  which,  by 
reason  of  wealth  and  other  adjuncts,  had  for  years  almost  preempted  the 
government.  They  asked  and  obtained  and  held  the  offices,  they  affili- 
ated with  the  governors.  Socially  they  were  the  ones  who  gave  dinners 
and  balls,  who  did  the  entertaining  for  viceroyalty,  and  lived  them- 
selves in  the  grand  style  of  the  day  —  some  of  them  very  elegant, 
refined,  and  cultivated  people,  both  Dutch  and  French  and  English. 
"  Persons  of  quality  "  they  claimed  to  be,  "  people  of  figure,"  society ; 
the  aristocracy  of  the  little  city  when  aristocracy  was  quite  a  thing 
under  the  royal  governors ;  as  naturally  a  party,  what  Bancroft  calls 
"  the  cabal  that  had  grown  up  around  the  Royal  governors."  Outside 
were  "the  lower  classes,  the  rabble,"  as  they  were  pleased  to  call 
them.  They  expected  and  claimed  for  themselves,  by  right  of  rank  in 
the  community,  the  offices,  the  government.  New  England  had  no 
similar  aristocracy,  topping  the  surrounding  earth  with  such  pride ; 
they  would  not  have  endured  it. 

It  is  now  easy  to  understand  their  quandary  at  the  time  of  the 
"uproar."  Boston  had  not  waited  for  news  of  William's  success; 
Boston  had  overthrown  Andros  at  once,  and  set  up  a  "  government 
for  themselves."  How  to  hinder  the  same  in  New- York,  that  was  their 
problem ;  for  they  meant  to  hold  on,  "  to  continue  in  their  station," 
at  least  "till  further  orders."  They  had  no  other  thought;  and,  un- 
fortunately, those  "  further  orders  "  were  a  long  time  in  coming.  Mean- 
while they  held  consultations;  went  among  the  people;  told  them 
there  was  "no  need  of  a  revolution,"  that  "Nicholson  was  honest," 
"  a  little  patience  and  orders  would  come  to  establish  everything  upon 
a  proper  basis."  Very  good  advice,  with  but  one  weak  point ;  how 
long  would  the  people  be  willing  to  continue  under  James'  Governor 
and  James'  Council,  and  with  William  not  proclaimed  I  For  a  time, 
however,  it  succeeded ;  the  people  had  "  patience,"  with  only  (as  in 
Boston)  "a  general  buzzing";  they  were  as  yet  like  bees  without  a 


THE    PERIOD    OF    THE    LEISLEK    TROUBLES  461 

queen,  or  like  birds  disturbed  and  fluttering,  ready  to  take  wing  at 
the  slightest  alarm,  but  not  breaking  away  into  actual  flight. 

It  is  next  in  order  to  say  that  New- York  had  at  the  time,  besides  a 
few  soldiers  in  the  fort,  six  "train-bands,"  citizen  militia.  Their 
colonel  was  Bayard ;  the  senior  captain  was  Jacob  Leisler ;  and  the 
other  captains  were  Abraham  De  Peyster,  Nicholas  Stuy  vesant,  Francis 
De  Bruyn,  Charles  Lodowick,  Gabriel  Minvielle  —  good  names,  men 
of  wealth,  intelligence,  standing ;  men  of  influence,  had  they  in  these 
decisive  days  sided  with  their  colonel.  To  quiet  fears  caused  just 
then  by  rumors  of  the  French,  it  was  the  Governor's  suggestion  that 
they  should  take  turns  of  duty  in  the  fort.  How  easy  to  talk  to  their 
men  if  they  wished  to,  to  get  them  under  some  control  during  the 
month  of  this  service — half  a  company  at  a  time!  Five-sixths  of  the 
time,  five-sixths  of  the  men  under  their  command  !  Historians  have 
called  this  the  "Dutch  plot,"  with  Leisler  as  the  Mephistopheles 
thereof;  and  so  we  must  examine  the  ground.  Stuyvesaiit  was  Bay- 
ard's own  cousin,  the  sturdy  old  Director's  son  and  himself  forty-one 
years  old.  Was  there  no  stuff  in  these  men,  these  five  captains,  had 
they  so  determined,  to  meet  and  withstand  one  aggressive  individual? 
Thus,  then,  the  time  passed  till  May  31st,  a  whole  month  and  no  out- 
break. According  to  the  good  preaching  of  the  Council,  and  doubtless 
many  others,  the  people  had  been  exercising  the  Christian  grace  of 
"  patience."  And,  after  all,  it  was  not  Leisler  but  the  Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor himself  who  threw  the  match  into  the  powder.  So  small  a  ques- 
tion as  by  whose  authority  a  certain  sentinel  had  been  posted  in  the  fort 
led  him  to  dismiss  from  the  service  Lieutenant  Henry  Cuyler,  of  De  Pey- 
ster's  company,  for  impertinence.  A  most  injudicious  act  at  such  a  time ! 
It  angered  De  Peyster  and  his  company,  who  were  on  duty.  It  angered 
the  train-bands,  as  an  act  of  authority  on  the  part  of  James'  Governor 
which  changed  the  situation.  Whereupon  the  drums  beat.  Forty- 
nine  excited  men  of  Leisler's  company  rushed  to  his  house,  demanding 
to  be  led  to  the  fort.  It  is  said  that  he  refused;  but  they  went,  never- 
theless, under  Sergeant  Stoll,  the  leader,  and  Cuyler  admitted  them 
"  without  the  word."  Thus  was  this  revolution  begun ;  with  De  Pey- 
ster's  company  on  duty,  De  Peyster's  lieutenant  admitting  the  mal- 
contents of  Leisler's  company  to  the  fort,  and  presently  Leisler  himself 
appearing  as  their  commander.  Did  he  usurp  the  fort  over  his  fellow- 
captain  t  No.  That  night  it  was  Lodowick's  turn  of  duty ;  and  it 
was  Lodowick  and  some  of  his  company  who  appeared  at  the  council- 
chamber  demanding  the  keys  of  the  fort,  and  they  had  to  be  given. 
Even  yet,  however,  the  matter  was  not  over.  Let  us  not  suppose  every- 
thing smooth  and  easy.  What  pressure  these  captains  must  have 
been  under  from  their  relatives  and  friends !  We  know  that  they  had 
warm  discussions  with  the  Lieutenant-Governor  and  Council.  It  was 


462  HISTORY    OF    NEW- YORK 

a  serious  matter  for  them,  for  James  might  yet  be  king.  And  among 
themselves  what  discussions ;  all  over  the  city  what  debates  and  dis- 
putes— "the  divisions  of  Reuben  among  the  sheepfolds"!  Nor  was  it 
till  June  3d  that  the  real  decision  was  made.  Then  Bayard  once  more 
called  the  train-bauds  together,  captains  and  soldiers,  and  tried  his 
influence  with  them.  Leisler  was  not  there,  but  it  was  in  vain.  The 
soldiers  rushed  to  the  fort ;  and  there,  after  much  debate,  Leisler  drew 

up  a  paper  which  the 
officers  signed.  In  it 
they  agreed  to  govern 
alternately  till  Orders 
came  from  England;  to 
hold  and  guard  the  fort  for  William  till  such  time; 

"  the   captain   whose   watch       ^K^  ^  fen  gayg  Leisler  him- 

self, "  to  be  for  that  time  captain  of  the  fort."  This  paper  was  also 
signed  by  four  hundred  others  in  the  fort,  citizens  and  soldiers. 
A  moderate  paper,  yet  effective.  So  far  as  the  city  was  concerned, 
it  decided  the  uncertainty ;  it  was  a  positive  step  in  favor  of  William ; 
a  withdrawal  of  allegiance  to  James  and  the  government  appointed 
by  him ;  it  deprived  them  of  all  effective  power ;  and  at  the  head  of 
the  movement  were  Leisler  and  his  fellow-captains. 

At  this  point  occurs  the  opportunity  for  some  account  of  Captain 
Jacob  Leisler,  as  a  necessary  prelude  to  his  connection  with  these 
affairs.  Leisler  came  to  New- York  from  Frankfort,  Germany,  in  1660. 
Concerning  him  the  Archivist  of  that  city  writes:  "Jacob  Leysseler 
of  Frankfort,  who  sailed  to  America  in  1660,  is  evidently  the  son  of 
the  Rev.  Jacob  Victorian  Leisler,  baptized  here  March  31,  1640.  No 
further  news  about  this  son  than  the  date  of  his  baptism  on  the  day 
of  or  a  few  days  after  his  birth  are  to  be  found  here.  The  father  had 
been  born  at  Oettingen,  Kingdom  of  Bavaria,  became  a  minister  at 
Franckenthal,  Palatinate,  and  from  there  was  called  to  Franckfort  by 
the  two  Reformed  congregations,  the  French  and  the  Dutch,  in  1638. 
Before  this  call  he  had  been  persecuted  on  account  of  his  religion  and 
for  some  time  had  lived  in  exile.  He  died  February  8,  1653.  Of  his 
wife  only  the  baptismal  names  Susanna  Adelheid  are  known.  Besides 
Jacob,  other  children  were  baptized  in  Franckfort :  (1)  Johaun  Heinrich, 
February  10, 1642;  (2)  Hans  Jacob,  October  20, 1646;  and  (3)  a  daughter, 
Susanna,  who  died  young." l 

At  this  period  Leisler  was  a  well-known  citizen,  a  merchant,  and  a 
man  of  very  considerable  property.  Two  years  after  his  coming  he 

l  Extract  from  a  letter  of  Dr.  R.  Jung,  Archivist  deux  communes,  remplissait,  de  concert  avec  le 

to  the  City  of  Frankfort-on-the-Main,  to  Mr.  Bert-  pasteur  flamand,  les  fonctions  pastorales,  malgre 

hold  Fernow,  May  23,  1891.    (Translated.)    Of  his  sa  de'bile  sante" ;  il  a  servi  I'^glise  avec  beaucoup 

work  in  Frankfort  an  anniversary  publication  of  de  benedictions ;    son  ministers  et  celui  de  son 

the  French  Reformed  Church  in  1854  says:  "  J.  successeur  paraissent  avoir  et4  tres-actifs  et  ont 

Victorien  Leisler,  appe!4  de  Franckenthal,  par  les  laisse  des  traces  profondes." 


THE    PERIOD    OF    THE    LEISLER    TROUBLES 


463 


had  married  Elsie  (Tymens),  the  widow  of  Vanderveen,  a  reputable 
merchant.  Elsie  was  a  niece  of  Anneke  Jans.  How  many  families  to 
this  day  keep  bright  the  links  of  kinship  with  the  latter,  and — her 
estate,  so  long  owned  and  guarded  and  fostered  by  Trinity  Church! 
Strangely  enough,  this  marriage  brought  Leisler, 
even  thus  early  in  life,  into  a  family  connection 
with  Bayard,  Philipse,  and  Van  Cortlandt — at  the 
close  of  it  his  worst  enemies.  In  1G70  we  find 
him  a  deacon  in  the  Dutch  Church,  with  Peter 
Stuyvesant  and  Van  Cortlandt's  father  as  fellow- 
members  of  consistory,  and  then,  as  always,  a 
man  of  sturdy  religious  profession  and  belief. 
Evidently  a  man  with  generous  impulses:  when 
a  Huguenot  family  was  to  be  sold  for  non-pay- 
ment of  ship  charges,  he  himself  stepped  forward 
and  purchased  their  freedom.  Evidently  an  inde- 
pendent man:  when,  in  1667,  two  people  were  VAN 
on  trial  for  "  murder  by  witchcraft,"  he  was  one  of  a  jury  to  acquit 
them  both — a  thing  the  Quakers  of  Pennsylvania  only  accomplished 
in  1684,  that  could  hardly  have  been  done  in  Boston  in  1689.  As  a 
magistrate,  in  1675,  he  so  vigorously  opposed  an  effort  of  Andros  to 
thrust  a  priest  (whom  James  had  sent  over)  into  occupancy  of  the 
Dutch  Church,  that  Andros  imprisoned  him.  Yet  that  at  that  time 
he  was  well  esteemed  in  the  community  is  evident  from  the  fact  that 
only  three  years  later,  in  1678,  when  he  and  a  vessel  of  his  were  cap- 
tured by  the  Turks,  this  same  Andros  initiated  a  collection  through- 
out the  province  for  his  redemption.  Leisler  held  few  offices,  but  was 
called  into  service  when  needed ;  and  he  had  been  captain  since  1684. 
This  is  what  we  know  of  him  up  to  1689.  And  we  have  thus  reached 
an  important  historical  question :  What  was  he  doing  up  to  June  3d 
of  that  year  ?  When  the  first  intimations  of  William's  landing  came 
he  had  a  vessel  in  port,  on  which  he  at  once  refused  to  pay  duties  to 
Plowman,  James'  collector  and  a  Catholic.  He  also  went  before  the 
Council,  and  Defore  them  persisted  in  his  refusal— just  like  his  sturdy 
independence,  whether  backed  by  anybody  or  not.  From  that  time  and 
to  escape  those  duties,  according  to  current  histories,  he  is  a  danger- 
ous person  in  the  community,  plotting  treason  and  the  overthrow  of 
the  Government.  Yet  at  the  time  of  the  "  uproar  "  and  when  Boston 
had  set  the  example,  where  is  the  one  man,  the  demagogue,  quick  to 
seize  events  and  bulging  with  importance,  to  head  "  the  rabble"  to  its 
destruction  f 

It  is  not  Leisler.  On  the  contrary,  almost  immediately  thereafter, 
Nicholson  and  the  Council  place  him  in  the  fort  at  the  head  of  an 
armed  company  to  quiet  the  people;  or,  if  he  so  chooses,  to  breed 


464  HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YORK 

further  treason !  A  strange  incongruity  in  the  history,  or  wonderful 
stupidity  on  their  part !  Moreover,  when  the  revolution  begins  — that 
31st  of  May — it  is  through  Nicholson's  act  and  not  his.  Arid  on  the 
3d  of  June  the  result  is  not  to  make  Leisler  a  dictator,  but  .that 
mutual  agreement  of  the  captains — in  the  face  of  which  he  is  now 
represented  to  us  as  an  ignorant  man  surrounded  by  "  a  rabble " ;  a 
mere  puffball  fuming  with  rage  and  insolence  and  profanity;  as 
already  infatuated  with  his  own  greatness,  comparing  himself  to 
Cromwell,  and  most  offensively  assuming  to  his  fellow- captains,  whilst 
they  are  deferential!  What  injustice  to  them,  in  order  to  carry  out 
the  idea,  received  from  the  other  side,  of  Leisler  and  the  "lower 
classes,  the  rabble" !  History  makes  them  his  mere  foot-ball — Abra- 
ham De  Peyster,  Nicholas  Stuy  vesant,  Charles  Lodowick,  and  the  rest ; 
men  assuredly  not  the  ones  to  be  dragged  at  a  vulgar  cart-tail  through 
mud  and  slush.  Historians  deprive  them  of  their  manhood,  and  in 
these  events  would  have  us  regard  them  as  silent  puppets  upon 
a  street-organ,  moving  to  the  tune  of  a  coarse  and  ignorant  player. 
And  yet  when,  just  after  the  revolution,  Leisler  himself  wished  to 
remove  the  obnoxious  Catholic  collector,  he  could  not  do  it,  for  the 
reason  which  he  gives :  "  I  cannot  get  the  other  captains  to  turn  out 
the  collector";  and  again  (June  16th)  "I  can  get  no  captain  to  side 
with  me  to  turn  him  out."  Outgoing  letters  from  the  fort  are  signed 
by  the  captains,  the  answers  addressed  to  Leisler  and  "  the  rest  of  the 
captains  "  in  command.  They  are  so  addressed  by  the  General  Court 
of  Connecticut.  When  within  a  few  days  after  signing  that  agree- 
ment Minvielle  resigned,  it  was  not  on  the  ground  of  Leisler's  tyranny 
and  insolence,  but  because  he  thought  their  proceedings  "  hot-headed." 
The  other  captains  remained,  all  of  them,  for  months.  When  (June 
llth)  they  sent  to  friends  in  England  an  address  for  the  king  from  "the 
militia  and  inhabitants  of  New- York" — her  citizen  soldiery  and  only 
defense  — did  they  regard  the  movement  as  that  of  a  "  rabble"?  When, 
so  late  as  October  20th,  Bayard — still  as  colonel  and  councilor — 
wrote  from  Albany  to  De  Peyster  and  De  Bruyn  an  order  "  to  bear 
good  faith  and  allegiance  "  to  William  and  Mary,  but  "  to  desist  from 
aiding  and  abetting"  Leisler,  they  put  the  letter  into  his  hands;  and 
when  yet  later  (October  29th)  he  again  commanded  them  "  to  obey 
the  civil  government  established  by  Sir  Edmund  Andros,"  as  still  in 
force,  they  paid  no  heed.  What  do  these  facts  prove  ?  This  period, 
the  opening  period  of  the  revolution,  was  that  of  Leisler  and  the  cap- 
tains conjointly,  not  of  Leisler  and  "  the  rabble."  People  of  standing 
and  influence  parted  from  their  own  families  and  friends  on  these 
issues.  History  conceals  it  and  them.  It  adopts  a  party  stigma. 
It  was  slippery  ground,  and  the  Attorney-General,  when  drawing  an 
indictment  against  Leisler,  did  not  touch  this  period. 


THE    PERIOD    OF    THE    LEISLEE    TROUBLES  465 

For  a  clear  understanding  of  things,  however,  we  must  proceed  with 
it  a  little  further.  On  the  6th  of  June  came  credible  news  that  Wil- 
liam was  king,  and  the  messenger  was  on  the  way  from  Boston  with 
letters.  No  doubt  any  longer  about  William ;  but  will  he  continue  in 
power  the  old  government  ?  What  anxiety  on  both  sides  !  The  mes- 
senger gets  to  the  fort  first,  and  there  all  letters  for  the  Lieutenant- 
Governor  or  the  Council  are  opened,  read,  and  forwarded.  No  news, 
no  orders ;  and  so  things  remain  as  they  were !  But  to  open  their 
letters,  what  an  outrage!  What  indignation!  What  insolence  in 
Leisler !  Yet  back  in  March,  before  Leisler  had  appeared  upon  the 
scene,  upon  a  mere  rumor  of  William's  landing,  they  had  themselves 
opened  and  suppressed  seventeen  private  letters,  "  for  the  prevention  of 
tumult,"  they  said,  "  and  the  divulging  of  such  strange  news."  WThere 
was  the  difference  1  The  difference  was,  that  a  revolution  in  England 
which  changed  kings  —  now  that  it 
was  successful  —  they  were  willing  to 
accept;  a  revolution  in  New- York, 
which  interfered  with  themselves  as 
the  government,  that  was  Leisler  and 
the  rabble ;  and  whatever  derogated 
from  the  deference  they  claimed  for 
themselves  was  i  nsolence.  Again,  how- 
ever, the  truth  of  history  requires  us 
to  ask,  what  of  the  other  captains! 
Why  single  out  Leisler  for  obloquy, 

i     '        v        ,-,  i,  i        .,  ANCIENT    HOUSE    AT    SOUTHOLD.  L.   I. 

when,  by  the  agreement  of  only  three 

days  before,  all  were  equally  implicated,  all  equally  and  deeply  inter- 
ested in  learning  the  first  news  I  That  plant  of  unpleasant  odor 
which  pervades  these  events  like  the  sagebrush  of  the  prairies,  Leis- 
ler's  insolence,  was  grown  and  perpetuated  from  party  soil. 

As  yet  he  was  only  one  of  five  captains,  although  the  senior.  I  do 
not  suppose  Leisler  to  have  been  at  any  time  choice  of  speech  or  def- 
erential in  his  manners ;  on  the  contrary,  a  man  of  rugged  honesty 
whose  plain  and  often  hasty  speaking  did  him  harm.  But  that  was 
not  the  real,  the  underlying  offense.  If  we  read,  we  shall  find  that 
gentle  speaking  and  gentle  courtesy  were  not  a  characteristic  of  New- 
York  in  these  years  of  that  century.  "  Knave "  and  "  rogue w  were 
frequent  epithets  by  which  to  convey  their  opinion  of  one  another. 
To  the  other  side,  however,  the  revolution  itself  was  an  insolence; 
whatever  infringed  upon  the  dignity  of  certain  ones,  of  Van  Cortlandt 
or  Bayard  or  even  the  clergy,  was  an  insolence ;  and  upon  Leisler,  a 
German,  with  none  of  the  make-up  of  society  about  him,  the  senior, 
the  most  popular,  the  boldest  and  most  outspoken  of  his  colleagues, 
upon  him  they  visited  the  full  measure  of  wrath  and  opprobrium. 

VOL.  L— 30.  * 


466  HISTOEY     OF    NEW-YOBK 

And  the  feeling  was  already  hot  enough  on  both  sides.  When  of 
Sir  William  Phipps,  of  Massachusetts,  it  was  said,  "  His  Excellency  is 
needlessly  hot,"  the  reply  was  :  "  Ah,  you  must  excuse  him,  it  is  dog- 
days  ! "  The  dog-days  began  early  in  New- York  in  1689.  Nicholson 
himself  had  at  once  gone  to  England  to  interview  the  new  king,  leav- 
ing Bayard,  Philipse,  and  Van  Cortlandt  behind  him  to  maintain  the 
struggle.  On  the  25th  of  June  they  themselves  removed  Plowman, 
the  Catholic  collector,  "  to  quiet  a  restless  community,"  as  they  said ; 
but  when  they  undertook  to  replace  him  with  their  own  officials  — 
more  insolence  of  Leisler !  It  brought  about  the  first  actual  collision. 
The  parties  met  at  the  custom-house.  There  were  hot  words,  dog-day 
words,  a  hustling  crowd,  and  some  rough  usage  of  Bayard  and  his  sup- 
porters, but  no  bloodshed.  A  street  brawl,  some  pummeling,  but  no 
bloodshed.  The  feeling  abroad  was,  however,  intense;  and  De 
Peyster's  mother  advised  Colonel  Bayard  to  leave  the  city,  for  fear  of 
assassination.  Wisely,  no  doubt ;  he  was  especially  obnoxious,  and 
some  hand  might  have  struck  the  blow ;  it  has  been  done  again  and 
again  since  then.  And  so  the  parties  were  at  length  developed — the 
captains  holding  the  fort  and  the  city,  the  old  Council  powerless  but 
persistent. 

On  the  10th  of  June,  a  week  after  the  revolution  began,  the  captains, 
Leisler  and  the  rest,  issued  a  call  for  a  convention  of  delegates  from 
the  counties,  to  meet  on  the  26th  and  choose  a  committee  of  safety.  Let 
us  give  them  the  credit  they  deserve  for  this  act.  They  did  not  in- 
tend nor  make  themselves  a  military  dictatorship.  The  movement  in 
New- York  had  been  democratic,  one  springing  from  the  people,  whom 
they  for  a  time  represented;  and  they  meant  to  extend  it  to  the  prov- 
ince—  not  submitting  any  longer  to  the  appointees  of  James  and 
Andros,  but  submitting  the  direction  of  affairs  to  the  appointees  of 
the  people.  Had  the  other  side  accepted  the  arrangement  —  a  com- 
mittee of  safety  till  the  king  could  be  heard  from  —  what  a  blot  it 
would  have  saved  New- York !  But  no,  they  were  the  government. 
So  the  convention  met  without  their  concurrence,  twelve  delegates 
elected  from  New- York  and  Kings  and  Queens  and  Westchester  and 
Orange — "the  most  part  of  whose  inhabitants,"  says  O'Callahan, 
"  are  concerned  in  the  rebellion."  Albany,  under  the  great  influence 
of  Peter  Schuyler,  Van  Cortlandt's  double  brother-in-law,  remained 
aloof,  and  its  neighbor  Ulster.  Ten  of  the  twelve  delegates  became 
the  Committee  of  Safety,  and  assumed  control  for  the  province. 
Leisler  did  not  elect  them.  His  was  a  city  revolt.  More  than  is  usual 
in  such  cases,  and  more  than  did  Simon  Bradstreet  and  his  colleagues 
at  the  first,  by  their  election  they  represented  the  province  in  its  most 
populous  part.  Such  was  the  situation  upon  the  26th  of  June  —  a 
popular  revolt,  represented  by  the  Committee  of  Safety,  against  the 


THE     PERIOD     OF     THE    LEISLER    TROUBLES  467 

old  government  appointed  by  James  and  Andros  and  the  party  at- 
tached thereto.  What  was  the  effect  of  the  change  upon  Leisler's 
position  ?  It  made  him  first,  by  their  appointment,  captain  of  the 
fort,  that  is,  permanently  responsible  for,  its  safe  keeping ;  and  then, 
about  the  middle  of  August,  military  commander  for  the  province. 
His  first  rise  above  the  other  captains !  But  that  they  concurred 
therein  is  indubitable,  since  they  all  retained  their  commands  under 
him  till  some  time  in  November.  During  that  month  Captain  Stuy- 
vesant  retired  from  the  service,  angry,  it  is  said,  because  some  soldiers 
had  intruded  into  his  own  house  during  a  search  for  his  obnoxious 
cousin  Bayard.  Our  only  wonder  in  his  case  is  that  his  father's  son 
should  ever  have  been  upon  the  popular  side  at  all.  At  different 
dates  during  the  month,  and  for  different  personal  reasons,  Lodowick 
and  De  Peyster  also  resigned  and  retired  from  service  unmolested. 
De  Peyster,  at  least,  always  felt  kindly  towards  Leisler.  Within  a 
month  (December  13th)  he  was  appointed  by  the  Lieutenant-Governor, 
as  Leisler  then  was,  and  by  his  Council,  captain  of  the  Dock  Ward,  with 
his  brother  Henry  as  his  lieutenant — responsible  positions  at  the  time. 
I  have  been  thus  minute  hitherto,  because  this  whole  history  has 
been  perverted  by  concealing  the  part  actually  taken  by  these  captains 
in  the  earlier  stages  of  the  revolution,  and  by  ascribing  everything  to 
Leisler  and  a  rabble.  It  is  the  base  of  the  defense  of  the  other  side. 
They  were  throughout,  for  two  years,  resisting  Leisler  and  a  dominant 
rabble  —  a  riotous  rule  which  only  ended  with  Leisler's  death.  On 
the  contrary,  what  have  we  ?  Upon  the  3d  of  June,  that  agreement 
of  the  captains ;  upon  the  6th  of  June,  news  of  William's  accession, 
concurred  in  by  both  parties,  and  the  question  of  William  or  James 
no  longer  in  conflict ;  upon  the  10th  of  June,  the  call  by  the  captains 
for  a  committee  of  safety  to  be  elected  by  the  people ;  and,  upon  the 
26th  of  June,  that  committee  in  existence  and  its  actions  and  author- 
ity submitted  to  by  both  Leisler  and  the  captains  and  their  party. 
And  so  opens  the  second,  in  its  close  the  tragic,  part  of  this  tangled 
history.  At  last,  early  in  December,  a  letter  from  William,  dated 
July  the  fourth — a  letter  with  a  peculiar  address,  to  "Our  Lieut.- 
Governor  and  Commander-in-chief  in  our  Province  of  New- York,  and 
in  his  absence,  to  such  as  for  the  time  being  take  care  for  preserving 
the  peace  and  administering  the  laws  "  !  Up  to  this  time,  be  it  under- 
stood, nothing  from  William  save  a  general  proclamation  relative  to 
justices  of  the  peace  and  other  minor  officials ;  nothing  at  all  to  indi- 
cate his  intentions  or  policy  concerning  higher  officers  of  the  crown. 
Of  course  the  letter  threw  the  elements  into  new  fermentation.  As 
it  happened,  Nicholson,  to  whom  it  was  addressed,  was  not  there,  had 
betaken  himself  to  England ;  so  that  complication  was  out  of  the  way. 
But  "  in  his  absence  " !  If  still  in  the  exercise  of  his  office,  where 


HISTOBY    OF    NEW- YORK 


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*  ^^/,  c^L^  ^  •         ^  -^^ 


FAC-SIMILE    OB1    AN    AUTOGRAPH    LETTER    BY    LEISLER. 


THE    PERIOD    OF    THE    LEISLEB    TROUBLES  469 

should  he  be  except  within  the  bounds  of  his  government  ?  Or,  in 
case  of  absence,  why  was  not  the  letter  addressed  to  his  Honorable 
Council,  men  well  known  in  England  ?  Why  the  vague  and  general 
superscription,  "  such  as  for  the  time  being  take  care  for  preserving 
the  peace  and  administering  the  laws  "  ?  "  The  very  hub  of  this  dispu- 
tation. Can  one  help  suspecting  a  motive  of  policy  in  such  language 
from  the  state  department  ?  In  England,  James  was  deposed  and 
William  reigning  through  revolution  —  a  revolution  thus  far  success- 
ful, although  he  had  yet  to  fight  the  battle  of  the  Boyne.  In  Boston, 
as  was  already  known,  Andros  had  likewise  been  deposed  and  a  revo- 
lutionary committee  was  in  charge.  Had  the  same  fate,  meantime, 
overtaken  Nicholson  in  New- York,  an  enforced  "  absence,"  and  in 
William's  behalf,  could  he  consistently  reverse  events  and  order  the 
revolution  back  ?  The  broad  question  for  William  to  consider  was 
the  status  of  the  revolution  as  a  whole  —  not  in  New- York  alone,  but 
in  Boston,  the  colonies,  and  England  itself.  As  plain  Dutch  sense  put  it 
at  the  time,  "  If  it  was  that  Leisler  did  be  ill,  how  came  the  King  and 
Queen  to  sit  on  the  throne  ? "  His  letter  certainly  evaded  the  difficulty, 
at  least  for  the  present.  If  Nicholson  was  yet  in  power,  it  authorized 
him  to  continue  to  act.  If  not,  if  a  revolution  had  superseded  him  as 
well  as  Andros,  it  recognized  "  for  the  time  being  "  such  as  took  care 
"  for  preserving  the  peace  and  administering  the  laws."  So  the  Com- 
mittee of  Safety  understood  it,  and  upon  that  understanding  they 
honestly  acted.  So  undoubtedly  the  Boston  committee  would  have 
acted ;  as  the  government  de  facto,  the  proper  recipients  of  the  letter. 
Where  was  the  difference  ?  A  revolution  in  both,  in  New- York  only 
obscured  by  the  existence  of  parties  and  the  persistent  claims  of  Phil- 
ipse,  Van  Cortlandt,  and  Bayard,  men  for  two  years  practically  power- 
less, and  not  named  nor  officially  designated  in  the  letter.  Let  it 
here  be  said  that  neither  was  the  appropriation  of  that  letter,  a  royal 
letter,  made  a  matter  of  indictment  against  Leisler.  The  Attorney- 
General  claimed  pay  for  drawing  up  several  indictments  and  was  an 
able  lawyer,  but  he  did  not  include  this  item  nor  this  period. 

I  have  thus  brought  it  down  to  a  charge  to  this  day  made  against 
Leisler  —  his  so-called  usurpation  of  the  Lieutenant-Governorship. 
In  reality  what!  His  appointment  thereto  by  the  Committee  of 
Safety,  who  had  already  made  him  military  commander  of  the  prov- 
ince. And  what  would  William  himself  have  been  in  history,  had 
James  won  the  battle  of  the  Boyne  ?  A  usurper,  branded  and  traduced 
by  his  opponents  like  Leisler,  or  as  was  Cromwell  in  his  day.  The 
Committee  of  Safety,  at  least,  were  not  usurpers.  Elected  and  sus- 
tained during  this  interim  —  a  period  understood  by  all  parties  to 
be  ad  interim  —  elected  and  sustained  during  it  by  a  clear  majority 
of  the  people;  if  they  were  usurpers,  what  shall  we  say  of  the 


470 


HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YORK 


A  WILLIAM  AND   MARY   MEDAL. 


Boston  committee  and  the  acting  governors  in  the  other  revolted 
colonies  ?  If  we  brand  one  we  must  brand  all,  brand  the  revolution 
throughout,  brand  the  very  idea  of  a  popular  revolution.  But,  in  ad- 
dition, the  New- York  committee  had  what  the  other  colonies  had  not, 
what  they  deemed  authority  for  their  action  conveyed  to  them  by  the 
king's  letter.  In  Connecticut  they  rejected  Andros,  the  royal  Gov- 
ernor, and  appointed  their  own.  In  New- 
York,  which  had  no  General  Assembly,  noth- 
ing but  a  Lieutenant-Governor  and  Council, 
the  captains  first  in  control  sent  the  matter 
directly  to  the  people  of  the  province.  The 
people  elected  the  Committee  of  Safety,  and 
they  in  turn,  as  supposedly  within  the  scope 
of  the  king's  letter,  made  Leisler  acting  Lieu- 
tenant-Governor. And  neither  was  this  mat- 
ter in  the  indictment  upon  which  he  was 
tried.  Indeed  how  merely  partisan  was  the 
opposition  to  his  assumption  of  the  title  may  be  seen  from  two  letters 
of  Colonel  Bayard  himself,  one  of  them  dated  January  24,  1690.  A 
prisoner  in  the  fort  of  as  yet  only  two  days,  but  laboring,  as  he  says, 
under  "  an  extreme  sickness  of  body,"  he  writes  "  to  the  Hon.  Jacob 
Leisler,  Esq.,  Lieut.-Governor  of  the  province  of  New- York,  and  the 
Hon.  Council,"  letters  in  which  he  acknowledges  his  error,  craves 
pardon,  and  humbly  petitions  consideration  and  release !  Of  course 
he  had  to  swallow  much  pride,  but  there  are  the  letters. 

So  to  Leisler's  Lieutenant-Governorship  in  her  emergency  yielded 
Albany  a  trifle  later,  when  he  was  her  only  source  of  supplies.  Indu- 
bitably his  was  the  power  in  the  province  at  the  time,  and  so  acknow- 
ledged to  be  by  the  other  colonies.  But  for  Leisler  personally  the 
position  was  full  of  difficulty  and  not  devoid  of  danger.  His  elevation 
concentrated  upon  his  head  many  portentous  winds  and  wrathful 
storm-clouds.  It  made  him  a  mark  for  new  venom,  new  arrows  that 
were  laid  to  the  string  and  let  fly  both  at  home  and  abroad.  Usurpa- 
tion it  was  called,  and  even  during  the  peril  of  war,  whatever  he  did 
was  to  his  enemies  usurpation.  He  came  to  his  duties  without  ex- 
perience ;  a  man  unused  to  art  or  concealment  or  the  ways  of  policy 
—  straight  out  in  word  or  deed  as  conviction  or  feeling  moved  him, 
an  honest  German;  a  man  in  temperament  apparently  much  like 
Stuyvesant,  brave,  sturdy,  sometimes  obstinate  and  sometimes  chol- 
eric—  Stuyvesant,  who  would  have  fired  upon  the  British  fleet  in  bulk 
but  for  his  minister's  final  appeal.  As  such  a  man  personally,  gov- 
erning revolutionary  elements,  watched  and  opposed  throughout  by  a 
party  ready  to  malign  his  every  word  and  act,  and  that  certainly  had 
the  prestige  in  England,  his  was  indeed  a  position  of  difficulty  and 


THE    PERIOD    OF    THE    LEISLER    TROUBLES  471 

doubtful  result.  One  cannot  do  justice  to  this  narrative  who  forgets 
the  circumstances  of  the  case.  Passions  running  high  in  a  small  city, 
principally  there,  two  hundred  years  ago.  An  aristocratic  party, 
clever,  astute,  and  determined,  and  a  popular  party  arrayed  against  it. 
History  has  other  instances  of  the  same,-and  the  bitterness  evolved  — 
waters  boiling  in  a  caldron  and  all  the  more  disturbed  that  the  space 
was  small.  Under  such  conditions  one  might  need  the  astuteness  of 
William,  or  even  the  stature  and  proportions  of  Cromwell,  himself 
abused  living  and  dead,  and  his  enemies  holding  the  field  of  history  for 
more  than  two  centuries.  And  I  see  Leisler  so  placed,  a  minor  man 
to  William  or  Cromwell ;  as  it  were  some  shipmaster  called  to  the 
command  to  navigate  untried  waters,  amid  rocks  and  contrary  cur- 
rents, and  with  breakers  booming  dangerously  across  the  bow.  No 
easy  thing  to  steer  his  craft  safely  in  such  a  sea  !  What  wonder  if, 
through  some  faulty  turn  of  the  wheel  or  the  pressure  of  wind  and 
wave  and  current,  he  should  meet  at  last  with  disaster ! 

The  advancement  of  Leisler  to  the  Lieutenant-Governorship  made 
a  change  in  the  Committee  of  Safety,  eight  of  whom  now  became  his 
Council,  December  11,  1689.  They  were,  from  the  county  and  city  of 
New- York,  Peter  De  la  Noy,  Dr.  Samuel  Staats,  Henry  Jansen,  and 
Johannes  Vermilye ;  from  Kings,  Captain  Gerardus  Beeckman,  M.  D.; 
from  Queens,  Samuel  Edsall;  from  Westchester,  Captain  Thomas 
Williams;  from  Orange,  William  Lawrence — French,  English,  and 
Dutch.  A  real  Council,  let  me  say,  since  the  acts  of  the  majority  were 
to  be  the  acts  of  all.  To  return  then  to  the  old  story,  were  these  men 
of  "  the  lower  classes,  the  rabble  "  ?  To  this  it  might  be  replied  that 
New- York  itself  had  at  the  time  but  a  small  proportion  of  people  who 
could  be  so  called ;  a  city  where,  say  Bancroft  and  other  authorities, 
"  beggars  were  unknown  and  all  the  poor  were  cared  for,"  and  where 
outside  a  favored  few  "  great  equality  of  condition  prevailed."  The 
Huguenots,  although  some  of  them  poor,  were  intelligent,  industrious, 
and  God-fearing ;  not  the  kind  of  stuff  out  of  which  to  make  even  a 
diminutive  rabble.  The  more  numerous  Dutch,  the  prevailing  class, 
had  strict  Sabbath  and  other  laws ;  and  if  they  could  not  write  English 
well,  were  well  read  in  the  Bible  and  Heidelberg  Catechism  and  the 
history  of  Holland,  they  and  their  children.  Learning  was  difficult  to 
obtain;  but  solid  and  industrious  citizens  they  were  as  a  class — the 
pioneer  ancestry  of  many  reputable  families,  the  crude  ore  out  of 
which  American  life  has  molded  much  fine  material.  As  one  of  just 
such  Philipse  himself  grew  up,  only  sharper  than  the  rest  in  money- 
making  and  land-getting.  But  concerning  the  Council.  Peter  De  la 
Noy,  a  Huguenot,  was  well  known  and  prominent  both  before  and 
after  these  events.  Dr.  Samuel  Staats  was  afterwards  councilor  under 
Earl  Bellomont,  and  again  under  Governor  Hunter ;  and  his  daughter 


472  HISTORY    OF    NEW- YORK 

was  the  first  wife  of  Chief-Justice  Lewis  Morris.  Henry  Jansen 
was  apparently  a  relative  of  Anneke  Jans ;  and  Johannes  Vermilye 
was  an  original  patentee  of  Harlem,  from  whom  the  family  name  has 
descended,  an  elder  in  the  church  and  trusted  with  office  by  his  fellow- 
townsmen  again  and  again.  These  for  the  city.  Of  the  others,  Captain 
and  Dr.  Gerardus  Beeckman,  of  Flatbush,  Long  Island,  was  an  elder  of 
that  church  under  Domine  Varick,  his  sister  the  first  wife  of  Nicholas 
Stuyvesant.  As  senior  councilor  when  Lord  Lovelace  died,  he  became 
acting  Governor ;  and  it  is  from  him  and  the  De  la  Noy  and  Keteltas 
families  that  our  later  Beekmans  are  proud  to  claim  descent.  William 
Lawrence,  another,  succeeded  Van  Cortlandt  himself,  when  he  died,  as 
councilor  to  Earl  Bellomont — a  man,  it  was  said,  "of  good  estate  and 
honest  understanding,"  and  in  these  very  troubles  opposed  to  his  own 
uncle,  John  Lawrence,  a  man  of  wealth  and  education  and  prominence 
— so  were  families  divided.  I  shall  only  add  to  this  list  a  very  im- 
portant official,  Abraham  Gouverneur,  the  clerk,  a  young  Huguenot 
who  "  could  read,  write,  and  speak  readily  "  the  three  principal  lan- 
guages of  New- York,  and  one  whose  education,  like  Bayard's,  was 
remarkable  for  his  age  and  time ;  a  prominent  man  for  years  there- 
after, and  whose  niece,  the  daughter  of  his  brother  Isaac,  as  the  second 
wife  of  Chief-Justice  Morris  became  the  mother  of  that  distinguished 
publicist,  Gouverneur  Morris.  These  were  the  men  who,  with  two  or 
three  others  and  as  Leisler's  Council,  replaced  the  favored  rooks  who 
had  preempted  the  belfry  of  government  under  the  royal  governors ! 
Not  men  of  the  lower  classes,  certainly !  Indeed,  a  few  years  later,  in 
1715,  in  what  was  then  called  the  "  court  circle,"  —  so  had  time  socially 
intermixed  the  families, —  we  find  both  Bayards,  Beekmans,  De  Pey- 
sters,  Gouverneurs,  Staatses,  and  Van  Cortlandts.  It  is,  therefore,  as 
mere  campaign  literature  that  I  quote  a  paper  sent  to  William  and 
Mary,  May  19,  1690,  of  which  one  knows  neither  who  wrote  nor  who 
actually  signed  it,  valueless  as  history,  but  which  has  been  used  against 
Leisler ;  a  paper  ostensibly  from  "  the  merchant-traders  and  others 
the  principal  inhabitants  of  New- York."  These  "  principal  inhabitants 
of  New- York,"  as  they  modestly  claim  to  be,  were  just  thirty-six  in 
number — that  is,  including  Rev.  Mr.  Pieret,  the  French  minister,  a 
citizen  of  two  years'  standing,  and  Domine  Eudolphus  Varick,  of  Long 
Island.  By  some  subtlety  in  the  social  scales,  Domine  Henricus  Selyns 
and  the  eminent  Peter  Daille,  his  French  colleague,  do  not  figure  in 
the  list.  According  to  these  "  principal  inhabitants,"  and  as  they 
proceed  to  inform  their  Majesties,  New- York  was  "  at  the  sole  rule  of 
an  insolent  alien  " — that  is,  one  not  born  in  their  Majesties'  dominions, 
a  German.  Presumably  a  delicate  compliment  to  William,  an  inti- 
mation that  they  did  not  believe  him  to  have  been  born  in  Holland, 
although  some  within  his  dominions  did  call  him  an  insolent  and 


THE    PERIOD    OF    THE    LEISLER    TROUBLES 


473 


usurping  Dutchman!  But,  considering  the  French  names  upon  the 
paper,  the  word  "alien"  was  rather  remarkable.  Where  had  they 
themselves  been  born  ;  and,  as  compared  with  Leisler,  how  long  were 
they  in  the  country  ?  And  he  was  "assisted  by  some  few  who  formerly 
were  not  thought  fit  to  bear  the  meanest  office,  to  whom  they  could 
give  no  better  name  than  a  rabble,  and  several  of  whom  could  be 
proved  guilty  of  enormous  crimes  ;  who  imprisoned  at  will,  opened 


'**r    &t**&^     J<r 

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^U<  -  -        ^ 


FAC-SIMILE    OF    THE    HANDWRITING    OF    DOMINE  DELLIUS,  1685.1 

letters,  seized  estates,  plundered  houses,  and  abused  the  clergymen  "  ! 
Sufficiently  partisan,  whoever  signed  it.  Certainly  the  Rev.  Mr.  Pieret 
never  himself  wrote  his  name  "  Pieretz." 

But  it  enables  us  to  give  attention  to  one  special  point.  It  is  by 
details  that  we  must  reach  results,  through  much  tangled  underbrush 
of  misrepresentation  that  we  must  clear  the  way  to  ultimate  light  and 
truth.  They  "  abused  the  clergymen  "  !  And  why  abuse  the  clergy- 
men ?  Leisler  and  his  Council  were,  perhaps  all  of  them,  members  or 
officers  of  churches  —  at  the  least  three  of  them  were  elders  under 
Domine  Selyns  and  Dornine  Varick.  If,  as  the  principal  ones,  the 
Dutch  clergy  of  that  day  were  tenacious  of  their  dignity,  no  less  re- 


The  account  of  the  church,  rendered  and  closed 
by  Adriaan  Gertsz,  in  the  presence  of  Do.  Schaats, 
with  the  other  members  of  the  Honorable  Con- 
sistory,  besides  other  members  of  the  Reformed 


[TRANSLATION.] 

Church  in  this  city,  is  found  by  the  balance  of  the 
account  that  294  guilders  more  have  been  received 
than  expended.    January  1st,  1685. 
In  the  name  of  all.  GE.  DELL. 


474  HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YORK 

spectful,  in  general,  were  the  people.  It  was  their  habit.  Upon  what, 
then,  if  true  at  all,  was  this  charge  grounded  f  The  answer  will  give 
us — what  we  seek — further  insight  into  this  revolution.  The  Dutch 
ministers  then  in  the  province  were  Domine  Dellius  of  Albany,  Selyns 
of  New- York,  and  Varick  of  Long  Island.  Letters  of  theirs  to  the 
Classis  of  Amsterdam  are  now  in  process  of  translation.  In  one  of 
these,  from  Domine  Varick,  who  suffered  the  most, — a  letter  dated 
April  9,  1693,  when  it  was  all  over, — he  tells  the  Classis  how  the  love 
of  years  among  his  people  had  now  for  about  four  years  been  turned 
into  hate  towards  him.  He  gives  as  the  cause  "  the  change  in  the 
government."  Yet  why  on  that  account  turn  against  a  beloved  min- 
ister ?  Here  is  some  lift  in  the  fog :  "  the  common  people  were  calling 
their  authorities  traitors,  papists,"  and  the  like,  and  "the  preachers 
seeing  that  was  wrong  tried  to  persuade  the  people  of  it."  So  stated, 
small  cause  for  such  hate !  There  the  domine  drops  the  matter,  but 
we  may  fill  in  the  history.  It  may  not  be  known  how  long  those  farm- 
ers of  Long  Island  and  the  Dutch  elsewhere  had  been  seeking  some 
measure  of  self-government.  They  petitioned  for  it  under  Stuyvesant, 
but  he  refused.  He  would  none  of  elections  "  by  the  rabble."  But 
freedom  was  in  their  blood ;  and  so  again  in  1681,  "  prompted  [says 
Bancroft]  by  an  exalted  instinct,  they  demanded  power  to  govern 
themselves."  They  did  not  get  it,  but  new  exactions  under  James. 
Their  opportunity  was  William ;  and  "  their  authorities  "  at  the  time 
were  Philipse,  Van  Cortlandt,  and  Colonel  Bayard — men  associated  in 
every  mind  with  James,  "  the  popish  king,"  and  his  regime,  and  who, 
even  after  his  overthrow,  still  resisted  the  rising  popular  tide.  Un- 
fortunately, the  Dutch  ministers  took  the  unpopular  side,  in  favor  of 
these  old  and  obnoxious  "  authorities,"  in  this  different  from  the  clergy 
of  Boston  and  New  England,  who  there  guided  and  in  a  measure  con- 
trolled the  revolution.  That  was  all  there  was  against  them,  this  the 
pith  and  core  of  their  offending.  And  does  it  not  show  beyond  any- 
thing in  this  history  the  broad  acreage  of  this  revolution  and  its  deeper 
causes — that  it  was  not,  as  foolishly  asserted,  the  wicked  work  and 
tyranny  of  Leisler  and  a  few,  a  city  rabble  ?  In  1693,  when  Leisler 
was  dead  and  his  Council  were  prisoners,  and  not  then  till  Governor 
Fletcher  had  sent  a  threatening  letter  to  the  Consistory,  only  one 
hundred  and  two  out  of  five  hundred  church  members  could  Domine 
Varick  gather  to  his  communion.  He  had  likewise  preached  at  Bergen 
and  Hackensack  and  Staten  Island ;  but  they  would  no  longer  hear 
nor  have  him  administer  the  communion.  At  Harlem,  that  excel- 
lent church  was  an  out-station  of  Domine  Selyns.  He  had  baptized 
and  married  some  of  them  years  before.  But  in  this  matter  he  was  on 
one  side  and  they  very  generally  on  the  other,  with  the  result  that 
after  the  half-yearly  communion  in  1690  (October  9th),  they  refused 


THE    PERIOD    OF    THE    LEISLER    TROUBLES  475 

his  ministrations  for  some  years.  His  immediate  charge  was  the  old 
Dutch  church  in  New- York,  where  were  wealthy  and  influential  offi- 
cers and  members  like  Bayard  and  Philipso  and  Van  Cortlandt.  The 
Governor's  pew  was  there.  A  majority  of  the  members  sided  with  the 
Council  and  the  minister.  And  yet  his  salary  was  much  withheld, 
greatly  to  his  trouble  and  annoyance ;  and  so  late  as  November,  1693, 
it  was  a  question  whether  he  would  not  have  to  resign  (as  Domine 
Dellius  writes)  through  "  the  ill-will  of  his  congregation  " !  And  as  to 
Dellius  himself — in  Albany,  with,  as  he  says,  a  more  "peaceable" 
people,  and  notwithstanding  the  great  influence  of  Peter  Schuyler  and 
others — the  congregation  was  divided.  Could  anything  tell  the  story 
better  ?  These  were  churches,  their  own  church  members  arid  people, 
the  moral  elements  in  the  community,  and  thus  divided,  thus  largely 
and  hotly  divided  against  their  ministers ! 

The  French  Huguenots  were,  apparently,  equally  at  variance  in  sen- 
timent. In  the  church  founded  by  the  Eev.  Mr.  Pieret,  in  1687,  as  the 
Rev.  Alfred  V.  Wittmeyer,  its  annalist  and  present  pastor,  avers,  a 
strong  opposition  to  Leisler  existed,  led  by  a  few  influential  men.  The 
Eev.  Mr.  Pieret  was  doubtless  with  them.  But,  as  Mr.  Wittmeyer's 
examination  also  showed,  the  great  majority  in  and  around  New- York 
supported  Leisler.  These  were  probably  the  pastoral  charge  of  the 
Eev.  Mr.  Daille,  the  French  colleague  of  Domine  Selyns,  who,  in  the 
closing  scene,  induced  large  numbers  of  them,  in  New- York  and  Har- 
lem and  New  Eochelle  and  other  places,  to  join  in  a  petition  to  the 
Governor  for  Leisler's  pardon.  Such  was  the  position  of  things  with 
ministers  and  churches.  "Abused"  by  their  people  in  the  ways  men- 
tioned, and  by  word  of  mouth,  in  this  great  excitement,  some  of  the 
former  undoubtedly  were.  Domine  Varick  fled  to  the  south  for  a 
time  from  his  own  congregation,  they  were  so  incensed  against  him. 
But  were  they  abused,  and  how,  by  Leisler  and  his  Council  ?  Domine 
Varick  was  later  imprisoned,  but  not,  as  we  shall  see,  by  Leisler  or  his 
Council.  Domine  Selyns  once  had  his  house  invaded  by  soldiers  in 
search  of  Bayard  —  roughly  and  with  loose  discipline,  no  doubt,  to  the 
hurt  of  his  feelings  but  not  of  his  person.  He  never  suffered  personal 
molestation  or  violence ;  yet  are  his  sufferings  among  the  wails  of  this 
history.  Domine  Godefridus  Dellius,  in  a  letter  of  self-defense  against 
Lord  Bellomont  in  1699,  writes  the  grave  charge  against  Leisler  that 
he  once  publicly  called  Domine  Selyns  "an  old  rogue  " — in  church,  it 
is  elsewhere  said!  Very  improper  in  Leisler,  very  unpleasant  German 
frankness,  not  to  be  commended  for  imitation  in  these  more  quiet  and 
gentle  times.  Yet  in  retributive  and  historical  justice,  one  would  like 
to  know  the  text,  the  subject,  the  particular  remark  (not  recorded) 
which  produced  this  wrathful  explosion.  Stuyvesant  (or  he  is  belied) 
might  have  said  just  the  same  or  worse.  May  we  not  leave  such  things, 


476  HISTOEY    OF    NEW- YORK 

mere  words,  mere  rents  in  official  dignity,  and  there  was  little  else,  as 
unworthy  of  notice  in  a  history  which  ended  in  blood  ?  Domine  Se- 
lyns  was  a  good  and  learned  man,  but  who  sometimes  used  large  and 
exuberant  language ;  as  when,  for  their  benefit  in  England,  he  wrote 
a  Latin  certificate  testifying  that  Philipse,  Van  Cortlandt,  and  Bay- 
ard were  "  pious,  candid,  and  modest  Protestant  Christians,  filling  the 
offices  of  deacons  and  elders  with  consummate  approbation  and  praise." 
He  used  such  language  about  his  sufferings.  The  Eev.  Mr.  Pieret  and 
the  Eev.  Mr.  Daille  were  not  molested,  nor  was  Domine  Dellius  actu- 
ally, by  Leisler  or  his  Council. 

Leisler's  public  acts  as  Lieutenant-Govern  or  now  demand  of  us  a 
brief  notice.  The  time  for  such  was  short,  but  he  was  not  idle.  Early  in 
February,  1690,  occurred  the  massacre  and  the  burning  of  Schenectady. 
Count  Frontenac  had  opened  his  campaign  along  the  frontier.  In  the 
city  the  French  refugees  were  almost  in  panic.  Leisler  was  at  once  all 
energy.  Within  ten  days  delegates  were  on  their  way  to  confer  with  the 
other  colonies  as  to  the  public  safety;  to  Connecticut  (February  21st) 
Johannes  Vermilye,  Benjamin  Blagge,  and  Leisler's  son-in-law  Jacob 
Milborne.  He  raised  a  force  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  men  and  sent 
them  to  Albany — now  as  willing  as  she  had  before  been  unwilling  to 
recognize  his  authority.  He  called  a  Provincial  Assemby — the  second 
of  its  kind — to  provide  means  for  the  war.  And  in  May  he  convened, 
to  meet  in  New-York,  the  first  Colonial  Congress.  This  Congress 
decided  what  each  colony  should  furnish — New- York  four  hundred 
men,  Connecticut  one  hundred  and  thirty,  Maryland  one  hundred, 
and  so  on  with  the  rest.  In  addition  thereto  Leisler  fitted  out  in  New- 
York  five  vessels — three  for  the  expedition  from  Boston  against  Que- 
bec, and  two  to  keep  the  French  out  of  Long  Island  Sound.  In  doing 
so,  as  De  Peyster  afterwards  declared  to  have  been  within  his  own 
knowledge,  he  spent  a  large  portion  of  his  own  estate.  Were  these 
services  recognized  when  the  end  came  I  No ;  nor  mentioned,  nor  per- 
mitted in  any  way  to  mitigate  his  sentence.  It  was  only  by  the  efforts  of 
Lord  Bellomont  and  De  Peyster  and  Dr.  Staats  and  young  Leisler  with 
the  king  that  any  part  of  the  money  spent  was  subsequently  returned. 
At  the  time  his  efforts  in  behalf  of  the  province  were  really  turned 
against  him.  The  expedition  north,  under  General  Wiuthrop,  of  Con- 
necticut, from  which  so  much  had  been  expected,  failed  to  do  anything 
and  led  Leisler  into  unwise  recriminations;  and  unfortunately  the 
naval  outfit  under  Sir  William  Phipps  was  equally  unsuccessful.  But 
they  cost  money.  When  the  Provincial  Assembly  at  last  met  it  had 
to  levy  taxes — war  taxes,  as  usual  unpopular,  and  any  and  every  at- 
tempt to  collect  which  became  fuel  for  clamor  against  Leisler.  Never- 
theless, his  prompt  public  spirit  and  efficiency  as  a  Lieutenant-Governor 
are  undeniable;  and  this  so-called  usurper  it  was  to  whom,  with  his 


THE    PERIOD    OF    THE    LEISLER    TROUBLES  477 

Council,  must  be  credited  the  organization  of  the  first  Colonial  Con- 
gress for  mutual  defense,  a  century-plant  whose  fuller  fruitage  was 
the  United  States.  This  same  so-called  usurper  and  his  Council  it  was 
likewise  who  first  among  New- York  ofiicials  voluntarily  called  into 
being  a  Provincial  Assembly,  as  the  source  of  legislation  and  taxation, 
a  principle  rejected  by  James  but  reaffirmed  by  William,  in  its  results 
our  State  legislature.  Leisler  was  a  democrat,  conducting,  against 
great  opposition,  especially  in  Albany  and  New- York,  a  democratic 
revolution.  A  man  of  the  people,  he  be- 
lieved  in  the  people.  At  the  beginning 
he  was  for  a  committee  of  safety,  elected 
by  the  people.  And  in  Albany,  aristocratic  Albany,  which  resisted 
him  till  the  time  of  the  war,  the  contention  of  his  officers  was  that 
the  old  James  charter  was  null  and  that  they  ought  to  have  a  free 
election  by  the  people.  A  spasm  of  liberty,  repressed,  though  only 
so,  by  one  hundred  years  of  British  domination  yet  to  come  ! 

A  faithful  exhibit  of  events  prior  to  the  closing  scenes  requires  us 
to  add  one  more  topic  to  this  review.  Even  during  the  war,  busy  as 
Leisler  was  in  bringing  the  colonies  together,  in  arranging  expeditions, 
in  mustering  troops,  in  equipping  vessels,  in  providing  guns  and  stores 
for  destitute  Albany,  he  and  his  Council  also  had  the  disaffected  to 
look  after.  They  kept  up  the  contest,  and  the  heat  of  neither  party 
subsided.  In  such  circumstances  what  was  to  be  expected  I  Measures 
of  repression,  arrests,  fines,  imprisonments  —  some  by  the  local  courts, 
some  by  order  of  Council  —  sometimes,  also,  searches  by  soldiers,  and 
sometimes  therewith  excesses  by  soldiers.  Revolutionary  times  these, 
two  hundred  years  ago,  not  our  times !  And  the  difference  is  impor- 
tant. Consider  the  tremendous  violations  of  law  and  right  in  Eng- 
land under  James  and  Jeffreys  up  to  1689 ;  the  extortions,  spoliations, 
imprisonments,  under  Andros,  the  royal  governors  and  their  Council 
up  to  the  same  date ;  that  Leisler  had  himself  been  imprisoned  by 
Andros;  that  imprisonment  was  the  ready  " catholicon "  for  almost 
all  offenses  at  the  time;  that  the  Rev.  Nicholas  Van  Rensselaer,  a 
clergyman,  had  been  imprisoned  in  Albany  in  1676  for  words,  heresy, 
spoken  in  a  sermon ;  that  Andros  and  others  were  at  the  very  date 
held  in  prison  in  Boston  by  its  Committee  of  Safety  !  Some  of  these 
things  heating  to  the  temper,  and  all  of  them  a  bad  example  to  revo- 
lutionary times  if  not  necessary !  In  New- York  the  only  safe  holding- 
place  was  the  fort,  which  would  hold  about  three  hundred  soldiers. 
And  now  let  us  examine  the  oft-repeated  charge  against  Leisler  of 
exceptional  tyranny  in  these  matters.  As  a  clergyman  imprisoned 
under  his  administration  and  harshly  treated,  it  is  said,  and  who 
"ultimately  died  from  the  effects  of  his  ill-treatment,"  the  case  of 
Domine  Varick  naturally  claims  precedence.  But  Varick,  as  we  know, 


478 


HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YOEK 


THE   GREAT   SEAL   OF   1691. 


early  in  these  difficulties  fled  from  his  own  congregation  into  Pennsyl- 
vania. Afterwards  returning,  he  was,  at  a  later  time,  charged  by  some 
of  them  with  high  treason,  arrested,  fined  by  a  court,  and  then  im- 
prisoned by  it  in  the  fort,  for  non-payment,  during  five  months.  There 
he  had  a  lighted  chamber,  in  this  differing  from  some  others,  and  spent 
the  time  in  learning  French  from  Captain  D'Eau,  a  captured  French 
emissary  to  the  Mohawks.  Not  specially  harsh  treatment !  This  and 
more,  a  long  letter,  he  writes  two  years  afterwards,  without  mention- 
ing, perhaps  through  forgetfulness, 
that  he  had  "ultimately  died  of  his 
ill  treatment"!  There  were  others 
with  him  in  the  fort  not  so  well  off, 
some  with  "  windows  nailed  up,  or 
underground,"  evidently  wherever  they 
could  put  them  for  safe-keeping.  And 
some  there  were,  he  says,  "  with  irons 
on  the  legs,"— i  e.,  chained  by  one  leg. 
Except  this  letter  it  must  now  be  said 
there  is  little  in  the  way  of  record, 
apart  from  loose  and  partisan  allega- 
tion, to  give  us  any  definite  idea  as  to 
who  or  how  many  were  thus  imprisoned  and  treated  during  Leisler's 
administration.  That  they  would  be  disaffected  persons,  more  or  less 
dangerous,  is  unquestionable.  That  they  were  not  hundreds  is  certain. 
They  were  not  scooped  in  from  the  community  like  fish  in  a  net,  or  as 
people  were  during  the  French  revolution.  Recorded  court "  affidavits  " 
against  individuals  do  not  indicate  a  large  number.  The  records  of 
the  Council,  as  we  have  them,  contain  but  few  names  of  persons  to  be 
arrested ;  and  but  few  are  mentioned  or  alluded  to  as  in  confinement 
when  the  fort  was  surrendered.  Indeed,  of  leading  and  active  parti- 
sans, the  most  likely  to  be  made  to  suffer,  the  most  of  them  were  not 
molested.  The  names  of  such  would  have  been  given;  and  at  the 
time  of  the  trial  names  appear  of  active  participants  therein,  men  too 
prominent  to  be  overlooked,  who  were  never  personally  the  victims 
of  Leisler's  tyranny.  Minvielle,  for  instance,  had  been  a  captain,  de- 
serted the  rest,  was  at  once  placed  in  the  Council  by  Sloughter  when 
he  came,  and  voted  for  Leisler's  death.  Would  he  not  have  been  one  ? 
It  was  not  really  the  great  number  imprisoned,  but  the  quality  of  some 
few  who  were,  that  gave  vehemence  to  the  outcry  against  Leisler. 

Of  these  Colonel  Bayard  was  the  principal  sufferer,  the  one  most 
harshly  treated.  He  was  in  prison  a  year,  and  with  a  chain  on  his 
leg;  a  man  who  could  not  be  "let  go,"  and  who  could  not  be  trusted 
to  the  fidelity  of  common  soldiers.  His  treatment  shows  the  intensity 
of  feeling  that  existed,  and  especially  towards  him.  For  all  that,  a 


THE    PERIOD    OF    THE    LEISLEB    TROUBLES  479 

blot  and  an  impolicy ;  a  humiliation  and  a  treatment  that  made  vin- 
dictive a  man  who  would  not  forget  it,  and  greatly  angered  his  many 
personal  and  party  friends.  That  "  something  more  mild  could  have 
been  done  "  in  such  cases  was  thought  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Daille,  Leisler's 
good  friend  throughout,  and  he  went  to  and  exhorted  him  to  it.  Such 
cases  must  stand  as,  on  that  side,  instances  of  unhappy  party  spirit, 
of  undue  rigor.  Seething  and  passionate  times  all  around,  in  1690 ! 
And  yet  withal,  what  strikes  us  as  most  remarkable  is  this,  that  in  a 
city,  as  we  find  it  said,  "  ruled  by  the  sword,"  under  an  "  insolent " 
tyrant  backed  by  soldiers  and  an  inflamed  and  ignorant  "  rabble  " — 
"  a  perfect  reign  of  terror " — with  at  least  one  man  in  their  power  as 
obnoxious  to  the  common  people  as  Nicholas  Bayard — that  during 
two  years  of  such  rule  there  was  not  an  execution  real  or  demanded, 
not  a  drop  of  blood  shed,  nor 
yet  a  Libby  prison  with  its 
scenes  of  starvation  and  death ; 
only  a  comparatively  few  men 
of  the  opposite  party  imprisoned 
in  a  garrisoned  fort  and  fewer  yet  chained  by  the  leg.  Marvelous 
self-restraint  in  "  the  rabble  " !  I  turn  to  New- York  in  1775.  Again 
news  from  Boston ;  again  of  the  wealthy  class,  the  coterie  bred  and 
brooded  by  royal  governors,  a  large  part  opposed  to  the  popular 
side,  Tories  —  among  them  names  the  same  as  in  1689 !  There  is 
likewise  a  committee  of  safety  looking  after  patriot  interests.  The 
prisons  are  full,  including  as  such  the  churches;  with  an  overflow 
into  the  jails  of  Connecticut.  Among  the  prisoners  is  "  Parson  "  Sea- 
bury,  of  Westchester,  carried  to  New  Haven  and  imprisoned.  And 
so  intense  is  party  feeling  that  at  Kingston  two  respectable  men,  men 
with  families,  are  hung  out  of  hand  simply  as  Tories  !  I  return  to  the 
year  1690.  Bayard  and  his  party  are  now  back  again  in  power,  with 
Leisler  and  his  "  Hon.  Council "  prisoners.  It  takes  but  a  few  days 
and  they  are  condemned  to  death ;  a  few  more  and  two  of  them,  Leis- 
ler and  his  son-in-law  Milborne,  are  executed — first  hung,  then  be- 
headed; the  rest  remain  in  prison  for  sixteen  months  thereafter  as 
the  "  condemned  six."  Against  that  execution  the  Rev.  Mr.  Daille  (the 
same  who  had  exhorted  Leisler  to  mildness)  pleaded  and  protested 
with  the  Governor  personally ;  he  then  presented  to  the  Governor  and 
Council  a  largely  signed  petition.  In  vain.  Indeed  for  the  act,  one 
of  mere  humanity,  he  was  cited  before  Sloughter's  General  Assembly 
and  narrowly  escaped  imprisonment!  Such  comparisons  are  fair;  and 
when  made,  how  tips  the  beam  of  justice,  for  or  against  Leisler,  his 
Council  and  party,  buried  by  their  opponents  under  a  lasting  ignominy? 
Say  what  one  may  of  Leisler,  that  he  was  choleric  and  at  times  unduly 
severe,  this  remains,  that  in  most  exciting  scenes  he  shed  no  blood. 


480  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

In  this  bitter  struggle,  this  social  and  political  convulsion,  let  us  re- 
member that  Leisler  And  his  party  were  ultimately  the  defeated  ones. 
His  opponents,  the  successful  party,  have  had  the  field.  History  has 
not  yet  climbed  over  the  manifest  exaggerations  of  party  spirit,  nor  let 
fall  the  sunlight  of  justice  upon  characters  and  events  which  those 
exaggerations  have  blackened  and  defaced.  Can  we  but  view  it  as  a 
significant  fact  that  none  of  the  charges  over  which  we  have  thus  far 
passed,  things  deemed  monstrous  in  Leisler,  were  made  the  subject- 
matter  of  the  indictment  under  which  he  was  tried  and  condemned 
and  executed  ?  Party  spirit  was  the  deadly  ingredient  in  that  busi- 
ness, without  which  his  execution  would  not  have  been  possible.  But 
party  spirit  had  to  find  something  bearing  the  semblance  of  law  and 
justice,  some  monk's  cowl  wherewith  to  hide  the  features  of  its  deed, 
and  it  found  it  not  in  the  things  thus  far  examined.  The  ground  of 
his  indictment  is  yet  to  come,  and  to  it,  the  closing  scene,  consum- 
mating in  a  tragedy,  we  now  pass. 

In  January,  1691,  Major  Ingoldesby  entered  the  bay — nearly  three 
months,  as  it  proved,  in  advance  of  Governor  Sloughter,  from  whom 
he  had  been  parted  in  a  storm.  Of  course  he  had  no  orders  looking  to 
the  present  emergency;  none  from  William,  none  from  Sloughter; 
no  orders,  no  business  to  decide  upon  the  king's  letter  or  Leisler's 
right  to  the  Lieutenant-Governorship  —  the  all-important  question  — 
nor  did  he  wait  for  Sloughter.  But  he  was  immediately  visited  by 
Philipse,  Van  Cortlandt,  and  others,  and  from  their  representations 
took  his  course.  He  made  an  instant  demand  for  the  fort.  Leisler, 
in  reply,  requested  to  see  his  orders  either  from  the  king  or  Governor. 
And  here  let  us  recall  the  vital  fact,  the  key  to  his  position  and  action, 
that  in  his  own  estimation  he  was  for  the  time  being  rightfully  Lieuten- 
ant-Governor  by  virtue  of  the  king's  letter,  and  had,  therefore,  a  right 
to  ask  of  any  man,  even  the  king's  officer,  his  credentials  before  deliv- 
ering to  him  a  king's  fort.  Ingoldesby's  answer  was  curt,  and  at  once 
showed  his  bias :  "  Possession  of  his  Majesty's  fort  is  what  I  demand." 
Whereupon  the  issue  was  made  with  Ingoldesby,  and  here  begins  the 
indictment  against  Leisler.  Since  Ingoldesby  showed  no  credentials, 
he  refused  to  deliver  up  the  fort;  otherwise  he  offered  him  "all  courtesy 
and  accommodation "  for  his  troops.  But  the  people,  their  passions 
were  running  high ;  they  saw  the  old  party  back  in  power  reinforced 
by  Ingoldesby,  and  therefore  when  he  landed  —  I  quote  from  Domine 
Varick,  who  was  there  —  "  they  ran  from  all  the  houses  to  the  fort  as 
against  a  public  enemy."  "  They  opened  a  brisk  fire."  Unfortunately 
two  were  killed,  a  negro  and  a  soldier  —  the  first  in  this  history.  To 
an  angry  letter  from  Ingoldesby  about  it,  Leisler  the  next  day  replied: 
"  I  have  forthwith  examined  and  find  it  a  matter  of  fact "  that  shots 
have  been  fired  at  the  troops.  He  offered  to  punish  the  offenders  if 


THE    PERIOD    OF    THE    LEISLER    TROUBLES  481 

they  could  be  found.  "  God  forbid,"  he  says,  "  that  any  man  under 
my  command  should  be  countenanced  in  an  ill  act " ;  and  he  publicly 
reproved  it.  Nevertheless,  it  was  in  the  indictment,  "murder,  one 
Josias  Browne."  And  so  proceeded  matters  for  about  three  months, 
with  threatened  war  and  excitement  at  fever-heat,  but  no  bloodshed, 
Leisler's  Council  and  party  the  meanwhile  standing  firmly  by  him,  ex- 
cept that  Dr.  Beeckmau,  fearing  bloodshed  and  the  result,  endeavored 
to  organize  a  third  party  for  neutrality  till  Sloughter's  arrival.  It  was 
impossible,  and  did  not  save  him  from  being  condemned  to  death 
with  the  rest.  But  at  last,  during  the  evening  of  March  19th,  Sloughter 
himself  arrived  in  the  bay ;  was  rowed  in  his  barge  to  the  landing  and 
proceeded  to  the  City  Hall ;  there  heard  Ingoldesby  and  the  rest,  and 
installed  a  Council ;  Leisler's  messengers  he  arrested  and  pocketed  a 
letter  he  also  sent,  and  finally  ordered  Ingoldesby  "  to  arrest  Leisler 
and  the  persons  called  his  Council."  Summary  proceedings,  but  effec- 
tive ;  he  was  the  long-looked-for  royal  Governor  and  had  the  power, 
whatever  his  character  or  bias  or  acts.  History  has  written  his 
epitaph  with  entire  consensus  :  "  weak,  avaricious,  immoral,  and  noto- 
riously intemperate "  —  "a  profligate,  needy  and  narrow-minded  ad- 
venturer." With  such  a  man,  the  important  thing  was  "  the  power 
behind  the  throne."  In  the  morning,  therefore,  with  the  proper  order 
now  in  his  pocket,  Ingoldesby  proceeded  to  the  fort ;  Leisler,  Milborne, 
and  such  of  the  Council  as  were  there  quickly  became  prisoners ;  the 
rest  dispersed  to  their  homes,  and  the  revolution,  after  two  years' 
existence,  was  ended.  Say  of  Leisler  and  his  Council,  if  one  pleases, 
foolishly  obstinate  to  hold  out  so  long !  But  short  of  the  present, 
where  ?  Lieutenant-Governor  by  virtue  of  the  king's  letter — that  was 
Leisler's  position,  conviction,  and  claim. 

To  that  position  and  conviction  he  and  his  Council  remained  con- 
sistently firm  to  the  end.  After  a  year's  imprisonment,  and  while  still 
condemned  to  death,  when  offered  pardon  and  release  (under  Governor 
Fletcher)  if  they  would  sue  for  it  as  criminals  guilty  of  high  treason 
and  crime,  members  of  that  Council  refused ;  they  had  committed  no 
crime.  Unhappy  for  them,  then,  as  was  the  ending  through  Sloughter's 
hasty  condemnation  —  Sloughter,  who  had  been  ordered  by  the  king 
to  investigate  —  what  shall  we  say  of  them?  Brave  men,  with  the 
courage  of  their  convictions  —  men  who  would  not  shirk  in  battle, 
who  would  not  flinch  nor  quit  the  deck  though  the  breakers  were 
reached  and  their  lives  in  deadly  peril !  It  is  amazing  they  should 
have  reached  the  end  with  but  one  defection.  But  prisoners  they  now 
are  —  Leisler  (so  says  the  account)  with  "  the  same  chain  on  his  leg 
that  Bayard  had  worn."  How  long  to  the  trial  f  Ten  days.  Upon 
what  charges  to  be  tried  ?  "  Traitorously  levying  war,  feloniously 
murdering  Josias  Browne " ;  holding  the  fort  against  the  Governor, 
VOL.  L— 31. 


482  HISTOBY    OF    NEW-YORK 

"  in  the  reducing  of  which  lives  had  been  lost."  In  other  words,  the 
whole  period  of  three  months  from  Ingoldesby's  arrival  is  in  this 
indictment  treated  as  one,  as  opposition  to  the  Governor,  who  was  "  re- 
ducing the  fort."  Hence  the  charges,  treason  and  murder.  Who  pre- 
pare the  evidence  for  the  prosecution  !  Bayard,  Van  Cortlandt,  and 
Pinhorne.  Who  are  the  selected  judges  f  Ten  men  "  the  least  preju- 
diced against  the  prisoners " ;  or,  as  truthful  Sloughter  writes,  "  un- 
concerned with  the  late  troubles "  —  including  Ingoldesby,  also 
Pinhorne,  who  had  just  prepared  the  evidence.  Who  are  the  govern- 
ment counsel  ?  The  Attorney-General,  "  reputed  the  ablest  lawyer  in 
America,"  and  four  specials  to  assist  him.  But  on  the  other  side  ? 
None.  All  the  forms  of  law  observed,  till  one  examines  the  personnel. 
And  now  the  trial  begins.  Leisler  and  Milborne  at  once  refuse  to 
plead  till  the  court  shall  decide  one  question — had  or  had  not  the 
king's  letter  to  Nicholson  given  him  authority  to  take  upon  himself 
the  government  I  The  whole  case  in  a  nutshell !  That  granted,  and 
it  swept  away  the  entire  indictment.  How  was  it  decided  ?  This 
learned  Court  of  Oyer  and  Terminer,  with  Chief -Justice  Dudley  presid- 
ing, with  the  Attorney-General  and  four  eminent  counsel  to  assist,  itself 
composed  of  men  selected  as  "the  least  prejudiced  against  the  prison- 
ers," refused  to  decide  this  just  and  all-important  question.  They 
referred  it  to  the  Governor  and  Council.  With  what  result  1  A  result 
easily  to  be  predicted.  The  Governor  and  Council  were  Sloughter, 
Philipse,  Van  Cortlandt,  Bayard,  Minvielle,  and  one  or  two  more,  sit- 
ting in  judgment  upon  their  own  case — a  case  upon  which  turned  the 
legality  of  Ingoldesby's  acts,  of  this  present  trial,  and  of  all  the  Council 
had  done  and  claimed  since  December,  1689.  Upon  their  decision, 
also,  depended  the  lives  of  eight  men;  and  they  gave  it  against  Leisler. 
So  the  trial  proceeded  to  its  end,  Leisler  and  Milborne  being  tried  as 
mutes,  and  being  with  six  of  his  Council  condemned  to  death.  One  scene 
more  in  this  doleful  tragedy.  They  have  asked  reprieve  till  the  king 
can  be  heard  from,'  and  this  Sloughter  ostensibly  grants.  Will  it  be 
carried  out  I  A  very  weak  man  is  Sloughter.  A  great  "  clamor  of 
the  people  "  besieges  his  Excellency  —  Rev.  Mr.  Daille's  appeals  on  the 
other  side  and  his  petition  of  eighteen  hundred  names  (the  number 
given  by  Gouverneur)  being  of  no  account.  A  great  "  clamor  of  the 
people,"  and  so  his  Excellency  leaves  it  to  his  Council.  And  on  their 
part  the  Council — Philipse,  Bayard,  Van  Cortlandt,  Nicolls,  and  Min- 
vielle— (May  14th)  declare  it  "absolutely  necessary"  that  the  execu- 
tion of  "the  principal  criminals  " — Leisler  and  Milborne — should  take 
place.  For  what  reasons  ?  First,  as  recorded,  "  for  the  satisfaction  of 
the  Indians"  of  the  Mohawk  valley,  who  had  doubtless  received  and 
eagerly  read  the  New- York  morning  papers,  and  were  to  be  conciliated 
in  no  other  possible  way  !  Second,  for  "  the  assertion  of  the  govern- 


THE    PERIOD    OF    THE    LEISLER    TROUBLES 


483 


ment  and  authority,  and  the  prevention  of  insurrections  and  disorders 
for  the  future."  Such  were  their  recorded  reasons  —  to  conciliate  sav- 
ages and  strike  terror  at  home !  The  next  evening  (Thursday,  May 
15th)  there  was  an  entertainment 
at  the  house  of  Bayard,  and  there 
the  "weak"  Sloughter  signed  the 
death-warrant,  and  there  is  reason 
to  believe  that  he  may  have  been 
under  the  influence  of  wine  when 
he  did  so,  as  is  asserted  by  some 
writers.  From  Thursday  till  Sat- 
urday, no  longer;  but  Leisler  is 
ready,  Milborne  it  may  be  not  so 
much  so ;  and  in  his  last  address 
Leisler  still  declared  that  he  would 
have  yielded  the  fort  to  Ingoldesby 
had  he  presented  his  credentials. 
In  a  northeast  rain-storm,  near  the 
old  Tammany  Hall,  they  were  both 
hung,  then  beheaded.  The  young 
patroon  of  Albany,  Jeremias  Van 
Rensselaer,  was  not  on  the  popular 
side,  but  he  wrote  to  the  Lords  of 
Trade  "  revengefully  sacrificed."  l 

It  is  all  over  then,  since  Leisler  is  dead.  No,  there  remains  the  vin- 
dication ;  it  is  not  all  over.  As  Julius  Caesar  "  at  Philippi  the  good 
Brutus  ghosted,"  so  Leisler  ghosted  the  opposite  party.  Years  did 
not  see  the  end  of  the  bitter  feud,  social  and  political,  between  the 


l  Bancroft's  commentary  on  the  event  is :  "  Both 
acknowledged  the  errors  which  they  had  com- 
mitted 'through  ignorance  and  jealousf  ear,  through 
rashness  and  passion,  through  misinformation  and 
misconstruction ' ;  in  other  respects  they  asserted 
their  innocence,  which  their  blameless  private  lives 
confirmed." 

There  is  in  existence  an  exceedingly  interest- 
ing and  recently  discovered  letter  written  by  a 
lady  of  the  Leisler  party,  dated  New- York,  Au- 
gust 6,  1691,  or  fourteen  days  after  the  death  of 
Governor  Sloughter.  A  few  extracts  will  exhibit 
the  state  of  mind  to  which  the  circumstances  of 
the  day  had  reduced  the  writer,  and  will  also 
throw  some  light  upon  passing  events.  "We  are 
under  a  great  trouble  by  reason  of  ye  present 
wicked  government  for  which  we  may  complain 
to  God.  If  things  go  on  after  this  rate  there  is 
no  living  any  longer  here  for  Christian  souls.  I 
would  have  departed  before  this  time,  but  that 
they  will  not  suffer  anybody  to  go.  .  .  .  All  this 
is  only  because  we  all  have  been  so  faithfull  to 
King  William  and  Queen  Mary.  .  .  .  When  ye 
news  came  here  that  Prince  William  had  arrived 


in  England,  to  maintain  ye  Protestant  religion, 
the  Dutchman  who  brought  it  was  threatened  by 
ye  then  Governor,  who  put  his  sword  upon  his 
breast  to  run  him  through  if  he  would  not  be 
silent  of  it.  ...  We  have  not  deserved  that  such 
wicked  judges  should  be  sent  over  to  us,  who  hear 
ye  one  and  put  ye  other  to  death  without  having 
heard  his  defense,  nay  though  Leisler's  wife  and 
children  in  the  most  abject  posture  did  prostrate 
themselves  at  ye  governor's  feet,  and  begged  of 
him  that  he  would  hear  their  husband  and  father 
but  half  an  hour  speak  since  he  had  heard  none 
but  his  adversary's  and  enemies,  and  if  that  time 
was  too  long  that  he  might  give  him  audience  but 
one  minute,  yett  all  this  was  in  vaine,  he  must  be 
hurried  to  the  Execucon  without  being  heard  and 
thus  they  died  gloriously  as  two  Martyrs."  The 
Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  Miller  states  (of  course  as  tradi- 
tion) that  when  Leisler  was  executed,"  the  shrieks 
of  the  people  were  dreadful  —  especially  the  women 
—  some  fainted,  some  were  taken  in  labour ;  the 
crowd  cut  off  pieces  of  his  garments  as  precious 
relics,  also  his  hair  was  divided,  out  of  great  vene- 
ration, as  for  a  martyr."  EDITOR. 


484 


HISTORY    OF    NEW- YORK 


Leislerians  and  anti-Leislerians,  parties  that  arose  out  of  his  grave; 
but  that  we  pass.  In  England  his  enemies  had  till  now  very  success- 
fully "tuned"  influential  minds  around  the  seat  of  power.  The  good 
and  reliable  Sloughter,  after  his  official  investigation,  had  also  informed 
the  king  that  doubtless  "  never  greater  villains  lived"  than  Leisler  and 
his  Council.  But  other  influences  were  beginning  to  work.  In  par- 
ticular a  strong  petition  came  to  their  Majesties  from  young  Leisler, 
his  mother  and  sister,  the  widow  of  Milborne.  The  Lords  of  Trade, 

to  whom  it  was  referred,  reported  the 
execution  "according  to  law" — i.  e., 
the  military  offense  charged  against 
Leisler  bore  in  law  the  death  penalty. 
How,  indeed,  could  they  venture  to 
declare  William's  first  Governor  and 
Council  and  a  Court  of  Oyer  and  Ter- 
miner,  with  Chief-Justice  Dudley  at 
its  head,  guilty  of  judicial  murder? 
Not  yet.  They,  however,  petitioned 
their  Majesties  to  restore  the  estates 
of  the  deceased;  and  Mary  in  council 
"approved  their  report"  and  so  ordered — an  act,  so  far,  of  executive 
"mercy."  But  in  1695,  through  the  efforts  of  young  Leisler,  of 
Gouverneur,  and  others,  and  with  William's  assent,  the  case  came 
before  Parliament.  A  committee  was  appointed  and  the  whole  his- 
tory examined  anew.  That  history  was  embodied  in  a  bill,  and 
though  opposed  to  the  utmost  by  Chief-Justice  Dudley  and  others, 
it  was  passed  by  Parliament  and  William  signed  it !  It  reversed 
the  attainder  in  full;  and  as  the  legitimate  corollary  the  "con- 
demned six"  were  likewise  pardoned  and  their  estates  restored. 
Vindicated  at  last;  Leisler  and  Milborne,  also,  receiving  from  the 
General  Assembly,  the  State  Legislature,  under  Governor  Bellomont, 
public  and  honorable  interment  near  the  old  Dutch  Church.2 


TOMB    OF    LEISLER.1 


1  Leisler  and  Milborne  were  buried  almost  imme- 
diately opposite  the  place  of  their  execution,  or  in 
a  spot  which  is  now  near  the  corner  of  Spruce 
street  and  Park  Row  (or  Printing  House  Square). 
This  ground  was  comprehended  within  property 
that  came  into  Leisler's  possession  on  bis  marriage 
with  Mrs.  Vanderveen,  who  was  a  stepdaughter 
of  Govert  Loockermans,  to  whom  the  land  was 
granted  in  1642.    On  the  reversal  of  the  sentence 
of  attainder  and  the  restitution  of  Leisler's  name 
to  honor,  the  bodies  were  taken  up  and  moved  to 
the  cemetery  back  of  the  church  in  Garden  street, 
now  Exchange  Place,  in  September,  1698 ;  and  the 
tombstone  shown   in   the  illustration  was  here 
erected.  EDITOR. 

2  Bellomont,  in  a  letter  to  the  "  Lords  of  Trade," 
May  15, 1699,  wrote :  "  I  do  not  repent  my  so  doing 
since  no  manner  of  ill  consequence  ensued,  and 


if  it  were  in  my  power  I  would  restore  them  to 
life  again,  for  I  am  most  confident,  and  dare  un- 
dertake to  prove  it,  that  the  execution  of  these 
men  was  as  violent,  cruell,  and  arbitrary  a  proceed- 
ing as  ever  was  done  upon  the  lives  of  men  in  any 
age  under  an  English  government,  and  it  will  be 
proved  undeniably  that  Fletcher  hath  declared 
the  same  dislike  and  abhorrence  of  that  proceed- 
ing that  I  now  doe,  notwithstanding  his  double- 
ness  in  publishing  a  book  to  applaud  the  justice 
of  it,  and  screen  his  sycophant  Councillors  Nicolls, 
Bayard,  Brooks,  and  the  rest  of  the  bloodhounds. 
...  I  do  not  wonder  that  Bayard,  Nicolls,  and  the 
rest  of  the  murderers  of  these  men  should  be  dis- 
turbed at  the  taking  up  of  their  bones ;  it  put 
them  in  mind  ('t  is  likely)  of  their  rising  hereafter 
in  judgment  against  them."  (Doc.  rel.  Col.  Hist. 
N.  Y.,  4:523.)  EDITOR. 


THE    PERIOD    OF    THE    LEISLER    TROUBLES  485 

When  this  subject  was  first  undertaken  by  the  writer  he  had  only 
the  most  general  impressions  concerning  it.  On  examination  he  found 
the  histories  relating  to  the  matter  variant  and  confused,  but  the  larger 
part  of  them  adverse  to  Leisler ;  and  he  felt  obliged  to  analyze  for  him- 
self from  the  very  beginning.  The  result  is  now  a  definite  opinion : 
that  by  their  early  and  stub- 
born  resistance  to  a  popu-  __^?  ,,( 
lar  and  inevitable  outbreak,  <Z--~^  Ol 
necessarily  involving  their 
own  authority,  the  old  gov- 
ernment seeded  the  future  crop — a  resistance  on  both  sides  growingly 
stubborn  and  full  of  the  caloric  of  passion  in  that  contracted  city. 
They  should  at  least  have  accepted  the  temporary  solution  of  a  com- 
mittee of  safety,  but  lost  their  opportunity.  For  the  rest,  the  action 
of  Parliament,  the  fullness  of  the  bill,  with  William's  signature  thereto, 
covers,  and  settles  all  questions  back  to  the  interpretation  of  the  king's 
letter.  Leisler  was  not  a  usurper,  but  had  rights  which  Ingoldesby  and 
Sloughter  and  the  rest  grievously  and  wrongly  invaded.  That  scaf- 
fold with  all  its  ignominy  was  reared  upon  a  miserable  technicality,  a 
subterfuge — resistance  to  a  king's  officer,  the  Governor's  representa- 
tive; but  one  who  had  no  credentials  from  his  superior,  who  only 
afterwards  chose  to  adopt  his  acts.  Upon  that  technicality,  that  sub- 
terfuge, eight  men  condemned  to  death,  two  of  them  actually  executed! 
How  could  such  a  thing  be  done?  We  must  remember  the  age  and 
the  example  of  England;  that  moral  sentiment  on  the  subject  of 
life  and  executions  was  not  the  keen  sentiment  of  the  present  day, 
which  would  render  another  such  event  on  New- York  soil  impossible. 
Above  all,  however,  what  does  history  tell  us,  by  many  examples,  of  the 
blinding,  almost  dehumanizing  effects  of  party  spirit,  of  class  prejudice 
and  passion !  Some  of  these  were  good  men.  Domine  Selyns  was 
such,  though  he  did  not  interfere — perhaps  could  not.  I  think  Van 
Cortlandt  to  have  been  such,  in  other  matters  an  honorable  gentleman. 
But  they  began  with  the  idea  of  u  the  rabble,"  and  ended  by  thinking 
their  opponents  through  the  loom  and  the  fog  phenomenal  "  villains  " 
— than  whom  "never  greater  villains  lived."  As  such  they  judged,  as 
such  condemned  them,  shedding  their  blood  without  compunction,  who 
in  two  years  of  agitating  strife,  of  mutual  partisanship,  had  never  shed 
any.  So  may  even  good  men  harden  at  times  into  rock  and  wrong — 
excusing  themselves  by  many  subtle  mental  devices.  But  in  Califor- 
nia is  a  town  where  one  may  walk,  himself  among  orange  orchards, 
roses,  the  cactus,  banana  and  palm  trees.  In  the  distance  between 
two  hills  of  green  is  a  mountain  of  rock,  in  summer  ugly  and  grim,  fit 
object  for  God's  thunderbolts ;  but  in  winter  there  comes  from  the 
skies  a  soft  veil  of  snow  which  hides  its  unseemliness  from  the  ob- 


486 


HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 


server  among  the  pleasant  orange  groves.  Let  us  do  as  the  skies  do — 
cast  the  white  mantle  of  charity  over  this  tragic  and  ugly  event  of  the 
distant  past,  one  of  such  intense  passion  and  partisanship.  But  Leisler, 
relegated  as  an  official  of  New- York  to  the  dust  and  opprobrium  of  two 
centuries — concerning  him  what  does  this  review  make  the  fitting 
conclusion  ?  Is  it  not  this — that  as  we  praise  the  faithful  sentinel  of 
Pompeii,  whom  the  enshrouding  ashes  had  so  long  concealed,  as  in 
our  day  we  are  raising  to  pedestals  of  honor  men  whom  the  passions 
of  the  past  had  alone  consigned  to  oblivion  or  ignominy,  so  should  be 
restored  to  honorable  place  in  the  annals  of  New- York  the  name  of 
Lieutenant-Go vernor  Leisler  I  Let  us  turn  his  face  from  the  wall. 

Although  the  event  of  preponderating  interest  has  now  been  passed 
in  review,  before  this  chapter  is  concluded  some  attention  must  be 
given  to  the  remaining  affairs  of  Governor  Sloughter's  brief  adminis- 
tration, and  to  those  of  the 
interval  that  elapsed  before 
the  arrival  of  his  successor 
from  England.  Simultane- 
ously with  his  preparations 
for  Leisler's  trial,  Sloughter 
issued  writs  for  the  election 
of  members  for  a  Provin- 
cial Assembly,  to  meet  on 
April  9,  1691.  This  was  in 
compliance  with  his  instruc- 
tions from  King  William, 
which  in  other  respects  were  very  similar  to  those  which  James,  as 
Duke  of  York  and  as  King  of  England,  had  delivered  to  Andros  and 
Dongan  before  the  plan  of  the  vice-regency  had  been  put  into  effect. 
One  important  difference,  however,  must  be  noted,  in  that  a  require- 
ment was  now  included  which  had  before  been  carefully  omitted,  but 
which  recent  circumstances  seemed  imperatively  to  call  for.  The  "  Test 
Act "  of  1673  had  not  hitherto  been  extended  to  America,  and  would 
have  been  obviously  inappropriate  in  the  dominions  of  Roman  Catholic 
James.  Now,  however,  it  was  to  be  enforced  in  all  its  rigor.  By  this  all 
persons  holding  any  civil  or  military  offices  were  required  to  take  the 
oaths  of  allegiance  and  supremacy ;  to  publicly  receive  the  sacrament 
of  the  Lord's  Supper  according  to  the  usage  of  the  Church  of  England ; 
and  to  subscribe  a  declaration  against  the  Romish  doctrine  of  Tran- 
substantiation.  By  William's  appointment  the  Provincial  Council 
was  to  consist  of  the  following  twelve  persons:  Frederick  Philipse, 


THE    REMSEN   HOUSE,    FRONT  VIEW.1 


l  The  ancient  Dutch  farmhouse  of  which  the      was  for  a  long  period  in  the  possession  of  the 
front  and  rear  views  are  given  above  and  on  p.  487,      New-York  family  of  that  name.  EDITOR. 

respectively,  was  known  as  the  Bemsen  house,  and 


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THE    PEEIOD    OF    THE    LEISLEB    TEOUBLES  487 

Stephen  Van  Cortlandt,  Nicholas  Bayard,  William  Smith,  Gabriel 
Minvielle,  Chidney  Brooke,  William  Nicolls,  Nicholas  De  Meyer, 
Francis  Rombouts,  Thomas  Willett,  William  Pinhorne,  and  John 
Haines.  To  mark  the  accession  of  new  sovereigns  and  the  inaugu- 
ration of  a  new  era  in  English  history,  a  new  seal  was  bestowed  upon 
the  province  of  New- York.  It  represented  on  one  side  the  figures  of 
the  king  and  queen,  to  whom 
an  Indian  man  and  woman, 
in  a  kneeling  posture,  offered 
a  present  of  beaver.  On  the 
reverse  side  were  the  royal 
arms  with  an  appropriate 
legend. 

The  election  called  for  by 
Governor  Sloughter's  writs 

having  duly  taken  place,  the  THE  REMSEN  HOugE> 

members  of  the  Assembly 
met  in  New- York  on  April  9th.  The  city  and  county  were  repre- 
sented by  James  Graham,  who  was  elected  Speaker,  and  William 
Merrett,  Jacobus  Van  Cortlandt,  and  Johannes  Kip.  "  It  was  the 
first  time,"  remarks  Brodhead,  "  that  the  popular  representatives  of 
the  province  had  convened  under  the  direct  authority  of  the  English 
crown."  Yet  when  they  passed  a  resolution  declaring  that  it  was  a 
right  and  not  a  privilege  for  the  people  to  thus  elect  their  own  legis- 
latures, it  was  promptly  vetoed  by  the  Governor.  During  a  session 
of  not  quite  six  weeks,  it  enacted  no  less  than  fourteen  laws,  most  of 
them  exceedingly  deferential  to  the  royal  wish.  The  act  of  greatest 
importance  perhaps  was  one  for  the  establishment  of  a  Supreme 
Court  for  the  province.  Of  this  the  Governor  appointed  as  Chief- 
Justice,  Joseph  Dudley;  as  second  Justice,  Thomas  Johnson;  while 
the  Associate  Justices  were  William  Smith,  Stephen  Van  Cortlandt, 
and  William  Pinhorne.  As  there  was  then  no  palatial  State  House, 
such  as  now  towers  above  the  banks  of  the  Hudson  at  Albany,  the 
Provincial  Assembly  was  compelled  to  content  itself  with  the  humble 
accommodations  of  a  tavern. 

Governor  Sloughter  did  not  long  survive  his  arrival  in  America,  or 
the  victims  of  his  hasty  and  partial  prosecution.  On  March  19,  1691, 
he  had  landed  on  Manhattan  Island ;  on  July  23d  he  was  suddenly 
attacked  by  illness,  and  died  within  a  few  hours.  It  is  not  surprising 
that  in  the  ferment  of  those  times  suspicions  of  poisoning  should  have 
been  awakened.  A  negro  was  accused  of  having  placed  poison  in  his 
coffee,  and  the  act  traced  of  course  to  the  adherents  of  Leisler.  A 
post-mortem  examination  was  ordered,  which  resulted  in  the  conclu- 
sion that  he  had  come  to  his  death  from  natural  causes.  But,  on  the 


488  HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YOBK 

other  side,  it  was  confidently  believed  that  remorse  for  the  execution 
of  Leisler,  or  delirium  tremens  from  excessive  dissipation,  was  the 
cause  of  his  sudden  death.  He  was  buried  at  the  expense  of  the 
province,  and  his  remains  placed  in  the  vault  of  the  Stuy  vesant  family, 
by  the  side  of  those  of  the  gallant  old  Governor. 

In  this  emergency,  immediately  after  the  funeral,  on  July  26th,  the 
Provincial  Council  met  for  the  purpose  of  supplying  the  vacancy  in 
the  Governorship.  It  called  for  the  reading  of  Major  Richard  In- 
goldesby's  commission  from  the  king.  This  having  been  done,  it  was 
declared  that,  whereas,  in  the  case  of  the  death  of  the  Governor,  the 
Major  should  act  as  Commander-in-chief  of  the  military,  by  the  ex- 
press provision  of  this  instrument,  the  intention  must  also  be  that  he 
should  take  his  place,  at  least  temporarily,  as  Governor.  He  was  ac- 
cordingly summoned  before  the  Council.  The  oath  of  office  having 
been  administered  to  him,  and  the  Test  Act  of  1673  submitted  for  his 
subscription,  Eichard  Ingoldesby  became  acting  Governor  of  New- 
York,  until  a  Governor  should  have  been  appointed  by  the  king.  The 
administration  of  Ingoldesby  extended  to  a  little  over  thirteen  months. 
It  was  marked  by  no  events  of  especial  importance.  In  February,  1692, 
he  urged  upon  the  Assembly  and  the  city  government  the  necessity  of 
strengthening  the  fort  and  the  defenses  of  the  city,  but  without  a  satis- 
factory response.  In  May,  1692,  reports  came  of  the  approach  of  the 
French  from  the  direction  of  Canada,  and  the  Major  hastened  to  Albany 
to  renew  in  person  the  pledges  of  friendship  with  the  faithful  Iroquois. 
Ever  threatening  but  never  succeeding  in  breaking  the  barrier  which 
these  friendly  Indians  interposed  between  French  aggression  and 
English  dominion  in  North  America,  the  efforts  of  the  French  were 
again  foiled  in  the  present  instance,  and  Ingoldesby  was  enabled  to 
resign  the  government  to  his  successor  with  peace  and  prosperity 
reigning  within  the  bounds  of  the  province.  There  was  a  rumor 
among  the  people,  and  there  may  have  been  some  hope  within  his 
own  breast,  that  the  king  might  ratify  the  action  of  the  Provincial 
Council,  and  make  his  incumbency  of  the  office  permanent.  But  in 
this  he  was  disappointed,  and  on  August  29,  1692,  Colonel  Benjamin 
Fletcher  arrived  at  New- York,  commissioned  by  William  III.,  to  be  its 
Governor.  Ingoldesby,  however,  remained  in  the  province,  and,  as 
will  be  seen,  rendered  important  military  services  under  Fletcher.1 

i"At  Stillwater,  in  June,  1709,  Colonel  Peter  Fort  Ingoldesby,  in  honor  of  Lieutenant-Governor 
Schuyler,  in  command  of  the  advance  guard  of  Major  Richard  Ingoldesby."   (From  Stone's  "  Rev- 
General  Francis    Nicholson's    army,  halted  and  olutionary  Letters,"  p.  134  (1891).)          EDITOR. 
erected  a  small  stockaded  fort  which  he  named 


CHAPTER  XHI 

BENJAMIN   FLETCHEE  AND   THE   RISE   OF   PIRACY 

1692-1698 


N  Sunday,  the  28th  of  August,  1692,  the  sentry  on  Fort 
William  Henry  perceived  a  signal  at  the  Narrows  flagstaff 
that  a  vessel  was  sighted  "att  Sandy  Point,"  and  the  news 
spread  rapidly  through  the  city  that  the  Wolf,  with  the 
long-expected  Governor,  Colonel  Benjamin  Fletcher,  on  board,  was  in 
sight.  This  conjecture  became  reality  when,  next  morning,  the  frigate 
stood  up  the  bay,  and  towards  evening  dropped  anchor  under  the  fort, 
with  a  salute  to  the  flag.  During  the  night  preparations  for  the  re- 
ception of  the  Governor  with  ceremony  befitting  his  rank  and  dignity 
were  consummated.  At  eight  o'clock  next  morning  he  disembarked 
and  was  received  by  a  great  company — the  Council  of  the  province, 
including  the  Chief  Justice,  the  Mayor,  Abraham  De  Peyster,  and 
the  Common  Council  of  the  city — courtly,  dignified  gentlemen  in  the 
handsome  and  distinctive  costume  of  the  day,  with  the  militia  regi- 
ments in  arms  and  a  great  concourse  of  citi- 
zens. These  saluted  the  Governor  with  "  accla- 
mations and  firing,"  and  a  procession  being 
formed,  the  whole  body  marched  to  the  fort,  where  the  council-chamber 
was  thrown  open,  and  his  commission  publicly  read;  after  which 
Colonel  Fletcher,  with  due  solemnity,  administered  their  several  oaths 
to  the  councilors.  This  done,  the  procession  again  formed  and  marched 
to  the  City  Hall,  where  the  new  Governor  was  publicly  proclaimed 
and  his  commission  read  to  the  people,  which  was  followed  by  "  the 
like  ceremony  of  acclamations  and  firing."  The  ceremonies  concluded 
with  a  grand  banquet  in  the  evening  which  cost  the  city  twenty 
pounds.1 

The  Governor,  thus  publicly  inaugurated,  was  a  striking  and  impor- 
tant figure  in  the  city's  annals,  and  everything  relating  to  his  history 
and  personality  is  of  interest.  Unfortunately  few  data  of  this  kind 

l  Tuesday,  August  30, 1692:  "  Agreed  that  there  value  of  twenty  pounds  or  thereabouts,  and  it  is 
be  a  treat  made  to  wellcome  his  Excellency  Ben-  left  to  Alderman  William  Merritt  to  provide  the 
jamin  Fletcher  now  arrived,  by  the  city  to  the  same  accordingly."  (Council  Minutes.) 

489 


490  HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YOEK 

have  been  preserved.  None  of  the  historians  who  have  touched  upon 
his  career  have  given  the  date  or  place  of  his  birth.  John  R.  Brodhead, 
collector  of  the  "  Documents  Relating  to  the  Colonial  History  of  the 
State  of  New- York,"  remarks  that  his  arms  point  to  Cheshire,  England, 
as  the  place  of  his  birth,  but  the  county  history  of  Cheshire  is  silent 
concerning  him.  The  Assembly  of  New- York,  in  1699,  adopted  a  pe- 
tition to  Lord  Bellomont  asking  that  the  arms  of  Governor  Fletcher 
might  be  removed  from  the  king's  chapel  in  the  fort  and  from  Trinity 
Church,  "since  his  birth  was  so  mean  and  obscure  that  he  was  not 
entitled  to  bear  a  coat  of  arms."  Fletcher  himself,  writing  to  one  of 
his  refractory  Assemblies,  said  that  his  education  had  been  that  of  the 
camp.  About  all  that  is  known  of  him  prior  to  his  being  appointed 
Governor  is  that  he  was  an  Englishman  by  birth  and  a  soldier  by  pro- 
fession, who  had  done  good  service  for  William  in  the  Low  Countries 
and  in  the  heady  Irish  war.  Frederick  De  Peyster  states  "that,  having 
been  an  active  propagandist  of  Englishism  and  Protestantism  in  Ire- 
land, he  was  rewarded  with  an  estate  in  that  country."  He  had  been 
appointed  Governor  by  William  and  Mary  for  two  reasons:  first,  as  a 
distinct  reward  for  services  performed,  and  second,  because  it  was 
thought  that  his  energy  and  military  talents  would  bring  peace  and 
order  to  the  distracted  colony.  It  was  expected  that  he  would  advance 
his  own  fortunes  out  of  the  governorship — this  had  been  the  custom 
of  all  royal  governors.  No  portrait  nor  authentic  description  of  him 
is  known  to  be  extant.  In  character  he  was  arrogant,  avaricious, 
passionate,  something  of  a  zealot  in  religion,  fond  of  social  pleasures, 
not  averse  to  exhibiting  himself  in  the  gilded  trappings  of  his  station, 
but  brave,  energetic,  loyal,  and  well  affected  towards  the  colony. 

Long  and  minute  instructions  were  given  for  his  guidance  in  the 
government,  which,  as  forming  the  key  to  his  administration,  we  will 
notice  at  length,  since  they  have  been  largely  ignored  by  many  writers 
who  have  treated  of  this  period.  He  was  to  proceed  to  his  govern- 
ment with  all  convenient  speed,  call  the  members  of  the  Council  to- 
gether—  who  were  named  in  the  instrument  —  viz.,  Joseph  Dudley 
(the  Chief  Justice),  Frederick  Flypson  (Philipse),  Stephen  Cortlandt, 
Nicholas  Bayard,  William  Smith,  Gabrielle  Mienville,  Chidley  Brooke, 
William  Nicolls,  Thomas  Willett,  William  Pinhorne,  Thomas  Johnson, 
Peter  Schuler  (Schuyler),  John  Lawrence,  Richard  Townley,  and  John 
Young,  Esquires,1  administer  the  oath  to  them,  and  cause,  with  "  all 
due  and  usual  solemnity,"  his  commission  to  be  published  in  the  prov- 
ince. He  was  to  communicate  to  these  councilors  so  many  of  his  in- 
structions as  he  deemed  necessary  for  the  good  of  the  service,  and  per- 
mit them  to  have  and  enjoy  freedom  of  debate  and  vote ;  he  was  not  to 
act  with  a  quorum  of  less  than  five  members  except  in  case  of  neces- 

1  Caleb  Heathcote,  who  later  became  a  prominent  figure  in  New-York  history,  was  added  a  year  later. 


BENJAMIN  FLETCHER  AND  THE  RISE  OF  PIRACY 


491 


sity,  when  three  would  be  deemed  legal.  In  nominating  members  of 
the  Council,  judges,  and  others,  he  was  to  exercise  cafe  that  they  were 
men  of  estate  and  ability,  not  necessitous  people,  or  much  in  debt,  and 
that  they  were  well  affected  towards  the  government.  He  was  not  to 
suspend  councilors  without  good  and  sufficient  cause,  and  then  must 
transmit  to  the  home  government  copies  of  charges,  proofs,  and  the 
replies  of  the  accused  thereunto.  He  was  to  transmit  authentic  copies 


S.  FA*  Jfetftar 

6  TAf.  ftufttaff  ant 

7. 7 


of  all  the  laws  and  statutes  made  in  the  province.  He  was  not  to  be 
absent  from  his  government  on  any  pretense  whatever  without  leave. 
He  was  to  forward  by  the  first  opportunity  a  map  with  an  exact  de- 
scription of  the  whole  territory  under  his  government ;  likewise  a  list 
of  all  officers  employed  under  him,  with  all  public  charges,  and  an 
account  of  the  present  revenue.  He  was  not  to  displace  any  judges, 
justices,  sheriffs,  or  ministers,  without  good  and  sufficient  cause,  which 
cause  was  to  be  reported  to  the  king  in  full.  He  was  to  erect  a  Court 
of  Exchequer  for  the  trial  of  all  cases  affecting  the  revenue,  if  he  deemed 
it  necessary.  "  You  shall  take  especial  care,"  the  document  continued, 
"  that  God  Almighty  be  devoutly  and  duly  served  throughout  your 

The  above  plan,  also  the  one  of  the  town  on  p.  502,  as  they  appeared  in  the  year  1G95,  are  copied  from 
the  Eev.  John  Woolly's  "  Description  of  the  Province  and  City  of  New-York."- 


492 


HISTORY    OF    NEW- YORK 


THE  VAN  RENSSELAER  ARMS. 


government,  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  as  it  is  now  established, 
read  each  Sunday  and  holy  day,  and  the  blessed  sacrament  adminis- 
tered according  to  the  rites  of  the  Church  of  England.  You  shall  be 
careful  that  the  churches  already  built  there  be  well  and  orderly  kept, 
and  more  built  as  the  colony  shall  by  God's  blessing  be  improved,  and 
that,  besides  a  competent  maintenance  be  assigned  to  the  minister  of 
each  Orthodox  church,  a  convenient  house  be  built  at  the  common 
charge  for  each  minister,  and  a  competent  proportion  of  land  as- 
signed him  for  a  glebe  and  exercise  of  his  in- 
dustry. .  .  .  Our  will  and  pleasure  is  that  noe 
minister  be  preferred  by  you  to  any  Ecclesiasti- 
cal Benefice  in  that  our  Province  without  a  cer- 
tificate from  the  Right  Reverend  the  Bishop  of 
London  of  his  being  conformable  to  the  doc- 
trine and  discipline  of  the  Church  of  England, 
and  of  a  good  life  and  conversation.  .  .  . 

"And  to  the  end  the  Ecclesiastical  Jurisdic- 
tion of  the  said  Bishop  of  London  may  take 
place  in  that  our  Province  as  far  as  conveniently 
may  be,  We  do  think  fitt  that  you  give  all 
countenance  and  encouragement  to  the  exercise 
of  the  same —excepting  only  the  colating  to 
Benefices,  Granting  Licenses  for  Marriages^  and  Probate  of  Wills  which 
we  have  reserved  to  you  our  Governor,  and  to  the  Commander-in- 
Chief  of  our  said  Province  for  the  time  being.  .  .  .  We  do  further 
direct  that  no  School  Master  be  henceforth  permitted  to  come  from 
England  and  to  keep  School  within  our  Province  of  New- York  without 
the  License  of  the  said  Bishop  of  London,  and  that  no  other  person  now 
there,  or  that  shall  come  from  other  parts,  be  admitted  to  keep  school 
without  the  License  first  had.  You  are  to  take  care  that  Drunkenness 
and  Debauchery,  Swearing  and  Blasphemy  be  severely  punished,  and 
that  none  be  admitted  to  Publique  Trust  and  employment  whose  ill 
fame  and  conversation  may  bring  scandal  there  upon." 

He  was  also  to  exercise  care  that  no  man's  life  or  estate  should  be 
put  in  jeopardy  except  by  due  course  of  law;  to  permit  liberty  of  con- 
science to  all  except  papists;  make  due  entries  of  all  goods  and  com- 
modities imported;  cultivate  the  friendship  of  the  Indians,  and  seek 
to  attach  them  to  the  British  crown,  with  the  assistance  of  his  Coun- 
cil ;  find  out  the  best  means  "  to  facilitate  and  encourage  the  conver- 
sion of  negroes  and  Indians  to  the  Christian  Religion,"  and  provide 
for  the  raising  and  building  of  "Publique  Work  Houses  in  convenient 
places  for  the  employing  of  Poor  and  Indigent  people."  He  was  not 
to  permit  any  alteration  in  the  value  of  current  coin,  and  was  to  exer- 
cise censorship  over  the  printing-press.  In  addition  he  was  to  make 


BENJAMIN    FLETCHER    AND    THE    RISE    OF    PIRACY  493 

full  and  frequent  reports  of  his  doings,  and  of  the  state  of  the  prov- 
ince, to  the  Lords  of  Trade.  His  salary  was  fixed  at  six  hundred 
pounds,  exclusive  of  perquisites. 

These  were  the  Governor's  secret  instructions,  only  to  be  communi- 
cated at  his  discretion  to  the  members  of  the  Council.  Additional  in- 
structions were  contained  in  his  commission,  which  was  to  be  publicly 
read,  and  which  should  also  be  considered  in  order  fully  to  understand 
the  new  Governor's  position.  This  was  largely  devoted  to  a  definition 
of  his  powers  and  prerogatives:  as  power  to  suspend  members  of  the 
Council  and  appoint  others  to  their  places,  power  to  call  General  As- 
semblies and  to  adjourn  or  prorogue  them.  One  article,  worthy  of 
being  quoted,  gave  him  authority  over 
such  lands,  tenements,  and  heredita- 
ments  as  were  in  the  power  of  the  king 
to  dispose  of,  and,  with  the  consent  of  his  Council,  "them  to  grant  to 
any  Person  or  Persons  for  such  term,  and  under  such  moderate  Quitt 
Rent  services  and  acknowledgments  to  be  thereupon  reserved  unto 
us,  as  you  by  and  with  the  advice  aforesaid  shall  think  fitt." 

In  this  instrument  he  was  also  commanded  to  take  all  possible  care 
for  the  discountenance  of  vice  and  encouragement  of  virtue  and  good 
living,  "that  by  such  example  the  Infidells  may  be  invited  and  desire 
to  partake  of  the  Christian  Religion." 

The  new  Governor,  as  soon  as  he  was  able  to  take  a  calm  survey  of 
the  situation,  found  himself  beset  with  difficulties.  Three  elements 
of  discord  —  race,  religion,  and  politics,  or,  more  properly,  faction  — 
were  present  in  his  government.  The  English  conquerors  mostly 
hated  and  despised  the  Dutch.  The  latter,  but  twenty-eight  years 
under  the  English  yoke,  looked  with  no  kindly  eyes  on  their  conquerors. 
The  body  of  the  people  was  composed  of  Independents  who  regarded 
the  Church  of  England  with  a  dislike  second  only  to  that  felt  for 
Rome.  Those  who  have  read  in  the  preceding  chapter  of  the  career 
and  execution  of  Leisler  and  Milborne  can  imagine  the  feeling  exist- 
ing between  the  two  factions  at  this  moment.1 

Twelve  days  after  disembarking,  Fletcher  wrote  the  Earl  of  Not- 
tingham :  "  The  two  parties  seem  implacable,  and  those  who  suffered 
by  the  violence  of  Leisler  are  suing  those  who  acted  by  his  commis- 

l  Quaint  testimony  on  this  head  is  borne  by  the  English  neither  very  rich  nor  too  great  husbands. 

Rev.  John  Miller,  Fletcher's  chaplain,  who,  on  his  The  French  are  poor,  and  therefore  forced  to  be 

return  to  England,  wrote  a  brief  description  of  the  penurious.    As  to  their  way  of  trade  and  dealing, 

province,  with  maps.     The  number  of  inhabitants  they  are  all  generally  cunning  and  crafty,  but  many 

at  this  time  he  places  at  "  3000  families,  whereof  al-  of  them  not  so  just  to  their  words  as  should  be." 

most  one-half  are  naturally  Dutch,  a  great  part  (of  He  mentions  six  very  evil  things  as  destructive  to 

the  remainder)  English,  and  the  rest  French.  the  happiness  of  New-York :  1st,  the  wickedness 

"As  to  their  religion  they  are  very  much  di-  of  the  inhabitants;  2d,  want  of  ministers ;  3d,  dif 

vided:  few  of  them  intelligent  and  sincere,  but  the  ference  of  opinion  in  religion ;  4th,  a  civil  dissen- 

most  part  ignorant  and  conceited,  fickle  and  re-  sion ;  5th,  heathenism  of  the  Indians ;  6th,  neigh- 

gardless.     As  to  their  wealth    and    disposition  borhood  of  Canada, 
thereto,   the  Dutch  are  rich  and  sparing.     The 


494 


HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YOKK 


sion  to  their  prejudice.  .  .  .  This  inveteracy  on  both  sides  weakens  us 
very  much,  and  obstructs  his  Majesty's  service."  There  were  also 
foes  without.  King  William  was  now  waging  war  against  France, 
and  the  brave  Count  Frontenac,  who  commanded  in  Canada,  hung 

upon  the  northern  frontiers  of  New- York 
in  constant  menace,  and  was  using  all  his 
ability  to  seduce  the  Five  Nations  —  the 
bulwark  of  the  English  power  —  to  his  mas- 
ter's interest.  Special  commissions  gave 
Fletcher  authority  over  the  militia  of  Con- 
necticut and  Rhode  Island  and  East  and 
West  Jerseys,  and  as  full  authority  over 
Pennsylvania  and  Delaware  as  over  New- 
York.  This  was  deemed  by  the  colonies 
affected  a  violation  of  their  charter  rights, 
and  they  would  not  submit  to  his  authority ; 
nor  would  they  furnish  troops  and  muni- 
tions for  carrying  on  the  war  against  Can- 
ada, as  the  king  had  commanded.  The 
Governor  made  a  long  and  tiresome  journey 
into  Pennsylvania  and  Connecticut,  without  achieving  results.  At  the 
first  meeting  of  the  Council,  finding  that  Joseph  Dudley,  the  Chief 
Justice,  had  removed  to  Boston,  and  William  Pinhorn,  Recorder,  to 
New  Jersey,  he  suspended  them,  and  appointed  William  Smith 
to  the  former  and  James  Graham  to  the  latter  office,  until  their 
Majesties'  pleasure  should  be  known. 

Of  the  city  government  Abraham  De  Peyster  (who  has  been  pre- 
sented to  the  reader)  was  Mayor ;  the  members  of  the  Common  Council 
were  William  Beekman,  Alexander  Wilson,  William  Merritt,  Thomas 
Clarke,  John  Merritt,  Garret  t  Dow,  Johannes  Kip,  Robert  Darkins, 
Peter  King,  Brandt  Schuyler,  and  Stephen  De  Lancey.  The  Assem- 
bly called  by  Governor  Sloughter  was  still  sitting,  and  he  prorogued 
it  after  "  it  had  provided  for  Albany  next  winter."  He  then  called  a 
new  Assembly  "  to  relieve  the  revenue  of  debt."  The  public  debt  he 
found  amounted  to  £3000,  and  the  finances  were  in  a  wretched  state, 
partly  from  the  mismanagement  of  his  predecessors  and  also  because 
New- York  had  been  forced  to  bear  alone  the  expenses  of  the  Indian 
war,  the  other  colonies  holding  aloof.  The  people  had  been  taxed 
until  they  were  on  the  verge  of  revolt.  This  debt  was  the  chief 
burden  of  Fletcher's  administration.  His  subsequent  quarrels  with 
the  popular  Assembly  were  due  largely  to  its  refusal  to  vote  the 
money  necessary  for  carrying  on  the  government.  To  placate  the 
Leislerians  "  he  discharged  all  recognizances  taken  on  the  score  of 
Leisler  and  superseded  all  proceedings,"  and  also  tried  his  personal 


BENJAMIN    FLETCHER    AND    THE    RISE    OF    PIRACY  495 

powers  of  persuasion  and  blandishment,  which  were  not  inconsider- 
able, so  that  on  January  7,  169f ,  he  was  able  to  write  Judge  Dudley 
"  that  all  things  appeared  serene,  no  wave  to  ruffle,  no  cloud  to  ob- 
scure our  peace ;  the  face  of  love  was  not  more  smooth."  Suddenly 
he  heard  from  several  sources  of  meetings,  violent  expressions,  threats 
against  certain  councilors,  demands  of  reparation  for  Leisler's  death, 
and  discovered  at  length  by  a  letter  that  fell  into  his  hands  that  it 
was  Boston  that  was  sowing  the  seeds  of  faction  and  fanning  the 
smoldering  embers  of  discontent  in  his  government.  One  of  the 
legacies  from  Governor  Sloughter  was  Abraham  Gouverneur  and  his 
five  associates,  companions  of  Leisler,  whom  he  found  in  prison  under 
sentence  of  death.  These  men  Fletcher  had  pardoned  under  instruc- 
tions from  the  crown,  first  exacting  their  parole  not  to  leave  the 
province  without  his  consent.  Gouverneur,  however,  escaped  to 
Boston  in  a  fishing-boat,  and  having  been  wrecked  on  Nantucket 
shoals,  arrived  there  with  "  nothing  but  two  shirts  and  a  cravat,"  as 
he  wrote  his  parents  in  New- York.  In  this  same  letter  he  told  them 
that  he  had  been  kindly  received  by  the  Governor  (Sir  William  Phipps), 
who  had  remarked  to  him,  "  This  old  King  James  Council  that  is  at 
York  spoils  all,  and  they  must  be  out.  The  Governor  (Fletcher)  is  a 
poor  beggar,  and  seeks  nothing  but  money  and  not  the  good  of  the 
country.  But  there  is  yet  hopes.  Mr.  Manley,  your  lawyer  in  Eng- 
land, is  chosen  Parliament  man,  and  your  cause  will  be  inspected 
there  to  some  purpose,  and  I  doubt  not  but  there  will  be  satisfaction 
for  estates,  and  I  hope  for  blood  also;  for  if  what  Governor  Leisler  and 
ye  have  done  be  ill,  how  comes  their  Majesties  to  sit  upon  the  throne?" 
and  promised  him  assistance  to  go  to  England  and  lay  his  case  before 
the  king.  This  letter  fell  into  Fletcher's  hands,  whereupon  he  wrote 
a  sharp  reply  to  Governor  Phipps,  arraigning  him  for  speaking  so  ill  of 
a  friendly  government,  and  demanding  the  surrender  of  Gouverneur, 
whom  he  styled  a  fugitive  from  justice.  Phipps  wrote  an  angry 
rejoinder,  in  which  he  said  the  words  attributed  to  him  were  in  reality 
uttered  by  Gouverneur,  but  declining  to  deliver  the  latter  up,  who 
soon  after  escaped  to  England,  and  with  young  Jacob  Leisler,  jr., 
busied  himself  in  reversing  the  attainder  of  Leisler,  and  in  instilling 
into  the  minds  of  the  king  and  his  councilors  suspicious  and  innu- 
endos  against  Fletcher. 

In  local  affairs  one  of  the  first  things  brought  to  the  Governor's  at- 
tention was  the  "  Bolting  and  Baking  Act."  This  curious  privilege, 
savoring  of  the  feudal  ages,  was  a  monopoly  (granted  New- York  in 
1678)  of  bolting  all  the  flour  and  baking  all  the  bread  that  should 
be  exported  from  the  province.  The  neighboring  towns  desired  to 
have  the  act  repealed,  but  were  strenuously  opposed  by  the  merchants 
of  the  city.  At  the  initial  banquet  given  to  the  Governor,  his  atten- 


496  HISTOKY    OF    NEW-YOKK 

tion  was  called  to  it  by  Mayor  De  Peyster,  and  his  good  offices  with 
the  king  invoked  in  favor  of  continuing  the  privilege.  The  Common 
Council  also  addressed  him  several  times  upon  the  subject.  At  length, 
in  1694,  the  Assembly,  by  an  act  directed  against  "unlawful  by-laws," 
abolished  the  privilege. 

The  Common  Council  in  1696  wrote  an  address  praying  to  have  the 
law  restored,  and  in  support  of  their  petition  cited  some  interesting 
statistics.  "  When  the  bolting  began  in  1678,"  they  said,  "  there  were 
only  343  houses.  In  1696  there  were  594.  The  revenue  in  1678, 1679 
and  1680  did  not  exceed  £2000 ;  in  the  year  1687,  £5000.  In  1687  there 
were  3  ships,  7  boats,  8  sloops ;  in  1694  there  were  60  ships,  40  boats, 
and  62  sloops,  since  which  is  a  decrease.  In  1687,  New- York  killed 
400  beeves ;  in  1694,  near  4000.  Lands  had  advanced  tenfold  in  value. 
If  this  Act  continue  [that  is,  abolishing  the  monopoly  of  bolting],  many 
families  in  New- York  must  perish."  Some  other  local  incidents  of 

interest  occurred  about  this 
time,    worthy    of     mention. 

Nassau  street  was  opened.    A 
.  ,  „  r  . 

ni^ht  or  ^ttle"  watch  of 
four  men  was  instituted.  The 
streets  were  first  lighted  by 
suspending  a  lantern  from 
every  seventh  house.  Fred- 
erick Philipse  built  the  first  bridge  over  Spuyten  Duy vil  to  his  manor 
of  Phillipsborough ;  the  Common  Council  authorized  him  (January  12th, 
1693)  to  charge  as  toll  \d.  for  cattle,  2d.  for  each  man  and  horse,  12d. 
for  each  score  of  sheep  and  hogs,  6d.  for  each  cart  and  wagon,  if  he 
would  build  a  good  and  convenient  drawbridge.  "  Overseers  of  the 
poor "  and  "  poorhouses  "  were  instituted,  and  surveys  of  the  streets 
were  made  to  see  which  needed  paving. 

On  making  an  examination  of  his  capital,  Fletcher  found  its  defenses 
in  a  wretched  state,  the  fortifications  decayed,  the  troops  ragged  and 
ill  provided  with  arms  and  munitions,  and  at  once  undertook  to  place 
them  on  a  better  footing.  Late  in  September  he  wrote  that  he  was 
about  making  a  secret  visit  to  the  frontiers  to  inquire  into  affairs 
there.  He  went  again  openly  in  February  169f ,  when  an  attack  by 
Frontenac  on  his  allies,  the  Mohawks,  called  him  to  their  defense.  The 
account  of  this  expedition  given  by  Colonels  Bayard  and  Lodowick,  who 
accompanied  it,  is  so  quaint  and  picturesque  that  we  present  extracts. 
On  February  12th,  about  midnight,  an  express  arrived  from  Colonel 
Beeckman,  of  Ulster  County,  with  news  that  five  hundred  and  fifty 
French  and  Indians  were  on  the  8th  within  twenty  miles  of  Schenec- 
tady,  "ready  to  fall  upon  the  first  two  castles  of  our  Mohogs" 
(Mohawks).  Fletcher  at  once  ordered  the  colonel  of  the  city  regi- 


BENJAMIN  FLETCHER  AND  THE  RISE  OF  PIRACY     497 


ment  to  draw  out  his  men  next  morning,  and  sent  orders  to  Colonel 
Cortlandt,  of  Kings  County,  and  Colonel  Willett,  of  Queens,  to  detach 
out  of  their  regiments  one  hundred  and  fifty  men  and  have  them 
ready  to  embark  at  the 
ferry.  "  About  eight 
o'clock  (next)  morning, 
the  City  Regiment  being 
under  arms,  his  Excel- 
lency, on  horseback  at 
the  head  of  the  regi- 
ment, demanded  who 
were  willing  to  follow 
him  to  the  frontiers 
against  the  enemy;  they 
unanimously  threw  up 
their  hats,  crying,  'One 
and  all.'  Upon  which 
Colonel  Bayard  was 
ordered  to  detach  one 
hundred  and  fifty  of  the 
fittest  men  to  be  under 
the  command  of  three 
captains  with  their  sub- 
altern officers,  ready  at 
first  beat  of  drum,  and 
dismiss  the  regiment." 

"About  10  o'clock," 
the  account  continues, 
"his  Excell.  did  send 
the  Express  forward  to  Lieut.-Col.  Beeckman  with  orders  to  get  all  the 
horses  in  the  County  of  Ulster  together  in  readiness  to  carry  his  Ex- 
cell,  and  the  detachments  to  Albany  from  Kingston  by  land  in  case 
the  river  were  not  open,  and  to  forward  any  confirmation  of  the  news 
to  his  Excell.  which  he  expected  before  he  did  intend  to  imbarq.  14, 
Tuesday. —  By  break  of  day  an  Express  from  Major  Ingoldesby  con- 
firming the  former  news  and  that  the  two  first  castles  were  taken  by  the 
French  and  Indians,  whereupon  eight  sloops  were  ordered  with  neces- 
sary provisions  and  ammunition  to  goe  round  the  fort,  and  be  ready 
to  saile,  and  the  detachment  of  the  City  Regiment  did  immediately 
imbarq  about  4  o'clock  afternoon :  (and)  the  tide  offering,  his  Excell., 
attended  with  the  officers  of  the  detachment  and  several  volunteers, 
did  imbarq  and  sett  saile."  All  through  Wednesday  and  Thursday  the 

1  Copied  from  the  statue  erected  on  the  front  of      Montcalm,  and  a  score  of  other  conspicuous  char- 
ew  Parliament  House  of  Quebec,  in  September,      acters  connected  with  Canadian  history. 


New  Parliament  House  of  Quebec, ^«r 

1890.     Other  niches  are  to  be  occupied  by  Wolfe 
VOL.  I.— 32. 


EDITOR. 


498  HISTORY    OF    NEW- YORK 

flotilla  beat  its  way  up  the  river,  pausing  only  to  salute  the  little  stock- 
ade fort  at  Kingston,  and  reached  Albany  at  last  about  nine  o'clock  Fri- 
day morning.  At  once  Fletcher  despatched  Major  Schuyler  with  fifty 
men  towards  Schenectady,  and  himself  followed  about  11  A.  M.  with  six- 
teen horse,  leaving  orders  with  Colonel  Bayard  to  forward  the  several 
detachments  as  they  should  arrive.  Fletcher  and  his  advance-guard 
reached  Schenectady  late  on  Friday,  and  next  day  learned  that  the 
enemy  had  been  attacked  in  his  fortified  camp,  and  routed  by  Major 
Peter  Schuyler's  brave  little  army  of  Christians  and  Mohawks. 

The  Governor  and  troops,  therefore,  returned  to  Albany,  where 
the  former  received  an  address  from  the  Corporation  congratulating 
him  on  his  safe  return,  and  thanking  him  for  his  prompt  assistance. 
On  Saturday,  the  25th,  Fletcher  held  a  grand  council  with  the  savages. 
Accompanied  by  the  magistrates  of  the  city  and  the  soldiers  and  mi- 
litia in  arms,  he  went  to  the  City  Hall  and  made  a  speech  to  the  Mo- 
hawks, which  was  translated  to  them  by  the  "  Interpretesse,  Helle." 
And  on  Monday  the  27th,  after  issuing  a  proclamation  prohibiting  the 
selling  of  rum  to  the  Indians,  he  "did  imbarque  for  New-Yorke,  where 
he  arrived  on  Thursday  following,  and  was  received  with  such  expres- 
sions of  joy  and  thankfulness  (as)  the  place  could  afford."  The  boldness 
and  celerity  of  his  movements,  joined  to  the  phenomenon  of  the  Hud- 
son's being  navigable  in  midwinter,  greatly  impressed  the  Indians, 
who  ever  afterwards  spoke  of  the  governor  as  Caijenquiragoe,  or  "  Lord 
of  the  Swift-arrow."  Colonel  Ingoldesby  was  left  in  command  at  Al- 
bany, with  Major  Peter  Schuyler,  Mayor  of  Albany,  and  a  member  of 
the  famous  Schuyler  family,  as  second  in  command.  Governor  Fletcher 
made  a  second  visit  to  the  frontiers  in  June  of  the  following  summer, 
and  held  a  grand  council  with  the  Five  Nations  and  River  Indians 
there,  beginning  on  June  23d,  and  continuing  until  the  6th  of  July, 
during  which  he  effected  important  treaties,  and  by  his  tact  and  pol- 
itic speeches  succeeded  in  attaching  them  more  firmly  to  the  British 
Crown.  One  instance  of  his  art  in  this  respect  may  be  narrated  in  the 
words  of  the  chronicler : 

ALBANY,  the  4th  of  July,  1693. 

This  evening,  after  the  young  Indians  had  ended  their  sport  of  killing  the  two  fatt 
bulls  which  were  presented  by  his  Excell.  with  bow  &  arrow  &  roasting  &  eating  them, 
His  Excellency  invited  severall  of  the  Chief  Sachims  &  Captains  of  the  most  note  and 
bravery  on  board  their  Majesties  ketch  Albrought  rideing  before  the  citty  of  Albany 
&  treated  them  to  their  extraordinary  satisfaction.  Upon  their  desire  his  Excell.  gave 
them  account  of  the  success  the  King  of  England  has  had  against  the  French  King 
beyond  the  great  lake  —  of  the  great  victory  which  the  English  fleet  obtained  against 
the  French  the  last  summer,  with  the  Particulars  of  that  defeat,  also  of  a  great  fight 
that  had  been  on  land  where  our  great  King  attacked  the  Enemy  in  their  Camp 
because  they  would  not  come  out  to  fight  him,  where  many  men  were  slain  on  both 
sides.  .  .  .  His  Excellency  also  bade  them  be  mindf  ull  of  what  he  said  to  them  &  true 
to  the  covenant  they  have  renewed  which  they  all  promised  to  observe  &  keep  inviola- 


BENJAMIN    FLETCHER    AND    THE    RISE    OF    PIRACY  499 


ble,  where  xipon  as  a  scale  thereunto  his  Excell.  ordered  the  firing  of  five  guns  which 
they  answered  with  the  like  number  of  shouts. 

On  his  return  to  New-York  from  this  expedition  the  Common  Coun- 
cil issued  an  address  of  congratulation  and  ordered  that  a  cup  of  gold 
to  the  value  of  one  hundred  pounds  be  "presented  unto  his  Excellency 
on  behalf  of  the  city,  as  a  token  of  their  gratitude."1 

Perhaps  the  most  important  events  during  Governor  Fletcher's  reign 
were  the  founding  of  Trinity  Church  and  the  erection  of  a  printing- 
press.  When  the  new  Assembly  which  ho  had  called  convened,  he 
directed  their  attention,  as  the  king  had  commanded,  to  the  establish- 
ment of  the  state  church.  A  more  unwelcome  subject  could  not  have 
been  presented.  Probably  two-thirds  of 
the  members  were  either  indifferent  or 
opposed  to  such  a  scheme,  and  the  Eng- 
lish Independents  certainly  were  not  well 
affected  towards  the  Church  of  England. 
Nothing  was  done,  and  Fletcher  again 
called  their  attention  to  the  omission, 
adding,  "  Gentlemen,  the  first  thing  I 
recommended  to  you  at  our  last  meeting 
was  to  provide  for  a  ministry,  and  noth- 
ing is  yet  done.  You  are  all  big  with  the 
privileges  of  Englishmen  and  Magna 
Charta,  which  is  your  right,  but  the 
same  law  provides  for  the  religion  of  the 
Church  of  England.  As  you  have  post- 
poned it  this  session  I  trust  you  will  take 
hold  of  it  at  the  next  meeting  and  do 
something  towards  it  effectually."  The 
next  Assembly,  which  met  in  September,  1693,  was  better  disposed, 
and  passed  a  "  Settling  Act,"  which  provided  for  the  building  of  a 
church  in  the  city  of  New- York,  two  in  Suffolk,  two  in  Westches- 
ter,  and  one  in  Richmond  counties,  in  each  of  which  was  to  be  in- 
ducted a  Protestant  minister  with  a  salary  ranging  from  one  hun- 


JOURNAL 

OF   TH  B 

Late  Actions 

OF    THE 

/mull  at  (f  uuudu. 


The  Manner  of  their  being  Repuls'd,  by  His 
Excellency,  Benjamin  Fletcher,  Their  Maiefties 
Governour  of  New-  York. 

ImunuUi  RiUal  tj  CM  Nicholu  Bayard.  1,4  Luttnau  CM. 
Charlei  Lodowick,  ab,  «ta4lt  Hit  till  One,,  dtraf  ih,  mMt 

SxptJitin 

To  which  u  added. 

An  Account  of  the  prefent  State  «nd  Strength  of  Ctmtdt. 
given  by  Two  Dttib  Ma,  who  h««e  been  •  long  Time  Pri- 
fonen  theie.  and  now  made  their  ETclpe. 

II.  The  Examination  of  •  Frn,b  Piifoner 

III.  Hit  Excellency  Bifjinm  Fltiibtr',  Speech  to  the  MMI. 

IV.  An  Addrefi  from  the  Corporation  of  AUtfj,  to,  Hii  Eiccllen- 
cy.  Returning  Thanki  for  Hit  Excellency'.  early  AIM.nce  for 
their  Relief 

,  Sept.  nth.  1693.  £i>toar!>  gooht. 


Lndn,  Printed  for  RubirJ  BtUma,  in  ITirmut-Uu,  169). 


1  (Council  Minutes,  July  14, 1693.)  July  20th,  the 
Mayor  reported  that  he  had  bought  twenty  ounces 
of  gold  for  the  cup,  of  Peter  Jacob  Marius,  for 
which  he  had  paid  one  hundred  and  six  pounds,  and 
had  delivered  it  to  Cornelius  Vanderburgh  to  be 
made.  The  Council  ordered  that  the  revenues  of  the 
ferry  should  be  used  for  no  other  purpose  until 
this  bill  was  paid.     The  addresses  of  the  Common 
Council  of  this  period  speak  in  the  highest  terms  of 
Fletcher.     One  to  the  king  of  February  14,  1693, 
styles  him  "a  gentleman  of  pious  life,  who  since 
his  arrival  hath  laid  aside  all  other  thoughts  but 
the  true  advancement  of  your  Majesty's  interests." 

2  It  is  believed  that  Bayard's  Journal  was  the 


first  book  printed  in  New- York  by  William  Brad- 
ford, who  was  invited  to  this  city  from  Philadel- 
phia, in  1693,  by  Colonel  Fletcher.  The  work  does 
not  exist  in  its  American  original.  The  London 
reprint,  of  which  a  fac-simile  of  the  title-page  ap- 
pears above,  is  exceedingly  rare.  I  know  of  but 
two  copies.  One  of  these  is  contained  in  the  Car- 
ter-Brown collection  of  Providence.  A  limited 
edition  was  republished  in  New-York  in  1868,  of 
which  a  quarto  copy.  No.  7,  is  now  before  me. 
Strange  to  say,  New-York  was  more  than  half  a 
century  behind  New  England  in  possessing  a  print- 
ing-press, for  Stephen  Daye  of  Cambridge,  Mass., 
issued  the  Bay  Psalm  Book  in  1640.  EDITOR. 


500  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

dred  to  forty  pounds,  to  be  raised  by  a  tax  levied  on  the  freeholders. 
Fletcher  himself  built  a  chapel  in  the  fort,  or  repaired  the  old  one, 
of  which  we  know  little  more  than  is  contained  in  the  petition  of  the 
carpenter  Derex  Van  Burg,  under  date  of  March  14,  1694,  addressed 
to  the  Governor  and  Council,  praying  that  the  sum  of  nine  hundred 
and  odd  pounds,  incurred  in  erecting  his  "  Majestys  Capell  with  sev- 
eral other  buildings  in  and  about  his  Majestys  fort  William  Henry," 
might  be  paid.  In  this  chapel  the  Eev.  John  Miller,  chaplain  of  his 

Majesty's  forces,  held  services  until  Trinity 
Church  was  completed,  measures  for  erecting 
which  under  the  active  encouragement  of 
Governor  Fletcher  were  at  once  begun. 

An  account  of  the  various  phases  in  the 
evolution  of  this  historic  structure  will  be  of 
interest  to  our  readers.  The  first  of  which 
we  have  knowledge  is  a  petition  from  "  sun- 
THE  BAYARD  BiBLE.  dry  ^habitants  of  the  City  of  New-York, 
members  of  the  Church  of  England,"  setting  forth  that  whereas  they 
were  desirous  of  building  "a  church  within  this  city  for  the  use  of 
the  Protestants  of  the  Church  of  England,"  and  having  met  with 
great  encouragement  from  several  good  Protestants,  they  asked  "  li- 
cense" to  purchase  "a  small  piece  of  land  lying  without  the  north  gate 
of  the  said  city  betwixt  the  King's  garden  and  the  bury  ing-place, 
and  to  hold  the  same  in  mortmain,  and  thereon  to  build  the  said 
church,  as  also  to  take  and  receive  all  voluntary  contributions,  and  to 
do  all  other  lawful  acts  and  things  for  the  effecting  the  same."  Signed 
by  Thomas  Clarke,  Eobert  Leveting,  Jeremiah  Tothill,  Caleb  Heath- 
cote,  James  Evetts,  William  Morris,  Ebenezer  Willson,  William  Mer- 
ritt,  James  Emott,  R.  Ashfield,  19  March,  169f,  who  are  called 
"  managers  "  of  the  Church  of  England.  On  the  back  of  this  paper 
Fletcher  wrote  the  word  "  Granted." 

Having  received  their  "  license,"  the  managers  began  the  work  of 
building  the  church  with  vigor.  All  classes  seem  to  have  been  inter- 
ested in  the  work.  Even  the  Jews  contributed;  for  instance,  "for 
building  the  steeple  "  Lewis  Gomez  gave  £1  2s.,  Abraham  Luilna,  £1, 
Eodrigo  Pachico,  £1,  Jacob  Franks,  £1,  and  Moses  Michaels,  8s.  3d. 
On  the  23d  of  July  following,  Governor  Fletcher  was  able  to  issue  this 
proclamation.  "  Whereas  the  inhabitants  of  the  City  of  New- York 
professing  the  religion  of  the  Church  of  England  have  with  a  pious 
and  good  intent  proposed  and  begun  to  erect  and  build  a  church 

l  This  ancient  Bible,  printed  in  Dordrecht,  Hoi-  brass  clasps  and  ornamental  corner-pieces.     It  is 

land,  is  now  in  the  possession  of  Mrs.  Jas.  Grant  enriched  with  numerous  maps  and  illustrated  with 

Wilson,  of  New-York,  a  member  of  the  Bayard  curious  copperplate  engravings.     The  family  rec- 

family.     The  title-page  to  the  Old  Testament  is  ord,  which  is  quaintly  written  in  Dutch  and  per- 

niissing,  but  the  massive  folio  volume  is  otherwise  f ectly  legible,  is  brought  down  to  the  year  1714. 
perfect  and  in  the  original  binding,  with  strong  EDITOR. 


BENJAMIN  FLETCHER  AND  THE  RISE  OF  PIRACY     501 

within  the  said  city  for  the  publick  service  and  worship  of  God,  at  the 
humble  request  of  the  managers  of  the  said  building,  and  for  their 
encouragement  to  carry  on  and  finish  the  same,  I  have,  therefore, 
with  advice  and  consent  of  the  Council,  given  and  granted,  and  by 
these  presents  doe  give  and  grant,  free  liberty  to  the  said  managers 
to  gather  and  receive  of  and  from  well-disposed  persons  such  sum  and 
sums  as  shall  be  voluntarily  contributed  for  the  more  speedy  carrying 
on  the  said  building." 

On  May  6,  1697,  the  managers  applied  for  a  charter,  citing  the 
Act  of  1693,  for  settling  a  minister  "  to  officiate  and  have  the  care  of 
souls  "  in  the  city,  and  stating  that  they  had  built  and  covered  a  church 
in  which  such  minister  might  officiate,  but  that  they  still  needed  his 
Excellency's  countenance  and  pious  favor,  and  asking  that  he  would 
"  be  pleased  to  grant  the  said  church  to  the  petitioners  in  trust  for  all 
those  that  now  are  or  hereafter  may  be  in  the  (Communion  of  the 
Church  of)  England  as  now  established  by  law,  and  that  your  Excel- 
lency would  be  pleased  to  order  the  same  (to  be  one  body)  politick  in 
deed,  fact,  and  name  by  the  name  of  the  members  in  Communion  of 
the  Church  of  England  established  by  law ;  and  that  as  such  they  and 
their  successors  may  have,  hold,  use,  occupy  (and  possess  all  the)  ad- 
vantages, privileges,  immunities,  mortuary s,  and  appurtenances  as  are 
usually  held  (used,  occupied,  and  possessed  by)  churches  of  the  Church 
of  England  within  their  Majesties'  realm.  And  also  that  your  Excel- 
lency (will  grant  the  said)  church  the  aforesaid  yearly  maintenance  by 
the  aforesaid  law  established  (and  for  the  benefit  and)  for  the  charitable 
and  pious  use  of  the  same  what  quantity  of  lands  thereunto  (near  or  ad- 
joining that  to  your  Excellency  and)  the  Council  shall  be  thought  fit." 

It  appears  by  the  Council  minutes  that  the  petition  was  read  and 
the  charter  of  incorporation  ordered  drawn,  "  the  quit-rent  to  be  one 
pepper-corn  as  desired."  The  land  granted  was  the  "  King's  Farm," 
so  called,  a  lease  only  for  seven  years  from  August  19,  1697,  the 
yearly  rental  being  fifty  bushels  of  wheat.  When  the  lease  expired  in 
1704,  however,  the  farm  was  deeded  the  church  in  fee  simple  by  Queen 
Anne,  and  became  the  nucleus  of  the  Trinity  Church  property.  This 
tract  of  land  was  originally  the  Dutch  West  India  Company's  farm, 
which,  on  the  conquest  by  the  English,  was  confiscated  by  them  and 
called  the  King's  Farm.  It  lay  on  the  west  side  of  Broadway  between 
Fulton  and  a  line  between  Chambers  and  Warren  streets,  and  ex- 
tended west  to  the  North  Eiver.  North  of  it  lay  the  "Domine's 
Farm,"  or  Bouwery,  comprising  about  sixty-two  acres,  extending  on 
Broadway  from  Warren  to  Duane  streets,  and  then,  leaving  Broad- 
way, extending  northwesterly  along  the  river ;  this  farm  was  also  sub- 
sequently granted  to  Trinity  Parish  by  Queen  Anne.  The  property 
has  become  famous  in  law. 


^4/"^M 


BENJAMIN     FLETCHER    AND    THE    RISE    OF    PIRACY 

One  incident  connected  with  the  raising  of  funds  for  building  Trinity 
Church  portrays  so  vividly  the  life  of  the  period  that  the  story  may 
be  told  in  detail.  In  June,  1693,  Governor  Fletcher  issued  the  follow- 
ing proclamation :  "  To  all  Officers  and  Ministers,  Ecclesiastical  and 
Civil,  throughout  the  Provinces  and  Territories  under  my  Govern- 
ment: Whereas,  I  am  credibly  informed  that  the  son  of  Warner  Wessels 
and  Husband  of  Antie  Christians,  Inhabitants  and  Sailers  of  the  City 
of  New- York  following  their  lawful  Occupation,  were  taken  into  galley, 
where  they  are  now  in  miserable  slavery,  under  the  Power  of  the 
Infidell,  and  that  their  Relations  are  not  able  to  advance  a  suf- 
ficient Ransom  for  their  Redemption,  I  have  therefore,  upon  their 
application  to  me,  by  and  with  the  advice  of  the  Council,  out  of 
Christian  Charity  and  in  Commiseration  of  the  grievous  Bondage  and 
Slavery  of  said  Persons,  granted  &  do  by  these  presents  grant  license 
or  liberty  to  the  said  Warner  Wessels  and  Antie  Christians  to  ask  and 
receive  the  free  and  charitable  Benevolence  of  all  Christian  People 
under  my  Government,  as  well  at  publick  Meetings  as  private  dwelling 
Houses.  And  to  avoid  irregularity  in  collecting  the  same  all  Ministers 
or  Preachers  where  there  are  Parish  Churches  or  publick  or  private 
Meeting  Houses  are  required  to  publish  a  true  Copy  of  this  Grant  by 
reading  thereof  openly,  and  affixing  thereof  afterwards  upon  the  Door 
or  other  publick  place,  and  admonish  the  people  to  Christian  Charity, 
and  at  the  next  Meeting  shall  receive  the  free  Offering  &  Benevolence 
of  the  people  for  the  use  above  said.  And  where  no  Churches  nor 
Meeting  Houses  are,  the  Constables  are  hereby  required  in  their  re- 
spective Precincts,  having  a  true  Copy  of  this  Grant,  to  go  about  and 
Collect  the  Charity  of  good  Christian  people  for  the  use  above  said. 
Of  all  which  Benevolence  and  Charity  the  said  Ministers  or  Preachers 
and  Constables  are  to  keep  a  distinct  Account,  which  they  are  to  trans- 
mit with  what  Money  they  shall  collect  by  virtue  of  this  Grant  with- 
out delay  to  Stephen  Courtland,  Esq.,  Peter  Jacobs  Marius,  John 
Kirbyll,  and  John  Kipp,  who  are  hereby  empowered  to  receive  the 
same,  and  transmit  the  said  Money,  or  so  much  as  shall  be  required 
for  the  Redemption  of  the  said  Captives  from  Slavery,  by  the  best  and 
most  convenient  means  and  way.  Provided  always,  that  in  case  there 
shall  be  a  surplusage  above  the  value  of  their  Redemption,  or  in  case 
any  of  the  said  persons  shall  be  dead,  or  otherwise  redeemed,  they,  the 
said  Stephen  Courtland,  Esq.,  Peter  Jacobs  Marius,  John  Kirbyll,  and 
John  Kipp,  shall  be  accountable  to  me  or  to  the  Governor  and  Com- 
mander-in-Chief  for  the  time  being  for  the  sum  collected,  or  so  much 
thereof  as  is  left  upon  their  or  some  of  their  Redemption,  that  it  may 
be  set  apart  for  the  like  or  other  pious  uses,  and  for  no  other  use  or 
intent  whatsoever.  Given  under  my  hand  and  seal  at  Fort  William 
Henry,  the  8th  day  of  June,  1693.  Benjamin  Fletcher." 


504 


HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 


By  a  postscript  the  same  license  was  given  to  the  friends  of  Bar- 
tholomew Rousston,  John  Crage,  and  William  Green,  "sailers  taken 
in  the  same  vessel  and  then  prisoners  with  them."  Nothing  seems  to 
have  been  done  in  the  matter  until  the  2d  of  December,  1697,  when 
the  petition  of  the  churchwardens  and  vestrymen  of  Trinity  Church 
was  read  and  considered  in  Council,  and  it  was  reported:  "One 
of  the  captives  having  escaped  is  come  home,  the  others  are  dead ; 
only  one  named  Barthol.  Rousston  is  removed  up  into  the  country,  who 
by  the  report  of  him  who  is  escaped  from  Galley,  cannot  be  redeemed. 
His  Majesties  Chappell  is  allmost  finished,  and  Trinity  Church  being  a 

Publick  structure  erecting  for 
the  service  of  God  by  the  Vol- 
untary contributions  of  some 
people,  which  is  a  publick  and 
pious  use,  and  much  is  wanted 
to  finish  it.  It  is  resolved  and 
agreed  nemine  contradicente 
that  the  money  raised  by  vir- 
tue of  the  Lycense  bearing 
date  the  8th  day  of  June,  1693, 
for  the  redemption  of  the  said 
captives  in  Galley  be  applyed 
to  the  use  of  Trinity  Church 
to  finish  the  building  thereof, 
any  former  order  of  Councill 
Notwithstanding.  Provided 
always,  that  if  it  be  possible 
to  purchase  the  redemption  of 
the  said  Bartholomew,  that  the 
Corporation  of  said  Trinity 

Church  be  accountable  for  the  like  sume,  or  so  much 
thereof  as  will  answer  the  redemption."  The  first 
trustees  were  ordered  to  deliver  over  the  moneys  to 
the  then  churchwardens,  Mr.  Thomas  Wenham  and  Mr.  Robert  Lur- 
ting.  The  money,  or  a  part  of  it,  had  been  placed  in  the  hands  of 
May  and  Banker,  bankers  of  Amsterdam,  to  be  used  in  redeeming  the 
captives.  On  March  20, 1700,  these  gentlemen  wrote  the  Trinity  cor- 
poration, saying  that  they  had  learned  through  their  correspondents 


TRINITY  CHURCH  IN   1737.1 


l  The  illustration  in  the  text  is  that  of  the  second 
or  enlarged  building,  completed  in  1737,  and  un- 
happily destroyed  by  the  fire  that  devastated  the 
city  shortly  after  its  occupation  by  the  English  in 
1776.  There  exists  no  picture  of  the  first  build- 
ing, opened  for  service  in  1698.  The  first  vestry- 
men were :  Thomas  Wenham  and  Robert  Lurting, 
churchwardens;  Caleb  Heathcote,  William  Mer- 


ritt,  John  Tudor,  James  Emott,  William  Morris, 
Thomas  Clarke,  Ebenezer  Wilson,  Samuel  Burt, 
James  Evarts,  Nathanael  Marston,  Michael  How- 
den,  John  Crooke,  William  Sharpas,  Lawrence 
Reed,  David  Jamison,  William  Huddleston,  Ga- 
briel Ludlow,  Thomas  Burroughs,  John  Merritt, 
and  William  Janeway.  EDITOR. 


BENJAMIN    FLETCHER    AND    THE    RISE    OF    PIRACY  505 

at  Cadiz  that  Rushton  (Rousston)  and  William  Green  were  alive  in 
Maquines,  and  had  since  used  every  effort  for  their  redemption,  and 
that  lately  they  had  received  a  letter  saying  that,  by  virtue  of  an  agree- 
ment obtained  by  the  English,  the  captives  would  receive  their  free- 
dom in  a  few  months,  and  that  therefore  they  would  have  to  use  but 
little  of  the  money  in  their  hands,  and  asking  what  disposition  to  make 
of  it.  On  August  14,  1704,  the  committee  to  whom 
the  petition  of  the  church  wardens  and  vestrymen 
had  been  referred  reported  that  they  had  examined  the  papers,  etc., 
and  were  of  the  opinion  that  the  prayer  should  be  granted,  from  which 
it  may  be  inferred  that  it  was  conveyed  into  the  treasury  of  the  church. 
The  building  was  completed  in  1698,  and  stood  on  the  site  of  the 
present  structure.  It  fronted  towards  the  Hudson ;  in  length  it  is  said 
to  have  been  one  hundred  and  forty-eight  feet,  and  in  breadth  seventy- 
two  feet.  Its  steeple,  the  pride  of  the  citizens,  was  one  hundred  and 
seventy-five  feet  high.  Within,  above  the  main  entrance,  was  a  sonor- 
ous Latin  inscription,  beginning  Per  Augustam  Hoc  Trinitatis  Templum 
Fundatum  est  anno  regni  ittustrissimi,  the  full  inscription  rendered  into 
English  being:  "  This  Trinity  Church  was  founded  in  the  eighth  year 
of  the  most  illustrious  sovereign  Lord  William  the  Third,  by  the  Grace 
of  God  King  of  England,  Scotland,  France  and  Ireland,  Defender  of 
the  Faith,  and  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1696,  and  was  built  by  the  vol- 
untary contributions  and  gifts  of  some  persons,  and  chiefly  enriched 
and  promoted  by  the  Bounty  of  his  Excellency  Colonel  Benjamin 
Fletcher,  Captain-General  and  Governor-in-chief  of  this  Province,  in 
the  time  of  whose  government  the  inhabitants  of  this  city  of  the 
Protestant  religion  of  the  Church  of  England,  as  now  established  by 
law,  were  incorporated  by  a  charter  under  the  Seal  of  the  Province, 
and  many  other  valuable  gifts  he  gave  to  it  out  of  his  private  for- 
tune." One  of  these  gifts  was  a  Bible  for  the  reading-desk,  another 
was  the  "Governor's  Pew."1 

1  "  To  all  Christian  People  to  whome  these  Pres-  Gent,   travelling    to  the    said  City  as  the  said 

ents  shall  come  Coll  Benjamin  Fletcher  late  Capt.  Coll  Nicolas  Bayard  &  Coll  Caleb  Heathcote  or  the 

Genu  sendeth  greeting.     Know  yee  that  the  said  Church  Wardens  of  the  said  church  for  the  time 

Coll  Benjamin  Fletcher  by  the  consent,  allowance,  being  shall  see  meet.    Provided  allways,  and  it  is 

and  approbation  of  the  Rector,  Church  Wardens,  the  true  intent  and  meaning  here  of,  that  in  Case 

and  Vestrymen  of  Trinity  Church  att  his  own  pri-  the  Heirs  of  the  said  Coll  Benjamin  Fletcher  or 

vate  Charge  did  Erect  and  build  a  Pew  att  the  any  of  his  friends  or  Relations  doe  att  any  time 

East  End  thereof  for  the  use  of  his  family  &  for  hereafter  Arrive  in  this  Citty  of  New-Yorke  that 

his  Heirs  and  Assigns  for  Ever,  and  his  Majesty  they  Claime  and  have  a  Right  to  sitt  in  the  said 

having  thought  fit  to  Recall  the  said  Coll  Benjamin  Pew  for  the  hearing  Divine  Service,  anything 

Fletcher  from  this  Governm'  the  said  Coll  Ben-  above  mentioned  to  the  contrary  hereof  in  any 

jamin  Fletcher  doth  therefore  hereby  Assign  and  wise  notwithstanding.     In  witness,  &c.     Dated 

make  over  the  said  Pew  in  Trinity  Church  with  Ap.  26,  1698." 

all  the  Rights  and  Priviledges  thereunto  belong-  To  this  instrument  Colonel  Fletcher's  seal— t. «., 

ing  unto  the  Honw<!  Coll  Nicolas  Bayard  and  Coll  coat-of -arms  —  was  attached.     He  seems  by  these 

Caleb  Heathcote  of  his  Maju  Council  of  the  said  arms  to  have  been  originally  from  Cheshire.  Eng. 

Province  and  to  such  others  that  now  are  of  his  His  wife's  arms  are  impaled  with  his,  and  resemble 

Majesties  Council  of  the  said  Province  as  are  not  those  of  the  Lincolnshire  branch  of  the  Monckton 

otherwise  seated  and  Provided  with  Pews  in  the  family, 

said  Church  &  to  such  Persons  of  Quality  &  The  visitor  to  St.  James  Church,  Piccadilly, 


506  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

When  the  church  was  ready  for  occupancy,  the  Eeverend  William 
Vesey1  was  inducted  rector.  An  appointment  more  distasteful  to 
the  Independents  could  not  well  have  been  made,  for  he  was  a  con- 
vert from  their  communion,  and  made  so  of  design,  they  charged,  by 
Governor  Fletcher.  In  a  petition  addressed  to  the  Bishop  of  London 
by  the  friends  of  Governor  Burnet  in  New- York  about  1714,  it  is 
charged  that  Mr.  Vesey  was  a  dissenting  preacher  on  Long  Island  at 
the  time,  that  he  "had  received  his  education  in  Harvard  College  under 
that  rigid  Independent  Increase  Mather,  and  had  been  sent  by  him  to 
minister  to  the  Puritans  of  New- York,"  who  might  be  proselyted  by 
the  Church.  But  "  Colonel  Fletcher  saw  through  the  design  and '  took 
off '  Mr.  Vesey  by  an  invitation  to  this  living,  a  promise  to  advance 
his  stipend  considerably,  and  to  recommend  him  to  holy  orders  to 
your  Lordship's  predecessor,  all  which  was  performed  accordingly,  and 
Mr.  Vesey  returned  from  England  in  priest's  orders."  To  be  taxed  for 
the  support  of  a  church  which  they  disliked  and  distrusted  was  dis- 
tasteful enough,  but  to  see  inducted  into  this  comfortable  living  one 
whom  they  looked  upon  as  a  renegade  was  still  more  unpalatable,  and 
intensified  the  opposition  which  the  Governor's  zeal  for  the  Church 
had  already  created. 

Another  interesting  and  important  church  edifice  was  built  during 
Governor  Fletcher's  term — the  Dutch  Reformed  Church  of  St.  Nich- 
olas on  Garden  street.  As  early  as  1691  the  congregation  had  be- 
come dissatisfied  with  the  stone  church  in  the  fort,  and  fixed  upon  a 
site  in  what  is  now  Exchange  Place,  then  occupied  by  the  peach-or- 
chard of  the  widow  of  Domine  Drisius,  a  former  pastor  of  the  church. 
The  work  was  pushed  forward  with  such  vigor  that  in  1693  it  was 
dedicated  and  occupied  by  the  congregation.  It  was  at  that  time  the 
most  imposing  church  edifice  in  the  city.  The  material  used  was 
brick ;  in  form  it  was  an  oblong  square,  with  a  large  steeple  in  front 

London,  of  which  Sir  Christopher  Wren  was  the  personal  history  may  be  added.     This  ordination 

architect,   may  see    an  ancient  memorial  stone  took  place  in  England  on  August  2d,  1697 ;  the  in- 

on  one  of  the  pillars  which   support  the   south  duction  occurred  in  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church  in 

gallery,  bearing  the  following  interesting  inscrip-  Garden  Street,  on  Christmas  Day,  1697,  two  Dutch 

tion:  "  Beneath  this  Pillar  lies  the  body  of  Eliza-  clergymen,  the  Eev.  Henricus  Selyns,  pastor  of 

beth,   wife  of  Colonell  Benjamin  Fletcher,  late  the  Church  of  New- York,  and  the  Rev.  John  Peter 

Captain  Generall  and  Governour  in  Chief e  of  his  Nucella,  of  Kingston,  N.  Y.,  bearing  a  principal 

Majesties  Province  of  New-Yorke  in  America  and  part  in  the  exercises.    On  March  13th,  1698,  Trinity 

Daughter  to  Doctor  John  Hodson,  Lord  Bishop  of  Church  was  sufficiently  complete  to  have  worship 

Elphin  in  Ireland,  who  after  her  Return  from  that  conducted  there,  the  Garden  Street  Church  being 

long  voyage  in  which  she  accompanied  her  Hus-  used  by  the  Episcopalians  for  one  service  on  the 

band,  Departed  this  life  the  Fifth  day  of  Novem-  Sabbath  in  the  interval.    Mr.  Vesey  was  born  in 

ber,  Anno  Domini  1698,  leaving  one  Son  and  two  Braintree,  Mass.,  about  1674 ;  it  is  probable  that 

Daughters  behind  her  and  a  sweet  and  lasting  his  parents  and  he  were  communicants  of  the 

Monument  in  the  Memorie  of  all  that  knew  her."  Anglican  Church;  on  graduating  from  Harvard 

EDITOR.  in  1693,  however,  he  entered  the  dissenting  min- 

1  It  has  been  stated  in  the  text  that  the  Rev.  istry.    Mr.  Vesey's  pastorate  reached  the  extra- 
William  Vesey,  the  first  rector  of  Trinity,  was  ordinary  length  of  forty-eight  years.    He  died  on 
originally  a  dissenting  minister,  but  was  ordained  July  llth,   1746.     Vesey  Street  perpetuates  his 
by  the  Bishop  of  London,  with  a  view  to  his  accept-  name.  EDITOR. 
ing  this  rectorship.    A  few  details  concerning  his 


BENJAMIN    FLETCHER    AND    THE    RISE    OF    PIRACY  507 


containing  a  belfry,  and  a  room  below  in  which  the  consistory  held 
its  meetings.  It  had  long,  narrow  windows  with  small  panes,  in  which 
were  burned  the  arms  of  the  principal  supporters  of  the  church,  and 
there  were  also  escutcheons  of  the  leading  families  upon  the  walls. 
The  silver-toned  bell  of  the  old  church " 
in  the  fort  was  transferred  to  the  belfry 
of  the  new,  together  with  the  pulpit 
and  other  furniture.  In  1694  the  peo- 
ple brought  their  silver  coin  and  orna- 
ments as  offerings,  and  these  were  sent 
to  Amsterdam  and  hammered  into  a 
massive  baptismal  bowl  by  the  skilled 
artisans  of  that  city.1 

While  Fletcher  went  into 
Pennsylvania  to  assume 
control  of  its  government, 
he  was  called  upon  to  pre- 
side at  the  trial  of  a  young 
man  named  William  Brad- 
ford, who  had  been  for 
some  time  official  printer 
of  the  colony.  In  1692,  hav- 
ing issued  a  pamphlet  by 
one  George  Keith,  which 
charged  the  Quaker  au- 
thorities with  a  departure 
from  their  pacific  principles  by  aiding  in  the  capture  of  a  privateer, 
his  press  and  materials  were  seized  by  them,  and  he,  with  McComb, 
the  publisher,  was  thrown  into  prison.  At  the  trial — which,  as  before 
stated,  was  presided  over  by  Governor  Fletcher — he  had  been  acquit- 
ted, but  the  authorities  made  it  so  unpleasant  for  him  in  Philadelphia 
that  he  determined  to  return  to  England. 

The  Governor,  however,  had  other  designs.  On  March  23, 1693,  the 
Council  passed  a  resolution  which  declared,  "  That  if  a  Printer  will 
come  and  settle  in  the  city  of  New- York  for  the  printing  of  our  Acts 
of  Assembly  and  Publick  Papers,  he  shall  be  allowed  the  sum  of  £40 
current  money  of  New- York  per  annum  for  his  salary  and  have 
the  benefit  of  his  printing,  besides  what  serves  the  publick."  Brad- 
ford accepted  the  offer,  which  was  really  meant  for  him.  Immediately 


DUTCH    REFORMED    CHURCH    IN    GARDEN    STREET,    1693. 


l  The  bowl  with  its  quaint  inscription  by  Dom- 
ine  Selyns  now  forms  part  of  the  plate  of  the  South 
(Dutch)  Reformed  Church,  which  worshiped  for 
many  years  in  the  building  on  the  corner  of  Fifth 
avenue  and  Twenty-first  street,  the  legal  and 
corporate  successor  of  the  Garden  Street  Church. 


Recently  this  edifice  was  sold  and  a  building  pur- 
chased on  the  corner  of  Thirty-eighth  street  and 
Madison  avenue,  where  this  historic  church  soci- 
ety worships  at  present  under  the  pastorate  of  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Roderick  Terry.  EDITOR. 


tfft- 

PER50NEN 


it*>,  oft  eUjt 

df  MewYorke 


/i 


it. 


ic 


.91 

60S 


509 

on  arriving  in  the  city  he  was  appointed  Royal  Printer,  and  it  appears 
entered  on  his  duties  April  10,  1693.  He  met  with  such  encourage- 
ment in  New- York  that  he  made  it  his  permanent  abode,  printing  not 
only  the  laws,  but  books  of  merit,  and  some  years  later  founded  the 
"  New- York  Gazette,"  the  first  paper  issued  in  the  city.  He  died  in 
New- York,  May  23,  1752,  aged  eighty-nine  years,  "  being  quite  worn 
out  with  old  age  and  labor,"  as  the  inscription  on  his  tombstone  in 
Trinity  churchyard  states,  and  after  "  being  Printer  to  this  Govern- 
ment for  upwards  of  fifty  years."  John  William  Wallace,  of  Phila- 
delphia, for  many  years  President  of  the  Pennsylvania  Historical 
Society,  in  a  commemorative  address  on  the  two  hundredth  anniver- 
sary of  Bradford's  birth,  in  1863,  paid  him  this  just  tribute :  He  "  first 
planted  the  printing  press  in  these  regions.  He  first  maintained  its 
rights  against  arbitrary  power.  He  established  in  this  chief  city  of 
our  land  an  influence  the  greatest  which  the  world  has  as  yet  known." 
This  influence  he  exerted  in  behalf  of  liberty — "  a  liberty  inseparable 
from  religion,  from  order,  from  good  morals,  from  good  manners,  a 
liberty  which  education,  self-respect,  and  dignity  preceded,  and  in 
whose  train  moderation,  amenity,  decorum,  and  all  the  graces  fol- 
lowed." Governor  Fletcher's  services  in  introducing  Bradford  are 
fully  recognized  by  Mr.  Wallace,  who  observes,  "  Whatever  sugges- 
tions may  hover  about  the  name  of  Fletcher,  .  .  .  his  services  at 
this  time  deserve,  no  doubt,  our  eulogy." 1 

In  addition  to  the  establishment  of  a  public  printing-press,  Gov- 
ernor Fletcher's  administration  evinced  an  intelligent  regard  for  the 
need  of  other  public  institutions  of  a  useful  and  beneficent  character. 
When,  in  the  midst  of  war  or  its  apprehension  on  the  part  of  France, 
the  provincial  revenues  were  at  a  low  ebb,  the  Council  cheerfully 
granted  fifty  pounds  for  the  maintenance  of  post-office  facilities 
within  the  province.2  In  December,  1695,  the  Governor  made  it  a 
matter  of  personal  interest  on  his  own  part  to  place  before  the  Coun- 
cil a  case  of  the  loss  of  a  sailor  by  unskilful  surgery,  and,  on  his  urging 
the  appointment  of  a  surgeon-general  who  should  examine  all  those 
who  applied  for  a  license  to  practise,  the  Council  agreed  to  create  such 
an  office,  and  Captain  George  Lockhart  was  appointed  to  the  position.3 
When,  in  the  autumn  of  this  same  year,  the  poor  return  of  the  crops 

The  fac-simile  on  preceding  page  is  a  reproduc-  Government,  amounting  to  a  considerable  value, 
tion  of  the  first  page  of  the  original  records,  cover-  which  cannot  be  supported  by  his  salary,  this 
ing  nearly  two  centuries  (from  1639  to  1800  inclu-  board,  in  consideracon  of  his  extraordinary  ser- 
sive),  which  are  now  being  published  in  three  royal  vices  and  the  printing  of  a  book  intituled  "  Season- 
octavo  volumes  by  the  New- York  Genealogical  and  able  consideracons  offered  to  the  good  people  of 
Biographical  Society,  under  the  title  "The  Mar-  Connecticut"  [see  Bibliography  in  Chapter  XV], 
riage  and  Baptismal  Records  of  the  Reformed  have  corrected  the  said  account,  and  Ordered  a 
Dutch  Church  in  New  Amsterdam  and  New-  Warrant  issue  for  the  payment  of  thirty  pounds 
York."  EDITOR.  to  the  said  William  Bradford."  (Council  Minutes, 

i  "  William  Bradford,  printer,  having  exhibited  7 : 54 ;  Feb.  15,  169 j.) 

an  account  of  sundryes  printed  by  diregon  of  2  Council  Minutes,  7  : 119 ;  March  7,  169J. 

his  Excellency  and  Council  for  the  use  of  the  3  Council  Minutes,  7  :  173. 


510 


HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YORK 


By  His  Excellency 


Benjamin  Fletcher,  Captain  General  and  Governonr  in  Chief  of 
The  Province  of  Nan-  York,  and  the  Territories  and  Tracts  of 
Land  depending  thereon  in  America,  and  Vice- Admiral  of  the 
same,  His  Majesties  Liertenant  and  Commander  in  Chief  of 
the  Militia,  and  of  all  the  Forces  by  Sea  and  Land  within  His 
Majesties  Collony  of  Connecticut,  and  of  all  the  Forts  and 
places  of  Strength  within  the  same. 


A    PROCLAMATION 

WHereu  I  have  received  the  Joyful  News  of  tbe  safe  Arrival  of  Our  Host 
Excellent  Soveraigne  Lord  WILLIAM  the  Third,  by  the  Grace  of 
Ood  King  of  England  Scotland.  Front*  and  Ireland.  Deleudor  of  tbe  Faith. 
etc  'in  His  Kingdom  of  K  A  0  L  A  KD  in  the  Monetn  of  Oeletxr  last  past,  and 
of  the  Success  of  Bis  Majesties  Anns  in  Planter:  I  have  therefore  thought  It. 
and  by  and  with  the  Advice  and  Consent  of  His  Majesties  Council,  for  tbe 
Province  of  JfKW-YORK.  Do  Appoint  Taunday.  tbe  Siiteentb  Instant, 
for  tbe  City  and  County  of  ffeui  Y'«k.  and  the  Three  and  Twentieth  Instant 
for  the  City  and  County  of  ALKAftr.mnd  the  rest  of  tbe  Counties  of  tbe 
said  Province  To  be  Observed  and  Celebrated  Public!  Days  of  Thanks  giving 
to  Almighty  Ood  for  the  same  And  all  Persons  within  this  Province  are 
Required  on  tbe  said  Respective  Days,  to  forbear  Bervilc  Labour,  and  to 
Observe  and  Celebrate  the  same  with  fervent  Demonstrations  of  Joy  and 
Tbankfulneas 


God  Save  the  KING 

BEN,  FLETCHER. 

f.  Pkittipn,    \ 
••    "        j     { 
*L  !• 


.  Bayard,    \  J£»qr». 
" ' 


T.  WiUel, 
J.  Lawrence, 
C.  Heatkcote 


C  'Munveitt,  \ 

PAC-SIMILE    OF    THANKSGIVING 
PROCLAMATION. 


seemed  to  threaten  a  dearth  of  bread,  the  Council,  under  the  inspi- 
ration of  the  Governor,  promptly  ordered  a  "  strict  inquiry  to  finde 
out  what  quantityes  of  meale  or  corne  are  within  the  city,"  and  the 

Mayor  was  to  "  return  his  account 
thereof  "  within  a  week  of  the  date  of 
the  order.1 

During  this  term,  also,  the  question 
of  a  suitable  market-place  was  con- 
sidered by  the  Council.  Originally 
the  "  plain  before  the  fort,"  now  the 
Bowling  Green,  was  used  for  this 
purpose ;  but  an  inconvenient  loca- 
tion, not  in  the  heart  of  the  town, 
having  been  designated  later,  the 
landing-place  of  the  hucksters'  boats 
carrying  the  produce  of  the  surround- 
ing country  had  gradually  come  to  be 
used  as  a  market,  putting  at  a  dis- 
advantage those  who  came  into  the 
city  with  wagons.  Hence  a  petition 
was  addressed  to  the  Council  to  re- 
store the  Bowling  Green  to  its  ancient  use  ;2  while  from  the  following 
extract  from  the  minute-book  of  the  Council  (p.  182)  it  is  learned 
what  was  done  for  the  useful  institutions  of  weights  and  measures 
and  the  currency: 

May  itt  Please  your  Excellency : 

In  obedience  to  your  Excellencies  Command,  wee  have  Examined  the  Memoriale 
Exhibited  to  your  Excellency  by  the  Attorney  Genle  Concerning  the  Settling  of  a 
Standard  and  Appointing  an  Officer  for  the  Regulation  of  Weights  &  Scales  for 
Curr'  Gold  &  Silver,  &  are  humbly  of  the  Opinion  that  itt  is  very  Necessary  to  be 
done,  &  Pursuant  Thereto  Presume  to  recommend  unto  your  Excellency  Cornelius 
Vanderburgh  &  Jacob  Boelen,  Silver  Smiths,  as  Persons  of  good  Reputation  and  very 
fltt  to  be  appointed  by  your  Excellency  for  the  keeping  of  the  Standard  of  Silver  & 
Gold  Weights  and  markeing  all  such  as  shall  be  used  in  this  Citty  &  Province  ;  and 
that  there  be  allowed,  for  the  Markeing  of  a  Ballance  -  - 18°,  17°,  16°,  15°,  &  14° 
weights,  one  Shiling  —  which  is  most  humbly  Submitted  by  etc.,  etc.,  etc. 
Robert  Lurting,  A.  D.  Peyster, 

John  Barberie,  Gerard  Domo. 

l  Council  Minutes,  7 : 94.  The  report  of  the  Mayor 
was  as  follows: 

"New-Yorke,  Novbry  27th,  1695. 
May  it  please  your  Excellency : 

Pursuant  to  the  within  Order,  I  have  made  strict 
Inquiry  In  the  several  Wards  of  this  City,  and  by 
Return,  under  the  hands  of  the  respective  Alder- 
men and  Assistants,  I  do  finde  within  the  same  the 
Quantities  of  Corne  and  Meale  following,  vizt. : 


B 

w 
East  Ward  
Dock  Ward  
South  Ward  .  .  . 
West  Ward  .... 
NorthWard... 
Out  Ward  .  . 

ushels  of 
heat,  etc. 
2,151        .   . 

halfe 
Barrel  flower. 

2,142 

287 

6,459 

364 

762 

4 

1,530 

2.025 

(Signed) 
2  Council  Minutes,  7  : 187. 


15,069 


655 


William  Merrett,  Mayor." 


BENJAMIN    FLETCHER    AND    THE    RISE    OF    PIRACY  511 

Meantime  plots  and  cabals  against  the  Governor  had  been  forming. 
Extravagant  land  grants,  collusion  with  pirates,  and  a  general  pros- 
titution of  his  office  for  his  private  gain  were  the  principal  charges 
against  him  laid  before  the  king,  but  it  is  obvious  that  his  zeal  for 
the  Church  of  England,  his  arrogant  treatment  of  the  popular  branch 
of  the  government,  and  his  ignoring  the  Leislerite  party  gave  the 
chief  occasion  to  the  opposition.  Other  governors  had  made  large 
grants  of  land,  and  had  enriched  themselves  without  incurring  such 
deep  resentment  or  such  attacks  upon  their  uprightness. 

About  the  time  of  Fletcher's  arrival  Jacob  Leisler's  son  had  sailed 
for  England  to  secure  a  reversal  of  the  attainder  of  Leisler  and  his 
adherents.  He  was  soon  joined,  as  we  have  seen,  by  Abraham  Gou- 
verneur,  who  brought  with  him  the  pledged  support  of  the  government 
of  Massachusetts.  The  two  young  men  found  a  stronger  ally,  how- 
ever, in  Eobert  Livingston,  of  Albany,  who  was  now  in  England  press- 
ing upon  the  government  his  claim  for  money  advanced  and  supplies 
furnished  during  and  after  the  war  of  1688.  Fletcher  had  resisted 
payment  of  these  claims,  asserting  that  not  only  had  Livingston  been 
fully  paid  from  the  revenues  of  the  province,  but  that  he  had  made  a 
fortune  by  his  contracts.  Livingston's  great  influence  at  the  English 
court  is  to  be  accounted  for  by  his  friendship  with  Richard  Coote,  Earl 
of  Bellomont,  and  Baron  of  Coloony  in  Ireland,  then  among  the  most 
powerful  nobles  about  the  throne.  He  had  been  one  of  the  first  to 
espouse  the  cause  of  William,  and  was  soon  appointed  receiver-gen- 
eral and  treasurer  to  Queen  Mary.  The  king  created  him  Earl  of 
Bellomont,  and  later  Governor  of  New-York.  Livingston  now  devoted 
himself  to  the  removal  of  Fletcher,  and  presented  several  charges 
against  him  —  first,  of  interfering  with  the  elections  for  assemblymen 
in  May,  1695,  by  marching  soldiers  to  the  polls  to  intimidate  the  free- 
men; second,  of  refusing  to  account  to  the  Assembly  for  public 
moneys  received;  third,  of  receiving  bribes. 

The  charges  were  so  serious  that  a  hearing  was  ordered  before  the 
Lords  of  Trade  at  Whitehall,  August  28,  1695,  Governor  Fletcher  not 
being  represented.  Phillip  French,  of  New- York, "  gentleman,"  deposed 
that  before  the  said  election  he  had  heard  it  said  that  Governor  Fletcher 
had  said  that  he  would  pistol  any  man  who  would  not  vote  for  Peter  De 
la  Noy,  and  that,  calling  on  Colonel  Fletcher  and  asking  as  to  the  truth 
of  the  rumor,  Colonel  Fletcher  "did  not  deny,  but  rather  owned  that  he 
had  said  so."  Being  asked  why  he  had  put  up  De  la  Noy,  he  answered 
that  he  did  not,  and  the  deponent  saying  that  Colonel  De  Peyster  had  re- 
ported it  so,  Colonel  Fletcher  said  "  De  la  Noy  and  De  Peyster  were  both 
Rascalls."  French  also  stated  that  there  were  soldiers  in  the  field  on 
election  day,  and  that  there  was  a  rumor  of  pressing  in  the  field  which 
caused  several  of  Leisler's  party  to  leave  the  place.  He  also  testified 


512  HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YORK 

that  he  had  heard  it  said  "  that  all  the  Goldsmiths  in  town  were  em- 
ployed in  making  snuff-boxes  and  other  plate  for  presents  for  the 
Governor."  William  Kidd,  master  of  the  brigantine  Antegoa  (a  warm 
friend  of  Livingston's),  swore  to  having  seen  "  Soldiers  and  Seamen 
with  Clubs  in  the  field,  and  many  went  off  the  field  lest  they  should  be 
pressed,  and  he  heard  there  were  freedoms  given  to  severall  persons 
over  night  before  the  Election ;  that  he,  with  other  masters  of  ships, 
were  spoke  to  by  the  Sheriff  to  bring  their  seamen  on  shore  to  vote." 
Samuel  Bradly  and  John  Albrough  (a  "  Dutchman "),  both  of  New- 
York,  made  affidavits  similar  to  the  above.  Joseph  Davies  swore  that 
"he  saw  with  an  Assemblyman  a  short  account,  which  came  from  the 
last  Assembly,  of  about  fifteen  hundred  pounds,  said  to  be  remaining 
in  the  Governor's  hands,  of  which  he  heard  the  Assembly  did  desire  a 
more  particular  account  before  they  would  anything  else,  upon  which 
the  Governor  did  dissolve  the  Assembly";  and  that,  "being  master's 
mate  of  the  Nassau,  he  was  ordered  by  the  master  of  the  said  ship  to 
bring  the  seamen  of  the  said  ship  to  shoar  to  vote  at  the  election." 
At  their  next  meeting  the  Lords  ordered  Giles  Shelly,  master  of  the 
Nassau,  to  be  produced,  who  swore  that  he  spoke  to  his  seamen  of  his 
own  accord,  and  had  no  orders  from  Colonel  Fletcher  for  so  doing. 
Captain  Kidd  and  other  witnesses,  being  cross-examined,  said  that 
the  soldiers  were  not  in  uniform,  nor  armed,  and  did  not  vote,  nor 
could  they  say  that  Colonel  Fletcher  had  ordered  them  to  the  field,  or 
given  orders  to  have  the  seamen  brought  on  shore. 

In  the  course  of  the  next  summer  Colonel  Fletcher  heard  that  Mr. 
Livingston  had  "exhibited  an  information"  against  him,  and  thus 
wrote  to  William  Blathwayte,  one  of  the  Lords  of  Trade  (July  13, 
1696) :  "  I  have  all  the  Gentlemen  in  the  Councill  and  all  the  honest 
men  in  the  Government  ready  to  vouch  for  my  behaviour.  Since  I 
came  amongst  them  I  never  meddled  with  a  farthing  publick  money, 
nor  disposed  of  any  but  by  advice  and  consent  of  the  Councill,  who  were 
always  judges  of  the  several  uses.  His  brother-in-law,  Coll.  Cortland, 
is  ready  to  testify  that  I  owed  him  not  a  farthing  when  he  left  this 
place.  I  have  several  times  advanced  to  him  money  for  victualing 
the  companys  before  it  was  due,  particularly  at  parting.  ...  It  is  to 
be  seen  under  his  own  hand  that  if  every  Governor  had  paid  him  as 
well  as  I,  it  had  been  a  thousand  pounds  in  his  way.  I  hope  Mr. 
Brooke  and  Mr.  Nicolls 1  are  come  to  England.  They  are  able  to  vin- 
dicate me  against  anything  what  may  be  objected  from  any  in  this 
province." 

The  Lords  of  the  Treasury  (January  2,  1695)  reported  favorably 
on  Livingston's  claim,  and  recommended  that  it  be  paid;  recom- 

i  Members  of  the  Council  who  had  been  sent  to  England  to  represent  the  Governor  and  Council 
before  the  king,  and  who  had  been  captured  by  a  French  privateer. 


BENJAMIN  FLETCHER  AND  THE  RISE  OF  PIRACY     513 


mended  also  that  a  salary  of  one  hundred  pounds  sterling  be  settled 
on  him  during  life,  to  be  paid  from  the  revenues  of  New- York,  for 
his  services  as  secretary  or  agent  for  the  Governor  of  New- York  to 
the  Five  Nations  of  Indians;  also  that  be  be  confirmed  in  his  offices 
of  Collector  of  the  excise  and  quit-rents,  Town  Clerk,  Clerk  of  the 
Peace,  and  Clerk  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  at  Albany,  with  the 
usual  salaries  during  life.  The  influence  of  Bellomont  was  equally 
potent  with  regard  to  Leisler.  William,  having  granted  the  latter 
leave  to  apply  to  Parliament,  Constantine  Phipps,  one  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts agents,  drew  up  a  bill  reversing  the  attainder  of  Leisler  and  his 
adherents,  and,  although  bitterly  opposed  by  Joseph  Dudley,  the  for- 
mer Chief  Justice  of 
New- York,  as  unjust 
and  likely  to  augment 
tenfold  the  strife  of 
factions  in  that  city,  it 
was  passed  and  became 
a  law  in  April,  1695. 

Several  months  later, 
about  November  1, 
1695,  Messrs.  Brooke 
and  Nicolls  arrived  in 
London,  having  been 
taken  by  a  privateer 
during  their  voyage 
from  America,  in  January,  1695,  and  carried  into  France.  They  were 
probably  able  to  present  such  proofs  to  the  government  in  reply  to 
Livingston's  charges  that  the  latter  availed  naught,  at  least  the  Gov- 
ernor was  left  undisturbed  in  his  office  for  the  time  being.  Fletcher, 
on  hearing  of  the  charges,  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Lords  of  Trade, 
denying  them  categorically,  but  admitted  having  received  two  snuff- 
boxes from  gentlemen  whom  he  had  obliged.  He  declared,  in  the 
course  of  the  letter,  that  he  had  ''neither  ship  nor  barke,  part  nor 
parcell  in  any  vessell  whatsoever,  nor  any  hand  in  trade." 

An  event  soon  occurred,  however,  which,  skilfully  used  by  his  ene- 
mies, sufficed  to  depose  him.  Piracy  had  long  flourished  in  the  colo- 
nies, particularly  in  New- York  and  Ehode  Island.  It  was  the  logical 
outcome  of  the  system  of  privateering  which  the  maritime  nations  of 
that  period  had  adopted  as  a  legitimate  arm  of  war.  King  William's 
war  drew  out  from  the  colonial  ports  scores  of  these  swift-sailing  com- 
batants, armed  with  the  king's  commission  to  capture  and  destroy 
enemies'  ships.  Many  of  them,  once  at  sea,  were  unable  to  resist  the 
temptation  to  take  and  plunder  indiscriminately,  and  thus  became 
pirates  of  full  import.  This  gild  flourished  at  New- York  under 

VOL.  I.— 33. 


SOUTHEAST  CORNER  BROAD  STREET  AND  EXCHANGE  PLACE. 


514 


HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 


Fletcher  as  never  before,  simply  because  the  war  gave  it  cloak  and 
opportunity.  Most  of  the  principal  merchants  connived  at  it,  and 
profited  by  it.  The  method  of  procedure  was  as  follows  :  Putting  to 
sea  as  a  privateer,  under  the  segis  of  his  commission,  the  pirate  bore 
away  for  the  Arabian  Gulf,  the  Bed  Sea,  and  that  part  of  the  Indian 

Ocean  bordering 
the  southern  shore 
of  Asia.  These 
seas  were  then 
traversed  by  the 
rich  galleons  of 
the  British  and 
Dutch  East  India 
companies,  bear- 
ing precious  fab- 
rics, spices,  gold, 
and  gems  from 
the  opulent  cities 
of  the  Orient. 
These  argosies  fell 
an  easy  prey  to 
the  corsairs,  who, 
after  capturing 
them,  would  send 
their  booty  to 
New-  York,  and, 
in  their  charac- 
ter of  privateers, 
enter  it  in  the 
Admiralty  Court 
there  as  lawful  spoil  of  war.  This  was  one  method.  The  more  pop- 
ular plan,  however,  was  to  carry  the  prize  to  a  pirates'  stronghold 
on  Madagascar  Island,  where  they  usually  found  a  merchant  ship 
waiting,  having  been  sent  out  by  the  merchants  of  New-  York  with 
supplies  such  as  the  freebooters  required,  and  which  would  then  load 
with  the  corsairs'  booty,  and  return  to  New-  York  as  an  honest  mer- 
chantman, the  pirates  not  appearing  in  the  transaction. 

Enormous  fortunes  were  made  and  lost  in  the  nefarious  traffic. 
For  instance,  the  ship  Nassau,  Captain  Giles  Shelly,  left  New-York 


int&ntc,  d&r  <7lt2&rdtiw&£e-  "*• 
'far* 


CERTIFICATE  OF  BAPTISM, 


i  Anno  1685,  on  March  21st,  a  son  was  baptized  in 
the  congregation  of  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church  in 
the  City  of  New- York  in  America,  whose  parents 
were  Nicholas  William  Stuyvesant  and  Lysbett 
[Elizabeth  [Slegtenhorst,  witnesses  Brandt  Schuy- 
ler  and  Judith  Bayard,  whose  name  was  Petrus. 


Thus  recorded  in  the  baptismal  register  of  the 
Dutch  Reformed  Church  of  New-York,  at  New- 
York,  to-day,  Octob.  6th.,  1735.  To  which  I  testify. 

[S.]  G.  D'Bois,  v.  d.  Min. 

The  document  of  which  a  translation  is  given  is 
the  property  of  N.  W.  S.  Catlin,  Esq.  EDITOR. 


BENJAMIN    FLETCHER    AND    THE    RISE    OF    PIRACY  515 

in  July,  1696,  for  Madagascar,  laden  with  Jamaica  rum,  Madeira  wine, 
and  gunpowder,  which  the  freebooters  bought  eagerly  at  several  hun- 
dred per  cent,  advance.  She  took  of  them  in  exchange  East  India 
goods  and  gloves,  and  brought  back  also  twenty-nine  of  the  rovers  as 
passengers,  they  paying  four  thousand  pounds  passage-money.  The 
voyage  is  said  to  have  netted  the  owners  thirty  thousand  pounds. 
The  pirates,  who  figured  as  reputable  privateers,  lent  a  picturesque 
and  Oriental  magnificence  to  the  city  unknown  in  later  and  more  pro- 
saic times.  They  were  fond  of  swaggering  about  the  streets  armed 
cap-a-pie  and  clad  in  uniforms  of  blue,  trimmed  with  cloth  of  gold  and 
silver,  their  swords  and  daggers  showing  hilts  set  with  gems,  and  the 
stocks  of  their  pistols  made  of  mother-of-pearl.  Many  of  them  were  in- 
telligent men,  who  had  seen  the  world  and  could  speak  entertainingly 
of  their  adventures,  and  who  were  invited  to  the  tables  of  the  resident 
gentry,  and  even  to  that  of  Governor  Fletcher  himself.  Of  course,  had 
they  been  what  they  professed  to  be,  honest  and  lawful  privateers, 
there  would  have  been  nothing  improper  in  this.  However,  in  1695, 
an  event  occurred  which  brought  the  matter  of  New- York  piracy  prom- 
inently before  the  king  and  his  ministers.  New- York  pirates  took 
in  the  Indian  Ocean  one  of  the  sacred  ships  of  the  Great  Mogul,  laden 
with  presents  for  Mecca.  The  Mogul  learned  that  the  corsairs  were 
Englishmen,  and  threatened  reprisals,  which  so  alarmed  the  East 
India  Company  that  they  applied  to  the  king  for  a  frigate  to  protect 
their  interests  in  those  seas.  None  could  be  spared,  being  then  en- 
gaged against  France.  Robert  Livingston  at  this  juncture  proposed 
to  Bellomont  to  fit  out  a  private  expedition  against  the  pirates,  the 
reward  for  the  risk  incurred  to  be  the  spoil  of  the  pirates  taken.1  He 
recommended  a  certain  shipmaster  of  New- York,  William  Kidd,  who 
he  said  knew  both  the  pirates  and  their  haunts,  as  a  proper  person  to 
command  the  expedition.  Kidd,  he  affirmed,  "  was  a  bold  and  honest 
man,  and  he  believed  fitter  than  any  other  to  be  employed  in  such 
service."  Kidd,  on  being  approached,  promptly  announced  his  terms. 
He  required  one  of  the  king's  ships, "  a  good  sailer  of  about  thirty 
guns  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  men,"  with  which  he  would  undertake 
to  capture  or  disperse  the  pirates,  as  he  knew  many  of  them,  "  and 
had  some  knowledge  of  the  places  where  they  usually  made  their 
rendezvous." 

The  matter  was  debated  by  the  king  in  consultation  with  five  of 
the  highest  lords  of  the  realm, —  Somers,  the  Lord  Chancellor,  the 
Duke  of  Shrewsbury,  Lord  Bellomont,  the  Earl  of  Romney,  and  Lord 
Oxford, —  and  it  was  agreed  to  furnish  Kidd  with  ship  and  crew  in 

i  For  my  account  of  these  negotiations,  I  am  in-  two  letters  written  by  a  person  of  quality  to  a  kins- 
debted  to  a  rare  pamphlet  entitled,  "  Captain  Kidd.  man  of  the  Earl  of  Bellomont  in  Ireland.  Second 
A  Pull  Account  of  the  Proceedings  thereto.  In  Edition.  London,  1701." 


516 


HISTOBY    OF    NEW-YOEK 


return  for  a  certain  share  of  the  booty  he  should  take.  The  agree- 
ment was  made  by  Bellomont  acting  for  his  colleagues,  and  was 
dated  at  London,  February  20,  1695-6.  By  its  terms  the  Earl  agreed 
to  provide  a  good  and  sufficient  ship,  to  pay  four-fifths  of  her  cost, 
victualing,  and  equipment,  to  procure  a  commission  from  the  king 
empowering  Kidd  to  fight  against  the  king's  enemies  and  take  prizes 
from  them  as  a  private  man-of-war,  and  to  conquer  and  subdue  pi- 
rates, and  to  capture  them  and  their  goods.  Kidd,  on  his  part,  was 

to  enlist  one  hundred  seamen, 
proceed  at  once  against  the 
pirates,  use  his  utmost  en- 
deavor to  conquer  and  subdue 
them  and  take  from  them  their 
goods,  and  also  to  take  what 
prizes  he  could  from  the  king's 
enemies,  and  proceed  with  them 
immediately  to  Boston  in  New 
England.  In  case  he  captured 
no  pirates  or  prizes,  he  and 
Livingston  were  to  refund  the 
money  advanced,  amounting  to 
£6000.  The  prize-money  was 
to  be  divided  —  one-fourth  to 
the  ship's  crew,  the  other  three- 
fourths  into  five  equal  parts, 
four  of  which  were  to  go  to 
the  earl,  and  the  other  fifth  to 
be  divided  between  Kidd  and 
Livingston,  who  were  also  to  pay  one-fifth  of  the  entire  cost  of  the 
expedition.  If,  however,  Kidd  captured  and  turned  over  to  Bellomont 
prizes  to  the  value  of  one  hundred  thousand  pounds,  the  ship  should 
remain  his  as  a  reward  for  his  services.  Both  Kidd  and  Livingston 
were  held  in  bonds  for  the  former's  good  behavior,  Kidd's  being  placed 
at  twenty  thousand  pounds,  and  Livingston's  at  ten  thousand.  It 
only  remains  to  add  that  King  William  himself  was  a  partner  in  this 
strange  enterprise,  and  a  prospective  sharer  in  its  spoils.  A  large 
ship,  the  Adventure  Galley,  was  purchased,  and  in  her  Kidd  sailed 
(February,  1696)  ostensibly  for  the  Eed  Sea  in  quest  of  pirates. 

Meantime  those  opposed  to  Governor  Fletcher  were  using  the  occa- 
sion to  effect  his  recall.  They  charged  that  he  consorted  with  pirates, 
that  he  gave  them  commissions  knowing  them  to  be  such,  that  he 

i  The  original  tombstone  placed  over  the  grave 
of  Bradford,  represented  in  the  above  illustration, 
was  unfortunately  broken,  and  was  removed,  at  the 
time  of  the  commemoration  in  this  city  in  1863, 


BRADFORD'S  TOMBSTONE,  i 


from  Trinity  Churchyard  to  the  hall  of  the  New- 
York  Historical  Society.  It  was  replaced  by  an- 
other  similar  stone  which  now  marks  his  grave. 

EDITOR. 


BENJAMIN    FLETCHER    AND    THE    RISE    OF    PIRACY  517 

sold  them  protections  at  exorbitant  sums  —  the  price  of  one  being 
an  eight-hundred-pound  ship— and  pocketed  the  money.  The 
feeling  entertained  against  Fletcher  at  this  time  by  the  opposition  is 
shown  in  a  letter  written  by  Peter  De  la  Noy,  Mayor  of  New- York 
under  Leisler,  who  after  a  long  list  of  grievances  exclaimed :  "  We 
are  not  solicitous  whether  he  is  gently  recalled,  or  falls  into  disgrace, 
so  we  are  rid  of  him ! "  The  feeling  was  so  intense  that  the  king 
decided  to  displace  Fletcher  and  appoint  Bellomont ;  but  in  the  let- 
ter to  Fletcher  announcing  his  recall,  it  was  stated  that  this  was 
not  done  because  his  Majesty  was  dissatisfied  with  him,  but  that 
the  king  would  give  him  other  employment.  Bellomont's  commis- 
sion was  dated  June  18,  1697,  but  owing  to  delays  in  England  and  by 
storms  on  the  voyage,  he  did  not  reach  his  government  until  1698. 

As  soon  as  he  heard  of  the  charges,  Fletcher  wrote  a  letter  to  the 
Lords  of  Trade  absolutely  denying  them,  and  making  such  explana- 
tions as  to  put  them  in  a  different  light.  He  wrote  that  he  was  anx- 
iously awaiting  Bellomont's  arrival,  the  Leislerians  having  become  very 
bold  and  restive  since  the  triumph  of  Leisler  and  the  appointment  of 
Bellomont,  as  they  had  imbibed  the  idea  that  there  would  be  no  more 
taxes  after  the  Earl's  arrival,  and  that  all  that  he  (Fletcher)  had  laid 
upon  them  would  be  refunded.  Fletcher  closed  his  letter  containing 
the  above  statement  with  this  paragraph:  "My  chiefest  endeavor,  as 
it  always  has  been,  is  to  assert  my  duty  to  his  Majesty  in  studying  the 
safety  of  the  Province,  and  I  bless  God  my  efforts  have  not  been  in- 
effectual. It  has  improved  more  in  building  and  trade  these  last  five 
years  than  in  many  years  before,  which  I  shall  be  able  to  demonstrate 
to  your  Lordships  when  it  shall  please  God  to  bring  me  to  my  native 
country  of  England,  and  to  justify  myself  as  to  my  loyalty  and 
honesty." 

Bellomont  came  filled  with  the  idea  that  his  predecessor  was  a  man 
of  iniquity  and  corruption,  which  belief  was  encouraged  by  the  Inde- 
pendents and  Leislerians,  whose  cause  he  espoused.  These  asserted 
that  Fletcher  was  not  only  in  league  with  pirates,  but  had  embezzled 
great  sums  of  their  public  moneys,  and  urged  that  he  should  not  be 
allowed  to  depart  the  province  until  his  accounts  could  be  investigated 
by  competent  authority — meaning  the  Assembly.  To  appease  the 
people  Bellomont  appointed  a  commission  for  this  purpose,  but  as  an 
examination  would  prevent  Colonel  Fletcher  from  sailing  in  the  frig- 
ate Richmond  as  he  had  designed,  he,  out  of  respect  "  to  his  Majesty's 
Commission,  which  he  so  lately  bore,"  took  bonds  of  him  in  £10,000 
to  answer  to  the  king  for  all  public  money  irregularly  disposed  of  by 
him,  and  allowed  him  to  depart.2  On  arriving  in  England,  Colonel 
Fletcher  demanded  an  examination,  which  was  accorded  by  the  Lords 

2 Letter  of  Bellomont  to  the  Lords  of  Trade.     Doc.  rel.  Col.  Hist.  N.  Y.,  4 :  302. 


518  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

of  Trade.  The  Board  convened  at  Whitehall,  January  20,  169f,  the 
majority  of  its  members,  the  impartial  reader  will  note,  being  friends 
of  Lord  Bellomont. 

The  Attorney-General  and  Eobert  Weaver,  agent  of  New- York,  stood 
for  the  king;  Sir  Thomas  Powis  for  ex-Governor  Fletcher.  There 
were  eighteen  "  articles,"  or  counts,  in  the  complaint,  which  were  con- 
sidered under  separate  heads.  The  principal  charges  were :  That 
Fletcher  had  accepted  from  one  Edward  Coats  the  pirate  ship  Jacob 
in  return  for  his  protection,  which  ship  he  had  sold  for  £800 ;  that 
he  had  granted  like  protections  to  other  notorious  pirates  for  stated 
sums,  generally  about  one  hundred  pounds  per  man ;  that  he  had  granted 
commissions  to  Thomas  Tew,  John  Hoare,  and  others  as  privateers  for 
money,  when  it  was  notorious  that  they  were  pirates ;  that  his  inti- 
macy with  Tew,  a  well-known  pirate,  was  scandalous ;  that  the  secur- 
ity for  the  good  conduct  of  the  privateers  thus  commissioned  taken  by 
Colonel  Fletcher  was  insufficient,  and  did  not  appear  in  the  public  rec- 
ords ;  that  he  had  granted  vast  tracts  of  land  without  accurate  survey 
and  for  inconsiderable  quit-rents ;  that  he  had  exacted  of  the  soldiers 
one  halfpenny  per  day  out  of  each  man's  subsistence,  and  had  sent 
home  full  muster-rolls  on  which  pay  was  drawn,  when  they  were  not 
half  full. 

Certain  depositions,  reports,  etc.,  of  persons  in  New- York  were  read 
in  support  of  these  charges.  Sir  Thomas  Powis  at  once  objected  to 
the  admission  of  such  papers  unless  the  defense  were  permitted  to  send 
to  New- York  for  counter-evidence.  "  One  of  the  deponents,"  he  said, 
"  admitted  that  he  had  been  forced  to  swear  by  Bellomont ;  another, 
that  he  had  been  tricked  into  it,  and  he  inveighed  against  the  Earle  of 
Bellomonts  undue  method  in  forcing  witnesses  to  swear."  The  Board, 
however,  admitted  the  papers  in  evidence,  and  denied  the  defense  op- 
portunity to  secure  rebuttal  evidence.  Colonel  Nicholas  Bayard  and 
Mr.  Chidley  Brooks,  of  Fletcher's  Council,  testified  that  Governor 
Fletcher  had  had  the  consent  of  the  Council  in  all  cases,  and  that  with- 
out coercion.  The  ex-Governor's  defense,  as  given  in  the  court  re- 
ports, was  very  lame  and  impotent,  insomuch  as  to  justify  the  suspicion 
that  his  side  was  not  fully  reported.  In  reality,  he  made  a  vigorous 
defense,  as  we  discovered  in  two  letters  by  him — one,  without  date, 
written  from  New-York  on  first  hearing  of  the  charges;  the  second 
dated  London,  December  24,  1698,  and  which  was  laid  before  the 
Board.  In  the  last  he  observed  that  his  designation  to  New- York 
was  utterly  unknown  to  him,  and  without  his  seeking ;  complained 
that  he  did  not  know  his  accusers,  or  in  what  manner  he  was  to  be  at- 
tacked, as  only  the  heads  of  articles  were  exhibited;  and  prayed  that, 
for  "  the  manifestation  of  the  truth,"  he  might  have  counter- witnesses 
summoned  and  examined.  As  to  the  ship  Jacob,  he  said  she  had  been 


\ 


BENJAMIN    FLETCHER    AND    THE    KISE    OF    PIRACY  519 

commissioned  by  Leisler,  and,  after  roving  for  some  time,  came  into  the 
Sound  off  Montauk,  and,  on  hearing  of  the  fate  of  Leisler,  most  of  her 
men  dispersed.  Those  who  were  of  New- York  sent  to  know  if  they 
might  come  in  safety  to  the  city ;  whereupon  he  had  called  his  Coun- 
cil, and  it  was  unanimously  their  opinion  that  the  men  should  be  per- 
mitted to  come  in  on  giving  security  not  to  depart  the  province  for  a 
year  and  a  day.  The  men  came,  and  fulfilled  these  conditions.  The 
reason  that  their  bonds  could  not  be  found  now  among  the  public  pa- 
pers was  that,  the  year  and  a  day  having  expired,  they  had  reclaimed 
them.  He  had  accepted  the  Jacob  as  a  present,  and  he  frankly  told 
their  Lordships  why  he  did  so.  "  Those  who  victualled  the  forces  had 
a  great  arrears  due  them,  and  were  unwilling  to  trust  any  further, 
and  a  merchant  of  the  place  bidding  £800  (of  that  money)  for  the  ship, 
he  had  it  accordingly.  I  touched  no  part  of  the  money,  but  directed 
it  to  discharge  and  supply  the  victuallers,  as  was  honestly  done.  Here- 
upon I  writ  to  the  Agent  of  the  Province  in  England  that  when  he 
could  recover  the  value  of  this  money  (which  might  be  of  about  £600 
Sterling)  he  should  remit  it  for  me  into  Ireland,  where  my  small  pat- 
rimony of  an  adventure  lay  in  ashes  by  the  calamity  of  the  late  re- 
bellion. And  here,  my  Lords,  let  me  presume  to  say  that  I  had  my 
share  in  the  Irish  Warr,  and  do  appeal  to  all  the  Commanders  in  that 
army  as  to  my  behaviour  in  it,  and  whether  in  that,  or  near  thirty 
years'  service  before,  ever  any  complaint  was  brought  before  against 
me."  He  declared  that  he  was  never  directly  or  indirectly  concerned 
in  unlawful  or  even  lawful  trade,  and  that  he  never  gave  protections 
or  commissions  for  reward.  As  to  prosecuting  pirates,  he  never  had 
any  complaints  made  to  him  against  them  on  which  such  a  prosecu- 
tion could  be  conducted.  Tew,  he  said,  was  a  man  of  great  sense  and 
remembrance  of  what  he  had  seen,  so  that  it  was  a  divertisement  to 
hear  him  talk.  He  also  wished  to  make  him  a  sober  man,  and  reclaim 
him  from  a  vile  habit  of  swearing,  to  which  end  he  had  given  him 
a  book,  and  Tew  had  given  him  a  trifling  present  in  return.1  As  to 
the  land  grants,  he  reminded  their  lordships  of  the  tenor  of  his  in- 
structions, and  that  they  might  find  in  their  books  how  all  the  valua- 
ble lands  of  the  province  had  been  granted  before  he  came,  and  that 
some  governors  had  had  large  tracts  of  land. 

His  replies  to  other  articles  were  equally  convincing  and  forcible. 
In  the  first  letter  he  has  an  interesting  reference  to  Captain  Kidd,  who, 
instead  of  proceeding  a  pirate-hunting,  as  his  instructions  ordered, 

l  "  His  Excy  did  acquaint  the  Council  that  one  ion  &  advice  of  the  Council  for  granting  him  a 

Capt.  Thomas  Tew,  Commander  of  the  Sloop  Am-  Commission.      The  Council  are  unanimously  of 

ity,  with  five  gunns  and  Eighty  men  at  their  pri-  opinion  that  he  ought  to  be  encouraged,  and  ad- 

vate  charge,  are  ready  and  willing  to  go  against  vise  his  Excy  to  grant  him  a  Commission."    (Co- 

the  ffrench,  their  Maties  Enemyes,  and  to  make  lonial  MSS.,  39  :  105;  Nov.  8,1694.) 
this  their  Commission  Port,  and  desired  the  opin- 


520  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

had  borne  away  for  New- York.  "  One  Captain  Kidd  lately  arrived 
here,  and  produced  a  Commission  under  the  Great  Seal  of  England 
for  suppressing  of  Piracy.  When  he  was  here  many  flockt  to  him  from 
all  parts,  men  of  desperate  fortunes  and  necessitous,  in  expectation  of 
getting  vast  treasure.  He  sailed  from  hence  with  150  men,  as  I  am 
informed.  ...  It  is  generally  believed  here  they  will  have  money  pet- 
fas  aut  nefas ;  that  if  he  miss  of  the  design  intended  for  which  he  has 
Commission,  twill  not  be  in  Kidd's  power  to  govern  such  a  hord  of 
men  under  no  pay,"  which  surmise  proved  to  be  true.  The  sequel  of 
Kidd's  enterprise,  however,  belongs  to  a  succeeding  chapter.  The 
outcome  of  the  examination  was  unfavorable  to  Fletcher.  The  Lords 
of  Trade  reported  to  the  king  that  his  proceedings  concerning  the 
pirates  "were  contrary  to  his  duty  and  an  encouragement  to  Piracy"; 
and,  on  the  land  grants,  that  "  his  having  made  such  large  grants  of 
land  to  single  persons  without  due  caution  for  improvement,  was  not 
for  your  Majesty's  service,  nor  did  it  tend  to  the  settlement  of  those 
parts";  and  recommended  that  the  charges  be  referred  to  the  Attorney- 
General  for  further  action. 

Fletcher  attributed  the  decision  to  the  influence  of  Bellomont  and 
Livingston.  "  I  cannot  be  ignorant,"  he  said,  in  the  letter  above 
quoted,  u  that  there  are  two  Scotchmen  got  into  credit  who  are  my 
mortal  enemies,  men  that  are  able  not  only  to  trouble  a  Province, 
but  to  turn  it  upside  down ;  and  if  these  men  can  by  successive  com- 
plaints keep  me  under  prosecution  they  have  their  ends."  And  again: 
"  When  I  consider  the  cloud  I  am  under,  and  the  bitterness  with  which 
I  am  pursued  even  to  gall,  and  that  all  my  actions  are  ransacked,  'tis 
truly  a  wonder  that  in  so  many  years  administration  I  should  not 
have  fallen  into  more  absurdities  and  errors."  And  on  August  5, 
1698,  at  London,  he  wrote  Mr.  Blathwayt  about  being  prosecuted  by 
the  Earl  of  Bellomont,  and  observing  "  the  great  credit  his  Lordship 
has  with  persons  in  the  chiefe  Stations  and  trust  here.  ...  I  am  con- 
founded at  the  design  and  meaning  of  it;  especially,  looking  back  at 
the  five  and  thirty  yeares  that  I  have  borne  Commission  under  the 
Crown  of  England,  without  the  least  reproach  or  impeachment  of  my 
reputation,  and  after  nine  years  service  in  the  war  of  Ireland  and 
America,  to  become  a  castaway  in  the  rear  of  my  days  is  no  small  mor- 
tification to  me." 

The  king,  however,  seems  to  have  interposed  in  favor  of  a  faithful 
servant;  at  least  we  discover  no  evidence  of  further  proceedings 
against  him.  From  certain  expressions  in  a  letter  of  Bellomont's  it 
appears  that  the  Bishop  of  London  espoused  his  cause.  Of  Benjamin 
Fletcher's  subsequent  career  nothing  is  known,  nor  is  there  any 
record  of  either  the  time  or  place  of  his  death. 


ANCIENT    ENGLISH    DOCUMENT  521 

[Among  the  Archives  of  the  English  Government  is  an  ancient  document  dated 
1698,  descriptive  of  our  city,  from  which  the  following  quaint  and  curious  extract  is 
taken.  EDITOR.] 

*'  The  citty  of  New  Yorke  was  first  founded  by  the  people  of  the  Nether  Dutch 
nation,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1619,  and  had  then  granted  to  them  by  the  Staets 
Generall  of  ye  United  Provinces  and  the  West  India  Company,  sundry  rights  and  privi- 
ledges.  Since  the  first  settlement  of  the  said  citty,  it  hath  been  allways  the  metropolis, 
staple-porte,  and  the  only  publick  mercate  [market]  of  the  whole  Province ;  and  hath 
allways  without  interruption  enjoyed  all  the  aforesaid  priviledges,  according  to  its 
growth  and  improvement ;  and  so  by  that  means  hath  been  allways  termed  an  ancient 
citty,  and  that  justly,  there  being  nothing  more  ancient  in  this  Province  then  the  time 
when  itt  was  first  settled,  and  att  that  time  itt  was  incorporate  by  the  name  of  the  Citty 
of  New  Amsterdam,  and  governed  in  its  trade  by  its  own  laws  j  and  albeit  itt  is  not 
one  thousand  years  old,  yett  itt  is  older  than  any  other  citty  corporation  within  this 
Province,  all  or  most  of  the  settlements  of  the  same  proceeded  from  itt,  and  fell  upon 
the  improvement  of  tillage,  whereby  graine  became  the  staple  community  [commod- 
ity] of  the  Province  ;  and  the  cittizens  of  the  said  citty  no  sooner  perceived  that  there 
were  greater  quantities  of  wheat  raised  then  could  be  consumed  within  the  said  Prov- 
ince, but  they  contrived  and  invented  the  art  of  bolting,  by  which  they  converted  the 
wheat  into  flower,  and  made  itt  a  manufacture  not  only  profitable  to  all  the  inhabitants 
of  the  Province  by  the  incouragement  of  tillage  and  navigation,  but  likewise  bene- 
ficial and  commodious  [accommodating]  to  all  the  plantations,  and  the  improvement 
thereof  in  this  citty  is  the  true  and  only  cause  of  the  growth,  strength  and  encrease  of 
buildings  within  the  same,  and  of  the  riches,  plenty  of  money,  and  the  rise  of  the  value 
of  lands  in  the  other  parts  of  the  Province,  and  the  livelyhood  of  all  the  inhabitants  of 
this  citty  did  chiefly  depend  thereon. 

"  Now  the  reason  why  this  citty  was  so  incorporated  and  had  granted  to  them  the 
aforesaid  rights  and  priviledges,  is  because  the  first  founders  of  the  same  were  not  suf- 
fered by  the  then  government  to  extend  themselves  into  particular  settlements,  until  first 
there  should  be  gathered  together  a  sufficient  number  of  people  at  this  place  that  might, 
be  of  a  reasonable  force  for  their  common  security  and  defence;  whereupon  they 
began  to  fortify,  and  finding  this  place  of  their  situation  to  be  very  barren,  and  unfit 
by  their  industry  to  make  them  any  return  for  their  subsistence,  it  was  therefore  pro- 
jected that  all  such  as  would  fix  themselves  at  this  place,  should  only  adict  themselves 
to  trade  for  the  accommodation  of  those  that  should  go  settle  in  the  country,  that  they 
might  be  plentifully  supplied  with  such  things  as  was  necessary  for  cultivation,  and 
likewise  that  they  might  finde  at  this  place  a  mercate  to  vend  what  they  raised  from 
their  industry,  and  that  the  trade  thereof  might  be  more  regularly  managed  the  said 
inhabitants  had  power  given  them  to  make  laws,  rules,  and  orders  for  the  government 
of  the  same  trade  and  the  good  and  weale  of  the  Burgers  and  inhabitants  of  the  said 
citty,  by  which  reglement  aud  good  order  this  city  did  encrease  in  people,  strength, 
and  riches,  to  such  a  degree  that  it  became  the  envy  of  the  crown  of  England. 

"  While  this  province  was  under  the  Dutch  Government,  they  were  so  jealous  of  the 
trade  of  this  citty  that  they  would  not  permit  any  settlement  to  be  made  in  any  place 
within  their  jurisdiction,  but  under  such  restrictions  as  they  thought  convenient  for 
the  security  of  their  trade,  and  particularly  did  restraine  the  inhabitants  of  Hudsons 
River  and  Long  Island  that  they  should  not  plant  nor  manadge  any  parte  of  husbandry 
without  paying  one-tenth  parte  of  what  they  raised  unto  the  government,  and  besides 
did  oblige  the  planters  that  they  should  not  apply  themselves  to  any  trade  but  only  to 
husbandry,  and  that  the  inhabitants  of  Albany  should  only  apply  themselves  unto  the 
Indian  trade,  and  all  their  grants  or  patents  had  that  reservation  or  tenure  in  them." 


^^5^  t  %  3^  •* 

OrjO       %      I    J*^    .H; 

2  I  a?  !••  i  ct 
^  SfsJ  "-15 
I  5  'I  <£ 


-.  . 


FAC-SIMILE   OP  A    PATENT    OF    NEW-YORK    CITY    PROPERTY,  GRANTED    BY    GOVERNOR    FLETCHER    TO 

SAMUEL    BAYARD,    SON     OF    PETER    BAYARD,    AND   ELDEST  NEPHEW    AND    GODSON    OF 

STUYVESANT.      FROM    THE    ORIGINAL    IN    THE    POSSESSION    OF    THE    EDITOR. 

522 


CONSTITUTIONAL    AND    LEGAL    HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK    IN    THE 
SEVENTEENTH   CENTURY 

EW  States  present  in  a  period  as  brief  so  many  political 
changes  as  our  own.  Settled  secondarily  by  one  body  of 
the  Teutonic  stock,  it  was  soon  transferred  as  a  result  of 
warfare  to  another  people  of  like  origin,  but  possessed 
of  widely  different  institutions.  In  course  of  time  the  stronger  peo- 
ple abrogated  the  political  and  legal  institutions  of  those  they  had 
conquered;  but  this  result  was  accomplished  consistently  with  the 
forms  of  law.  The  constitution  and  laws  which  grew  up  among  a 
people  thus  blended  by  conquest  have,  in  turn,  been  subjected  to 
many  modifications,  attributable 
to  dynastic  influences,  to  political 
revolutions,  to  legislation,  or  to 
the  subtler  and  less  majestic  forces  referable  to  a  voluntary  and  ex- 
tended immigration  into  this  territory  of  persons  of  widely  different 
origin.  *  Of  such  extensive  causes  any  outline  can  be  only  suggestive. 
A  portion  of  the  territory  now  embraced  in  this  great  and  splendid 
modern  State  was  occupied  under  feeble  Dutch  auspices  about  the 
year  1614,  a  ship  bearing  the  Dutch  flag  having  discovered  the  Hud- 
son River  in  1609.  Prior  to  the  incorporation  of  the  Dutch  West 
India  Company  in  1621,  under  the  Stadholderate  of  Prince  Maurice 
of  Orange-Nassau,  who  was  actively  interested  in  its  establishment, 
the  settlements  in  New  Netherland  consisted  of  one  or  two  fortified 
trading  stations,  the  commandants  of  which  exercised  the  necessary 
civil  jurisdiction  under  trading  licenses  or  charters.  In  1626  the 
Dutch  first  established  a  rudimentary  but  adequate  form  of  govern- 
ment for  New  Netherland,  the  nature  and  extent  of  which  com- 
prehend the  first  phase  of  our  subject;  for  by  assumptions  of  our 
jurisprudents  the  rights  and  title  of  the  aboriginal  inhabitants  of  this 
territory  are  substantially  ignored,  or  do  not  figure  in  the  juris- 
prudence of  the  modern  State — the  aborigines  being  said  by  jurists  to 
have  had  no  government  recognizable  by  the  law  of  nations  and  no 
institutions  compatible  with  our  standard  of  civilization.  Curiously 


524  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

enough,  what  rights  the  aborigines  enjoyed  after  the  European  ingress 
seem  to  have  been  relegated  to  the  domain  of  ethics  rather  than  to 
that  of  law,  although  the  Europeans  often  went  through  the  form  of 
extinguishing  the  Indian's  title  to  the  lands  wanted  for  European 
occupation. 

The  constitution  and  laws  first  enjoyed  by  the  early  Dutch  inhab- 
itants of  New  Netherland  were  consistent  with  the  colonial  status. 
They  depended  largely  on  the  terms  of  the  charter  granted  by  the 
States-General  of  Holland  to  the  Dutch  West  India  Company  in  1621. 
In  any  survey  of  the  jurisprudence  and  institutions  of  a  European 
colony  the  controlling  factor  is  the  seat  of  the  sovereign  power.  A 
colony  is  not  a  state;  its  government  and  institutions  may  be  to  some 
extent  autonomous,  but  they  are  essentially  ab  extra,  not  ab  intra. 
Therefore  the  politics  of  all  colonies  irresistibly  tend  to  autonomy  or 
to  secession  from  the  mother  country.  To  comprehend  this  fact,  as 
English  statesmen  now  do,  is  to  understand  the  dynamics  of  colonial 
politics  and  colonial  institutions. 

The  Nether  Dutch  of  England  and  Holland  were  from  the  first,  and 
still  are,  the  really  strong  colonial  powers  of  Europe.  Historically, 
New- York  affords  one  example  of  their  rivalry,  Africa  now  another. 
The  wonderful  partition  which  followed  the  Columbian  voyages  to 
American  territory  proceeded  on  principles  which  still  figure  in  our 
jurisprudence,  and  which,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  were  recognized 
by  both  England  and  Holland.  This  principle,  in  common  with  most 
principles  of  international  law,  is  a  refinement  of  the  Roman  law. 
International  ownership  jure  occupatlonis  has  two  elements :  priority  of 
discovery  and  priority  of  possession  must  concur  in  order  to  give  valid 
title  to  res  nulllus  in  the  shape  of  territory.  The  powers  in  question 
both  claimed  title  to  New  Netherland  by  right  of  prior  occupancy  and 
discovery.  The  Dutch  claimed  the  entire  territory  between  the  Dela- 
ware and  the  Connecticut  rivers,  or  between  Virginia  and  New  France 
(40°  and  45°  N.  latitude).  They  actually  settled  small  scattered  tracts, 
notably  those  on  the  shores  of  the  Hudson  River  and  its  confluents. 
As  Sir  Travers  Twiss  has  well  pointed  out  in  his  work  on  "Inter- 
national Law,"  the  investitive  facts  relating  to  title  to  new  countries 
jure  primce  occupationis  are  often  very  complicated,  especially  when 
the  only  actual  occupation  is  at  the  embouchure  of  a  river  penetrating 
far  inland.  New- York  affords  a  good  illustration  of  the  result  of  such 
complexity,  for  her  jurisprudence  is  still  slightly  affected  by  the  an- 
cient contention  as  to  the  paramount  right  of  the  original  European 
claimants  to  her  territory.  Indeed,  to  this  day  lawyers  contend  over 
the  facts  involved  in  the  English  and  Dutch  claims  to  New  Netherland. 
The  reason  of  this  long  dispute  is  very  simple  if  we  have  recourse  to 
the  juridical  results  which  are  supposed  to  flow  from  such  conflicting 


CONSTITUTIONAL    AND    LEGAL    HISTORY    OF    NEW-YOliK 

claims  to  sovereignty.  If  the  Dutch  state  was  rightfully  the  owner 
of  New  Nethorlaud,  by  all  systems  of  recognized  law  tho  English 
title  to  this  province  depended  wholly  on  conquest  or  cession,  and 
consequently  the  laws  of  the  conquered  or  ceded  people  strictittsimi 
juris  remain  in  force,  unless  expressly  abrogated.  As  tho  right  to 
abrogate  the  laws  of  a  conquered  or  ceded  state  or  province  is  often 
modified  l»y  hvaly,  we  peiveive  !li;il  oven  sm-h  ;in  am-im!  dispute  us 
that  indicated  may  have  living  consequences  to  modern  jurisprudence. 
That  the  dominion  of  the  Dutch  over  Now  Netherland  was  de  facto 
for  about  half  a  century  cannot  be  disputed.  That  it  was  not  de  jure 
has  always,  to  some  extent,  been  claimed  by  the  English  govern- 
mental agents  and  by  many  able  lawyers  even  of  our  own  time.  Dis- 
putants on  this  point  derive  much  comfort  from  both  historical  and 
judicial  utterances  touching  the  question,  although,  unfortunately,  too 
few  of  them  are  authoritative.  But  it  is  now  too  late  to  reverse  the 
verdict  of  history,  and,  in  any  event,  a  subsequent  formal  cession  of 
New  Netherland  by  Holland  to  England  and  the  introduction  of  the 
English  common  law  by  express  legislation  make  the  dispute  about 
tho  original  Dutch  title  loss  consequential  than  it  would  otherwise  be. 
Hence  juridical  necessities  may  well  bo  postulated  of  firmer  premises 
than  a  constructive  denial  of  the  original  Dutch  title. 

In  1()21,  when  the  United  Netherlands  were  fully  established  as 
an  independent  sovereign  state,  the  States-General  incorporated  the 
Dutch  West  India  Company  in  order  that  the  remote  trade  to  Amer- 
ica and  tho  West  Indies  might  be  curried  on  by  a  strong  organization, 
and  not  by  irresponsible  private  adventurers.  Until  the  year  1(>(J4 
this  company  exorcised  in  New  Nethorland  the  local  sovereignty,  but 
in  subordination  to  the  States-General,  where  the  ultimate  and  par- 
amount sovereignty  continued.  Their  charter  conferred  extensive 
governmental  powers,  embracing  the  right  to  make  treaties  with  the 
natives  in  the  name  of  tho  States-General,  to  build  forts,  to  colonize 
countries,  and  to  govern  and  administer  justice  in  such  as  were  settled. 
But  all  govornors-in-chief  and  the  instructions  to  be  given  them  were 
to  be  first  approved  by  the  States-General,  who  would  then  issue  for- 
mal commissions.  All  superior  officers  wore  to  take  oaths  of  allegi- 
ance to  the  States-General  and  to  tho  company.  The  governing  body 
of  the  company  consisted  of  an  assembly  or  college  of  nineteen  dele- 
gates, chosen  from  the  various  chambers  and  branches  established  in 
different  parts  of  the  United  Netherlands. 

The  superior  administration  of  tho  local  government  of  New  Neth- 
erland was  vested  in  a  Director-General  and  Council,  who,  under  the 
restrictions  imposed  by  the  charter  and  its  amendments  and  the 
instructions  and  ordinances  of  the  company,  possessed  subordinate 
judicial,  legislative,  and  executive  powers.  Tin-  exercise  of  the  judi- 


526  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

cial  power  was  subject  to  an  appellate  jurisdiction  vested  in  the  Am- 
sterdam Chamber,  or  that  branch  of  the  company  having  particular 
charge  of  New  Netherland.  The  general  supervision  and  government 
of  the  colony  were  lodged  in  the  board  or  assembly  of  nineteen  dele- 
gates, briefly  termed  the  "  Assembly  of  the  XIX." 

In  1628,  in  order  to  fulfil  that  clause  of  their  charter  allowing  them 
to  foster  colonization,  the  Assembly  of  the  XIX,  with  the  assent  of 
the  States-General,  determined  to  subinfeudate  in  New  Netherland 
certain  colonies  or  manors,  the  masters  or  patroons  of  which  were  to 
be  invested  with  seigniorial  or  feudal  government  within  their  colo- 
nies. This  bauble  of  privilege  was  intended  to  stimulate  colonization 
by  the  members  of  the  company,  who,  being  merchants,  were  as  a 
rule  not  landed  proprietors  at  home.  In  furtherance  of  this  motive 
was  passed,  in  1629,  the  "  Charter  of  Freedoms  and  Exemptions."  It 

provided  that  any  member 
of  the  West  India  Com- 
>  pany  (amended  in  1640  to 
include  any  inhabitant  of 
the  Netherlands)  who  should  undertake  to  plant  a  "  Colonie  "  of  fifty 
persons,  upwards  of  fifteen  years  old,  out  of  the  limits  of  Manhattan, 
should  within  his  "  Colonie "  possess  certain  manorial  privileges  and 
exemptions;  whoever  conveyed  five  emigrants  was  to  be  acknowledged 
a  master  or  colonist. 

Under  the  "  Charter  of  Freedoms  and  Exemptions "  a  number  of 
"  Colonies  "  or  patroonships  were  attempted  in  New  Netherland.  Those 
within  the  limits  of  the  present  State  were  five  in  number — the  col- 
onies of  Melyn,  Meyndertsen,  Van  Werckhoven,  Van  der  Donck,  and 
the  partners  Van  Rensselaer,  Godyn,  Bloemaert,  and  other  associates. 
The  "  Colonie  "  of  the  latter  was  the  only  one  which  was  successful  or 
attained  great  dimensions.  Owing  to  its  isolated  and  fertile  situation, 
and  to  the  superior  sagacity  of  its  chief  founder,  Van  Rensselaer,  a 
shrewd  Holland  pearl-merchant,  who  acquired  the  interests  of  his 
associates,  the  Colonie  Rensselaerswyck  became  an  imperium  in  im- 
perio,  which  long  influenced  certain  land  tenures  of  New- York.  The 
"  Charter  of  Freedoms  and  Exemptions "  (sec.  21)  did  not  forbid  the 
occupation  of  land  by  individuals  who  might  preempt  it,  subject,  how- 
ever, to  the  approbation  of  the  Director-General  and  Council  of  New 
Netherland.  The  tenures  of  most  of  the  landed  estates  in  New  Neth- 
erland were  theoretically  of  the  company,  although  the  small  holdings 
were  more  nearly  allodial.  At  one  time  any  private  person  could  take 
possession  of  as  much  land  as  he  was  able  to  improve,  at  another  of  two 
hundred  acres,  and  his  property  in  it  became  absolute,  but  subject  to 
a  payment  after  ten  years  of  tithes  to  the  company,  or  a  couple  of 
capons  for  a  house  and  garden. 


CONSTITUTIONAL    AND    LEGAL    HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK      527 

In  their  "  Colonies "  the  patroons,  as  feudal  seigniors,  exercised 
subordinate  legal  jurisdiction.  In  person,  or  by  deputy,  in  the  Courts 
Baron,  they  pronounced  judgments  for  civil  injuries  and  crimes;  but 
by  law  their  judgments  were  subject  to  the  review  of  the  Director- 
General  and  Council  at  Fort  Amsterdam,  the  executive  residence. 
There  is  some  proof  that  the  patroons  desired  to  uphold  jurisdiction 
over  their  colonies  jure  majestatis  as  successors  to  the  Indian  sov- 
ereignty, acquired  by  purchase.1  The  feudalism  of  the  Dutch  was  an 
extremely  moderate  system,  and  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  it  was 
oppressive  when  transplanted  to  this  country. 

The  organization  of  the  West  India  Company  met  with  some  delay, 
and  it  was  not  until  1623  that  efforts  were  directed  towards  coloniza- 
tion. In  that  year  the  company  sent  out  an  expedition  which  planted 
small  settlements  at  Fort  Orange  (now  Albany),  Manhattan  Island,  and 
Walloons'  Cove.  The  settlers  at  first  were  very  few,  and  we  know  lit- 
tle of  their  affairs  until  1626,  except  that  they  prospered  greatly.  In 
that  year  Peter  Minuit  was  commissioned  Director-General  of  New 
Netherland.  To  assist  him  a  Council  of  five  or  six  were  appointed, 
who,  with  himself,  were  invested  with  all  local,  legislative,  judicial, 
and  executive  powers,  subject  to  the  supervision  and  appellate  juris- 
diction of  the  Amsterdam  Chamber  of  the  company.  The  sentences 
of  the  court  were  enforced  by  an  officer  called  the  Schout-Fiscal,  who 
acted  also  as  public  prosecutor,  combining  the  duties  of  sheriff,  attor- 
ney-general, and  collector  of  the  port. 

The  official  records  of  the  colony  during  the  administration  of  Min- 
uit and  his  successor,  Van  T wilier,  are  utterly  lost,  so  that  little  is 
known  about  their  mode  of  administering  justice ;  but  in  1638  William 
Kieft  arrived  with  a  commission  as  Director-General,  and,  from  the 
time  of  his  arrival,  the  records  are  unbroken.  He  was  intrusted  with 
great  power,  and  used  it  shamefully.  His  instructions  required  that 
he  should  have  a  council.  He  appointed  one  member  to  sit  with  him 
in  the  board,  and  gave  him  one  vote,  reserving  two  for  himself.  The 
Director-General  and  Council  composed  the  only  judicial  tribunal,  and 
exercised  both  civil  and  criminal  jurisdictions.  By  his  instructions  an 
appeal  was  to  be  permitted  from  their  judgments  to  the  home  govern- 
ment ;  but,  by  a  judicious  system  of  fines  and  imprisonment,  Kieft 
put  an  end  to  this  annoying  practice.  As  the  country  grew  other 
settlements  were  made  outside  of  Manhattan  Island,  and  in  several  of 
them  local  courts  were  established  by  the  Director.  They  generally 
had  unlimited  civil  and  criminal  jurisdiction,  but  with  the  right  of 
appeal  in  all  cases  to  the  Director  and  his  Council. 

Kieft  continued  as  Director-General  in  New  Netherland  for  about 
eight  years,  and  in  that  time  nearly  reduced  the  prosperous  colony  to 

1 "  Documents  relating  to  the  Colonial  History  of  New- York,"  1 :84. 


528  HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YORK 

ruin.  Finally,  upon  a  petition  of  the  inhabitants,  showing  the  evils 
arising  from  his  misgovernment,  the  company  issued  orders  for  his 
recall,  and  appointed  Peter  Stuyvesant  to  take  his  place.  Associated 
with  Stuyvesant  were  a  Vice-Director  and  a  Schout-Fiscal,  who,  with 
the  Director-General,  composed  the  Council.  Upon  this  Council  were 
conferred  full  judicial  powers,  but  with  the  qualification  that  when 
the  Schout-Fiscal  should  prosecute  for  the  government,  in  either 
criminal  or  civil  cases,  the  military  commandant  should  take  his  place 
upon  the  bench,  and  that  in  criminal  prosecutions  there  should  be 
added  to  the  court  two  capable  persons  from  the  commonalty  of  the 
district  in  which  the  crime  was  committed. 

The  administration  of  Stuyvesant,  which  was  the  last  under  the 
Dutch  rule,  continued  for  seventeen  years.  During  almost  the  whole 
of  its  existence  a  struggle  was  carried  on  in  the  colony  between  the 
power  of  the  company,  represented  by  the  Director,  and  the  people,  who 
insisted  upon  their  inherent  right  of  self-government.  Shortly  after 
Stuyvesant's  arrival  he  organized  the  court  of  justice  of  the  colony 
by  the  appointment  of  the  Vice-Director  as  presiding  judge.  This 
tribunal  had  power  to  decide  all  cases,  civil  and  criminal,  but  the 
Director  required  that  his  opinion  should  be  asked  in  important  mat- 
ters, and  reserved  the  right  to  preside  in  person  whenever  he  saw  fit. 
Directly  after  the  organization  of  the  court  a  case  came  before  it 
which  had  a  very  important  effect  upon  the  future  of  the  colony.  Two 
men,  Kuyter  and  Melyn,  who  had  been  prominent  in  obtaining  the 
recall  of  Kieft,  were  prosecuted  by  order  of  the  Director  for  seditious 
libel  in  drawing  the  petition  for  Kief t's  removal,  and  for  disrespectful 
conduct  towards  the  ex-Director.  Their  case  coming  on  for  trial,  Stuy- 
vesant was  in  favor  of  sentencing  one  to  death,  and  of  imposing  a 
heavy  fine  upon  the  other.  Finally,  they  were  both  fined  and  ban- 
ished, doing  to  Holland,  they  appealed  to  the  States-General,  although 
the  Director  had  told  them  that  he  would  have  them  hanged  on  the 
highest  tree  in  New  Netherland  if  he  supposed  that  they  would  be 
guilty  of  such  contempt  of  his  authority. 

The  States-G-eneral,  who  always  seemed  disposed  to  protect  the 
colonists,  reversed  the  sentence,  and  dealt  the  first  blow  at  the  ar- 
bitrary power  of  the  Director.  Meantime  the  revenue  being  scanty 
and  the  people  refusing  to  be  taxed,  Stuyvesant  made  a  concession  to 
the  popular  demands,  and  created  a  board  of  nine  men,  to  be  chosen 
by  him  from  eighteen  persons  elected  by  the  people.  This  board,  in 
addition  to  certain  advisory  powers,  was  to  act  in  a  judicial  capacity 
by  serving  as  arbitrators  or  referees  in  minor  cases.  They  constituted 
the  first  elective  judiciary  in  this  territory.  Soon,  however,  Stuy- 
vesant quarreled  with  them,  as  well  as  with  most  of  the  leading  men 
of  the  province.  The  aggrieved  colonists  appealed  to  the  home  gov- 


CONSTITUTIONAL    AND    LEGAL    HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK      529 

eminent  for  redress,  and  prosecuted  their  petition  with  such  force  and 
vigor  that  finally  the  company  saw  that  they  must  make  some  con- 
cessions or  run  the  risk  of  losing  their  vast  transatlantic  possessions. 
They  accordingly  instructed  Stuyvesant  to  permit  the  establishment 
in  Manhattan  of  a  "  burgher  government,"  after  the  model  of  the  free 
cities  of  Holland. 

The  municipality  of  New  Amsterdam,  as  established  in  1653,  resem- 
bled that  of  its  more  ancient  namesake  in  Holland,  being  vested  in 
burgomasters  and  schepens,  who  with  the  Schout-Fiscal,  composed 
the  court  of  magistrates  as  well  as  the  executive  government  of  the 
city.  The  burgomasters  acted  as  orphan-masters  or  surrogates  until 
1655.  As  New  Amsterdam  was  a  "Colonie"  of  the  West  India  Com- 
pany itself,  and  its  lands  were  owned  primarily  by  the  company,  civic 
rights  were  somewhat  less  than  in  old  Amsterdam. 

In  the  year  1657  the  citizens  of  New  Amsterdam  were,  at  their  own 
request,  allowed  the  Dutch  municipal  and  trading  privileges  of 
burgher-recht,  and  they  were  divided,  according  to  quality,  into  great 
and  small  burghers.  The  latter  class  might  purchase  the  higher 
honor  for  a  trifling  sum.1  After  a  custom  of  the  Fatherland,  the  great 
burghers  enjoyed  the  monopoly  of  certain  municipal  offices,  as  well  as 
exemptions  from  many  onerous  civic  duties.  Combined,  the  burghers 
constituted  the  freedom  of  the  city.  Much  sentiment  has  been  written 
deprecating  the  introduction  of  this  invidious  and  aristocratic  dis- 
tinction. In  sober  point  of  fact,  it  was  a  mere  matter  of  police,  and  of 
no  great  political  or  social  consequence ;  it  was  most  anxiously  sought 
by  the  inhabitants  themselves  in  order  that  they  might  better  protect 
themselves  against  foreign  competition  in  trade.  Burgher-right  con- 
fined the  trading  privileges  to  such  as  were  citizens  of  New  Amsterdam. 

The  citizens  of  New  Amsterdam  were  finally  allowed  to  elect  a 
schout  (or  sheriff),  two  burgomasters,  and  five  schepens.  These 
officers  were  to  form  a  municipal  court  of  justice,  subject  to  the  right 
of  appeal  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  province.  However,  Stuyves- 
ant departed  from  his  instructions,  and,  instead  of  permitting  the 
people  to  elect  their  officers,  appointed  them  himself.  A  few  days 
thereafter,  on  the  5th  of  February,  1653,  the  newly  appointed  burgo- 
masters and  schepens  came  together  and  organized  their  court.  This 
tribunal,  known  as  the  Court  of  Burgomasters  and  Schepens,  con- 
tinued during  the  remainder  of  the  Dutch  rule.  Its  name  under  the 
English  was  changed  to  that  of  the  Mayor's  Court,  and  at  a  later  day 
to  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  of  the  City  and  County  of  New- York, 
which,  as  it  now  exists,  is  the  lineal  descendant  of  the  old  Dutch 
court.  The  Court  of  Burgomasters  and  Schepens  had  at  first  original 
jurisdiction  of  all  civil  cases  which  arose  in  the  city  of  New  Amster- 

l Kent's  "City  Charters,"  p.  243. 
VOL.  L— 34. 


530 


HISTOEY    OF    NEW- YORK 


dam,  and  a  few  years  afterwards  full  criminal  jurisdiction,  except 
in  cases  of  murder.  It  acted  also  as  a  court  of  admiralty  and  as 
a  probate  court.  Courts  were  also  established  among  the  Dutch 
and  English  settlers  on  Long  Island,  on  Staten  Island,  and  in 

Harlem,  Wiltwyck  (now  Kingston), 
and  at  Fort  Orange  (now  Albany). 
Most  of  them  were  organized  upon 
a  simpler  basis  than  that  of  New 
Amsterdam,  not  possessing  bur- 
gomasters, but  only  a  schout  and 
two  or  more  schepens,  or  in  some 
cases  commissioners.  These  officers 
were  at  first  appointed  by  the  Di- 
rector and  Council  for  a  term  of  one 
year,  but  after  some  time  the  out- 
going officials  were  permitted  to 
name  a  double  number  of  candidates, 
from  whom  their  successors  were  se- 
lected. The  administration  of  the 
village  courts  was  to  conform  to  the 
customs  of  the  city  of  Amsterdam 
as  nearly  as  the  circumstances  of  this 
country  would  permit. 
From  all  these  courts  an  appeal  could  be  taken  to  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  province,  held  by  the  Director-den eral  and  his  Council. 
The  decision  of  this  tribunal  was  generally  final,  as  there  was  no  fur- 
ther appeal  allowed  by  law.  However,  in  some  cases  parties  carried 
their  grievances  to  Holland,  and  obtained  a  hearing  before  the  States- 
General,  which  claimed  and  exercised  an  ultimate  jurisdiction  over 
the  colony. 

The  supreme  law  of  New  Netherland  was  the  will  of  the  company 
as  expressed  in  instructions  and  declared  in  ordinances,  and  in  cases 
not  thus  provided  for  the  civil  law  and  the  statutes,  edicts,  and  customs 
of  the  Fatherland  were  to  prevail.  The  civil  law  formed  the  basis  of 
the  jurisprudence  of  Holland,  but  it  had  been  so  modified  by  the  feudal 
law,  statutes,  and  usages  as  in  time  to  acquire  a  name  of  its  own — the 
"Roomsch-Hollandsche  Recht,"  Roman-Dutch  Law.  The  precise  letter 
of  the  law  of  New  Netherland  is  now  in  some  particulars  conjectural, 
many  of  the  statutes  and  ordinances  affecting  it  being  irretrievably 
lost.  Therefore,  when  the  courts  of  New- York  have  had  occasion  to 
consider  the  subject,  they  have  been  obliged  to  construe  the  law  of 
New  Netherland  either  as  identical  with  the  former  local  laws  of  Hol- 
land, which  are  presented  in  the  familiar  commentaries  of  Van  der 
Linden  and  Van  Leeuwen,  or  else  on  the  ultimate  rule  of  the  Roman- 


CONSTITUTIONAL    AND    LEGAL    HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK      531 

Dutch  Law  —  that,  in  the  absence  of  positive  enactments,  the  civil  law, 
jus  scriptum,  furnished  the  judicial  criterion.  (Van  der  Linden,  50: 
1,  sec.  4.) 

It  is  not  now  certain  that  the  statutes  or  laws  of  New  Netherland 
were,  in  all  instances,  identical  with  the  laws  of  Holland.  Resident 
in  Holland  were  several  legislative  bodies  having  supremacy  over  New 
Netherland.  Chief  of  these  was  the  States-General  of  the  United 
Netherlands,  which  legislated  as  the  lord  paramount  of  the  West 
India  Company,  whose  powers  were  restricted  by  the  terms  of  the 
charter.  The  statutes  of  the  company  relating  to  New  Netherland 
were  mainly  enacted  by  the  Amsterdam  Chamber,  the  branch  which 
had  especial  jurisdiction  over  this  province.  The  acts  of  the  chamber  at 
Amsterdam  are  missing,  the  originals  having  been  sold  for  waste  paper 
at  auction  in  1821  by  order  of  the  government  of  the  Netherlands.1 

In  addition  to  the  legislators  in  Holland,  the  Director-General  and 
Council  of  New  Netherland  were  empowered  to  enact  laws,  which 
were  subject  to  the  revision  and  veto  of  the  Amsterdam  Chamber. 
From  certain  provisos  found  in  the  last  class  of  acts  it  is  probable 
that  they  were  not  to  be  contrary  to  the  laws  of  the  Fatherland.2 

The  charter  of  the  West  India  Company  contains  no  express  limi- 
tations of  their  law-making  powers  over  colonies  planted  by  them 
within  their  territories.  (Charter,  art.  2.)  But  there  is  evidence 
that  the  laws  of  New  Netherland  were  required  to  conform  in  essen- 
tials to  the  law  of  Holland:'  Assuming  that,  in  the  absence  of  a  de- 
finitive ordinance  or  positive  law,  the  law  of  the  Fatherland  obtained  in 
New  Netherland,  let  us  glance  for  a  moment  at  the  law  of  Holland  in 
the  seventeenth  century.  The  establishment  of  the  University  of 
Leyden,  in  1575,  gave  a  great  impulse  to  the  study  of  the  corpus  juris 
civilis  in  Holland,  though  at  what  time  and  by  whom  it  was  first 
introduced  in  the  Netherlands,  is  somewhat  conjectural.  Even  after 
its  introduction  the  local  laws  and  ordinances,  inseparably  blended 
with  the  feudal  system,  furnished  the  paramount  judicial  rule,  and 
it  was  only  in  the  absence  of  positive  law  that  the  jus  scriptum,  or 
Roman  law,  controlled  the  judiciary.  The  extent  to  which  the  ancient 
law  of  Holland  modified  the  Roman  law  was  irregular,  for  in  some 
places  the  latter  was  held  in  high  esteem,  while  in  others  it  was  but 
little  observed.  As  thus  composed,  the  law  of  Holland  came  to  be 
designated  the  Roman-Dutch  law. 

The  heterogeneity  of  the  Roman-Dutch  law,  affixed  to  the  law  of 
New  Netherland,  has  not  always  been  observed  in  New- York ;  at 

1  Iiitrod.  to  Doc.  rel.  Col.  Hist.  N.  Y.,  1:  xxvi;  3 Doc.  rel.  Col.  Hist.  N.  Y.,  1 :  551;  "Laws  and 
Preface  to  "  Laws  of  New  Netherland,"  p.  xvi.  Ordinances  of  New  Netherland,"  pp.  400,  407;  see 

2  "Laws  and  Ordinances  of  New  Netherland,"  also  the  statements  of  the  historians  —  Moulton, 
7:  400,  407;  "Records  of  Burgomasters  and  Sche-  2  :  369;  O'Callaghan,  1 :  90  ;  Brodhead,  1  :  163. 
pens  of  New  Amsterdam,"  p.  6. 


532  HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YOBK 

least,  casual  reference  would  seem  to  indicate  that  it  was  identical 
with  the  civil  law  (36  Barb.,  p.  157),  whei'eas,  in  fact,  it  was  quite  dis- 
tinct (17  Wend.,  p.  590).  Chancellor  Kent,  alluding  to  the  law  of  Hol- 
land, happily  terms  the  civil  law  the  "  common  law  "  of  that  country. 
(2  Johns.  Ch.  p.  324.)  The  expression  is  apposite,  for  the  civil  law 
performed  for  the  law  of  Holland  an  office  similar  to  that  which  the 
English  common  law  performs  here ;  it  supplied 
the  rule  for  casus  omissi.  (Van  der  Linden's  Com., 
p.  58.)  In  a  present  application  of  the  ancient 
law  of  New  Netherland  to  a  given  case  it  is  ne- 
cessary first  to  ascertain  whether  any  positive  law  of  New  Nether- 
land  has  prescribed  a  different  rule  from  the  law  of  the  Fatherland.  If 
not,  the  "  Roomsch-Hollandsche  Recht,"  as  it  formerly  stood  in  Hol- 
land, will  ordinarily  indicate  the  rule  in  such  cases. 

The  Roman-Dutch  laws  concerning  inheritances  ab  intestato  were 
not  alike  in  all  parts  of  Holland.  In  Friesland  and  contiguous  parts 
the  "Aasdom's  Recht,"  or  the  rule  that  the  next  of  blood  inherited 
the  goods,  prevailed ;  while  in  Zeeland  and  adjacent  parts  the  "  Sche- 
pendom's  Recht,"  or  the  rule  that  the  goods  reverted  to  the  source  or 
stock  whence  they  came,  obtained.  In  1580  an  attempt  was  made 
to  conform  these  different  rules,  and  a  new  "Schependom's  Recht "  was 
passed;  but  in  1599,  by  a  placaat,  some  of  the  cities  and  counties  were 
allowed  to  resume  the  "  Aasdom's  Recht "  as  amended  in  the  placaat.1 
The  latter  rule,  as  it  prevailed  in  Amsterdam,  came  to  determine  the 
course  of  inheritances  ab  intestato  in  New  Netherland;2  but  if  a 
case  arose  in  New  Netherland  not  provided  for  by  iheplacaat  of  1599, 
nor  explained  by  the  "Aasdom's  Recht,"  then  the  Roman  law  was 
authoritative  here  as  in  Holland.  The  Roman-Dutch  law  concerning 
succession  by  last  will  was  in  force  in  New  Netherland  with  little  or 
no  modification.  Open  wills  were  made  before  a  notary  and  two  wit- 
nesses 3  or  before  five  witnesses,  or  in  the  presence  of  two  members  of 
a  court  and  the  secretary.  There  were  other  modes  of  executing  wills; 
they  are  described  at  length  in  the  commentaries  of  Van  Leeuwen  and 
Van  der  Linden,  and  may  be  practically  seen  in  the  New  Netherland 
records  and  laws.  The  laws  of  New  Netherland  relative  to  the  public 
record  of  legal  instruments  were  somewhat  in  advance  of  contempo- 
rary English  laws  on  the  same  subject.  By  special  grant  of  the  su- 
preme government  the  proprietors  of  the  Dutch  manors  acquired  venia 
testandi,  or  the  right  to  dispose  of  their  fiefs  by  will.4  In  all  cases  of 

i  It  is  to  be  noted  that  at  this  time  (1599)  Spain,  lations  as  if  their  country  were  already  free  and 

under  the  reign  of  Philip  III.  (his  more  famous  sovereign.  EDITOR. 

father,  Philip  II.,  having  died  the  year  before),          2  Doc.  rel.  Col.   Hist.  N.  Y.,  1:  620;   Holland 

had  not  yet  formally  acknowledged  the  indepen-  Doc.,  16:26. 

dence  of  the  revolted  Netherlands.     Though  this          3  Register  of  Solomon  Lachaire,  notary  public 

was  not  done  till  ten  years  later,  in  1609  (it  was  not  in  New  Netherland,  City  Library,  New- York, 
finally  conceded  till  1648),  the  States-General  acted          *  Doc.  rel.  Col.  Hist.  N.  Y.,  1  :  119. 
in  all  matters  of  internal  policy  and  foreign  re- 


CONSTITUTIONAL    AND    LEGAL    HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK      533 

intestacy  there  was  no  preference  of  males  to  females,  and  no  principle 
of  primogeniture  prevailed  in  New  Netherland. 

At  the  present  time  no  portion  of  the  law  of  New  Netherland  is  more 
often  considered  than  that  relating  to  tenures  and  immovable  prop- 
erty, or  real  estate.  The  Dutch  law  on  this  subject  was  very  liberal 
to  aliens.  There  are  numerous  instances  where  real  property  was 
held  by  the  English  in  New  Netherland;  and  by  at  least  one  act1 
many  English  were  empowered  to  dispose  of  their  property  by  will, 
according  to  pleasure,  although  the  laws  of  New  Netherland  were 
to  regulate  their  inheritances  ab  intestate.  Ground  briefs,  or  trans- 
ports, which  correspond  to  the  English  deeds,  were  the  common  mode 
of  conveying  title  to  immovables.  In  many  instances  lands  were 
practically  allodial,  and  not  holden  of  any  superior;  but  the  manors 
were  feudal  tenures,  and  partook  of  the  character  of  all  feuds.  Trans- 
ports were  passed  and  executed  by  the  cedants  before  the  schepens  of 
the  place  where  the  realty  was  situated,2  and  thus  became  judicial  acts 
of  record.  The  manors  of  New  Netherland  were  of  that  peculiar  class 
of  fiefs  denominated  common  feudal  tenures,  being  held  without  any 
lordly  title  of  nobility  attached  to  them. 

Connected  with  the  Dutch  landed  system  introduced  in  New  Neth- 
erland was  a  very  extensive  set  of  real  rights  termed  servitudes, 
which' we  find  alluded  to  in  the  New  Netherland  records.  Servitudes 
of  this  kind  were  of  two  varieties — urban  and  predial  servitudes. 
The  urban  servitudes,  sometimes  called  house-servitudes,  corresponded 
to  the  easements  of  the  English  law ;  in  common  with  predial  servi- 
tudes (such  as  rights  of  way),  they  were  wholly  derived  from  the 
Roman  law,  which  affected  many  other  affairs  of  every-day  life  in 
New  Netherland.  Such  institutions  as  marriage,  domestic  service,  and 
slavery  were  regulated  by  proper  laws  under  the  Dutch  regime. 

These  details  serve,  at  least,  to  show  that  the  laws  of  New  Nether- 
land, as  they  stood  in  1664,  concerning  police,  property,  inheritances, 
and  status,  must  have  been  adapted  to  a  highly  civilized  society.  The 
later  adjudications  demonstrate  that  the  lapse  of  time  has  not  alto- 
gether obliterated  the  importance  of  these  ancient  laws.  It  was  said 
by  so  distinguished  a  lawyer  as  the  late  Benjamin  F.  Butler,  of  New- 
York,  that  the  history  of  New  Netherland  was  essential  to  a  correct 
understanding  of  the  constitutional  history  of  this  State.  However 
this  may  be,  it  is  undoubtedly  true  that  the  long  and  intelligent  ad- 
ministration of  the  Dutch  has  left  its  imprint  on  the  customs,  laws, 
and  civilization  of  this  State.  Several  writers  have  thought  the  New- 
York  township  system  referable  to  the  institutions  of  New  Netherland, 
and  their  opinions  are  entitled  to  a  careful  consideration. 

l  Laws,  etc.,  of  New  Netherland,  p.  467. 
2  Dutch  Records,  New-York  City  Hall  and  Register's  Office. 


534  HISTORY    OF    NEW- YORK 

In  the  year  1664,  when  the  government  passed  to  the  English,  New 
Netherland  is  said  by  the  Chevalier  Lambrechtsen  to  have  consisted 
of  three  cities  and  thirty  villages.  Its  population  was  then  about  ten 
thousand  souls,  exclusive  of  the  Indians,  who  were  important  auxil- 
iaries for  trade  and  peltries.  The  inhabitants  enjoyed  a  fair  measure 
of  freedom  and  protection.  Highroads  already  existed,  and  there 
were  numerous  owners  of  flourishing  farms,  or  bouweries,  and  other 
real  property,  while  urban  life  was  well  policed  by  proper  laws.  The 
treatment  by  the  Dutch  of  the  many  English  and  other  aliens  who 
already  dwelt  within  the  Dutch  territory  was  rather  in  advance 
of  the  age,  while  the  jurisprudence  established  here  by  the  Dutch, 
being  largely  borrowed  from  the  high  civilization  of  Rome,  was 
certainly  superior  in  refinement  to  the  contemporary  feudal  and 
folk  law  introduced  by  the  English  in  1664.  Theoretically,  the  ad- 
ministration of  justice  conformed  to  a  high  standard,  and  both  Dutch 
and  aliens  were  protected  by  adequate  constitutional  guaranties.1  We 
cannot  for  an  instant  presume  that  the  institutions  which  half  a  cen- 
tury had  reared  were  swept  into  oblivion  by  a  single  stroke  of  the 
English  conquerors  in  1664.  It  would  be  more  rational  to  suppose 
that  the  subsidence  of  the  Dutch  institutions  was  as  gradual  as  the 
facts  demonstrate  it  to  have  been. 

Negro  slavery  was  introduced  by  the  Dutch,  but  it  existed  here  only 
under  its  least  objectionable  conditions.  A  large  measure  of  religious 
liberty  was  tolerated,  although  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church  was  the 
only  one  publicly  sanctioned.  On  several  occasions  delegates  of  the 
commonalty  were  brought  into  consultation  with  the  Director-General 
and  Council,  and  thus,  to  some  extent,  a  principle  of  representative 
government  was  at  least  recognized,  although  it  was  somewhat  at 
variance  with  the  company's  standard  of  colonial  government,  and  sa- 
vored too  much  of  the  English  idea  and  encroachment  to  be  palatable. 

It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  at  home  the  Dutch  were  a  self-govern- 
ing people  and  accustomed  to  that  most  important  principle  of  free 
government  —  self-assessment  in  taxation.  In  common  with  all  com- 
mercial peoples,  they  possessed  a  sturdy  independence  of  mind  and 
demeanor.  There  is  no  proof  that  these  excellent  qualities  were  dimin- 
ished by  transplantation  to  the  still  freer  air  of  the  new  country.  New 
Netherland  was  not  altogether  fortunate  in  its  type  of  government, 
experience  demonstrating  that  the  selfish  spirit  of  a  mercantile  monop- 
oly is  not  the  fit  repository  of  governmental  powers.  Yet,  on  the  whole, 
it  must  be  conceded  that  the  company's  government  introduced  here 
much  that  was  good  and  accomplished  little  that  was  pernicious.  In 
1664  it  certainly  surrendered  to  the  English  one  of  the  finest  and  most 
flourishing  colonies  of  America,  possessing  a  hardy,  vigorous,  and 

l  Doc.  rel.  Col.  Hist.  N.  Y.,  1  :  123. 


CONSTITUTIONAL    AND    LEGAL    HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK      535 

thrifty  people,  well  adapted  to  all  the  principles  of  civil  and  religious 
freedom.  History  shows  that  this  people  speedily  coalesced  with  all 
that  was  good  in  the  system  introduced  by  the  English,  and  sturdily 
opposed  all  that  was  undesirable.  This  could  not  have  been  the  case 
had  their  prior  political  situation  inured  them  to  a  loss  of  personal 
liberty  or  to  a  diminution  of  personal  status.  It  is  highly  probable 
th.it  the  theoretic  defects  of  the  Dutch  frame  of  government  were  of 
small  moment  in  so  sparsely  settled  a  community.  The  pressure  of 
the  worst  forms  of  government  is  not  great  in  a  new  or  wild  country, 
where  the  machinery  is  rarely  visible.  But,  as  the  laws  and  institutions 
originally  imposed  by  the  Dutch  settlers  had  important  ulterior  con- 
sequences to  the  form  of  government 
and  jurisprudence  of  a  large  and  opu- 
lent population,  they  possess  a  poten- 
tial importance  in  excess  of  their  real 
value.  Long  after  the  surrender  of 
the  province  to  the  English,  Dutch 
emigrants  continued  to  come  to  the 

.  ,,  -IT-  CROWN.    CHARLES    II. 

province,  thus  helping  to  perpetuate 

the  language  and  many  institutions  of  the  original  settlers,  notably 
the  Dutch  Church  in  communion  with  the  Classis  of  Amsterdam, 
which  was  protected  by  the  Articles  of  Surrender  granted  by  the 
English  in  1664. 

On  the  12th  of  March,  1664,  Charles  II.  of  England  granted  to  his 
brother,  the  Duke  of  York  and  Albany,  much  American  territory, 
including  that  then  occupied  by  the  Dutch  of  New  Netherland.  This 
patent  was  pretended  to  be  granted  pursuant  to  the  English  title,  again 
asserted  to  be  paramount  by  virtue  of  prior  discovery.  As  such  an 
assertion  was  inconsistent  with  repeated  recognitions  by  the  English 
Foreign  Office  of  the  Dutch  title  to  the  part  of  New  Netherland  lying 
on  the  Hudson  River  and  its  tributaries,  in  itself  the  patent  cannot  be 
regarded  as  evidence  of  an  English  title.  The  assertion  also  contra- 
dicted Queen  Elizabeth's  doctrine,  that  discovery  must  be  followed  by 
actual  and  continuous  occupation  in  order  to  confer  title  to  territory. 
The  Duke  of  York  followed  his  grant  with  a  preconcerted  and  overt 
act  of  war.  He  despatched  an  armed  expedition,  which,  on  the  27th  of 
August  (Old  Style),  1664,  captured  the  city  of  New  Amsterdam.  By 
articles  of  capitulation,  regularly  signed  by  commissioners  on  the  part 
of  both  English  and  Dutch,  the  subjects  of  the  States-General  then  resi- 
dent in  New  Netherland  were  to  continue  free  denizens,  and  to  enjoy 
their  private  property  and  dispose  of  it  as  they  pleased;  they  were  to 
enjoy  their  own  customs  concerning  their  inheritances  and  liberty  of 
conscience  in  divine  worship  and  church  discipline.  All  public  writ- 
ings relative  to  inheritances,  church  government,  and  orphans  were 


) 


536  HISTOBY    OF    NEW-  YORK 

to  be  carefully  preserved.  Any  people  might  freely  come  from  the 
Netherlands  and  settle  in  the  captured  country.  The  inferior  magis- 
trates were  to  hold  over  till  the  time  of  a  new  election,  and  then  new  ones 
were  to  be  chosen  by  themselves,  provided  they  took  the  oath  of  alle- 
giance to  his  Majesty  of  England.  All  prior  contracts  were  to  be  de- 
termined by  the  Dutch  law.  The  town  of  Manhattan  was  to  choose 
deputies,  to  have  free  voice  in  public  affairs.  The  articles  provided 
also  that,  in  case  the  king  of  Great  Britain  and  the  states  of  the 
Netherlands  so  agreed,  the  country  should  be  forthwith  redelivered  to 

the  Dutch  authorities.1  The  hostilities 
wnich  ensued  between  England  and  the 
States-General  (for,  as  a  consequence  of 
the  capture,  Pensionary  John  De  Witt  declared  war)  were  finally  set- 
tled by  a  uti  possidetis  clause  of  the  treaty  of  Breda,  signed  July  f-j, 
1667,  by  the  third  article  of  which  the  English  were  to  remain  in  pos- 
session of  New  Netherland  in  exchange  for  Surinam,  which  the  Dutch 
had  captured.  By  the  conquerors  New  Netherland  was  immediately 
renamed  New-  York,  and  the  ancient  Dutch  villages  and  towns  were 
treated  in  like  manner. 

The  legal  status  of  the  province  for  all  juridical  purposes  would  now 
clearly  have  been  that  of  a  conquered  province,  had  it  not  been  that 
the  ancientv  dispute  about  the  original  title  to  the  territory  obtruded 
itself  necessarily  into  any  purely  English  solution  of  the  question  ; 
and  the  English  were  now  dominant.  As  the  rights,  not  only  of  the 
former  Dutch  inhabitants,  the  ante-nati,  but  of  the  English  settlers, 
who  closely  followed  the  English  occupation,  depended  largely  on  the 
way  this  dispute  was  determined,  the  dispute  itself  then  was,  and 
still  is,  regarded  as  of  considerable  importance  in  the  solution  of  legal 
questions.  Until  authoritatively  settled  in  particular  cases,  it  necessa- 
rily involved  no  less  a  question  than  this,  "  What  was  the  original 
common  law  of  New-  York  1  "  Under  doctrines  of  the  English  juris- 
prudence, if  it  was  assumed  that  the  English  title  to  New-York  was  by 
conquest,  then,  as  already  stated,  the  laws  of  the  Dutch  remained  in 
force  until  expressly  abrogated;  but  if  the  English  title  was  by  dis- 
covery and  the  Dutch  were  mere  trespassers  at  all  times  and  their 
government  a  usurpation,  then  the  courts  of  New-  York  would  be 
bound  to  regard  the  English  common  law,  with  certain  undefined 
limitations,  as  the  fundamental  unwritten  law  of  the  country.  But 
there  is  avast  difference  between  even  a  juridical  theory  and  its  work- 
ing application.2 

1  The  student  will  find  these  articles  most  readily  also  important  in  determining  the  future  political 

in  Appendix  No.  1,  Vol.  2,  Van  Ness  and  Wood-  status  of  the  Dutch  ante-nati. 
worth's  "Be  vision  of  Laws  of  New-  York,  in  1813."          2  It  is  proper  to  point  out  at  this  place  that 

The  diplomatic  correspondence  which  followed  is  it  is  extremely  doubtful,  scientifically  speaking, 


CONSTITUTIONAL  AND  LEGAL  HISTORY  OF  NEW- YORK   537 

It  is  certain,  at  least,  that  after  the  overthrow  of  the  Dutch  political 
authority,  the  English  proceeded  gradually  to  introduce  into  New- 
York,  by  express  command,  their  own  laws  and  customs.  Yet  it  re- 
quires a  very  much  more  extended  examination  of  original  sources 
than  has  ever  been  made  to  determine  absolutely  just  how  much  of 
the  English  laws  and  institutions  was  in  force  at  a  particular  epoch  of 
colonial  history.  The  subject  perplexed  the  colonial  courts,  and  it  is 
still  perplexing.  After  a  conquest  there  is  sometimes  a  personal,  as 
contradistinguished  from  a  territorial  law.  The  conquered  and  con- 
querors may  live  together  and  both  preserve  their  separate  manners 
and  laws  for  a  time.1  Such  was  the  case  in  New- York  after  1664. 
The  English  did  not  exterminate  the  Dutch,  nor  did  they  violate 
flagrantly  the  'guaranties  of  the  Articles  of  Surrender.  In  this  con- 
nection we  may  point  out  that  after  the  English  occupation,  the  in- 
habitants of  New- York  were  distinguishable  for  juridical  purposes 
primarily  as  the  bond  and  the  free  —  negro  slavery  already  having 
been  introduced  by  the  Dutch.  Of  the  free  Dutch  inhabitants,  some 
had  lived  in  the  colony  before  1664  (the  ante-nati) ;  and  some  of  them 
had  voluntarily  migrated  to  the  colony  after  1664,  but  under  the  rights 
reserved  in  the  Articles  of  Capitulation.  The  free  English  were  also 
of  two  classes:  those  who  had  taken  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the 
Dutch  authorities,  and  who  might  therefore  claim  the  bemefits  of  the 
Articles  of  Capitulation ;  and  those  whose  allegiance  to  the  English 
crown  was  unaffected  by  any  act  of  their  own.  As  the  new  govern- 
ment respected  the  Articles  of  Capitulation,-  these  distinctions  are 
not  unimportant  to  a  proper  consideration  of  our  subject. 

In  the  formative  stage  of  all  the  early  English  colonial  possessions, 
there  were  certain  rights  of  the  colonists  which  it  was  their  delight 
and  fashion  to  designate  as  their  "constitutional  rights."  By  this 
expression  they  intended  to  assert  that  such  rights  were  protected  by 
the  very  nature,  or  constitution,  of  the  colonial  governments,  and  this 
necessarily  involved  the  abstract  rights  of  Englishmen.  The  colonial 
constitutions  of  the  English  plantations  did  not  spring  into  being 
fully  made ;  they  were  a  growth  which  was  very  largely  influenced  by 
those  who  had  been  trained  in  all  the  learning  of  the  English  law. 

whether  the  figurative  account  given  by  the  early  then  operated  and  still  operates  as  a  very  impor- 
English  law-writers  concerning  the  self-introduc-  tant  working  rule,  or  at  least  presumption,  in  the 
tion  of  English  common  law  into  colonies  dis-  absence  of  proof  that  a  variant  rule  had  obtained 
covered  and  settled  by  the  English,  ever  actually  legislative  sanction  in  a  colony.  Stokes,  in  his 
accorded  with  the  fact.  It  is  more  probable  that  work  on  the  colonies,  long  ago  volunteered  the  state- 
a  minute  examination  would  show  that  English  ment  that  as  matter  of  fact  the  English  common 
law  was  always  put  in  force  in  all  colonies,  how-  law  had  been  established  in  all  the  American  plan- 
ever  acquired,  by  some  flat  lurking  in  commis-  tations  of  England  excepting  Quebec,  and  this  is 
sions,  or  in  instructions  to  colonial  governors,  or  no  doubt  accurate. 

in  many  other  legislative  sources,  such  as  judi-  l  Savigny's  "  History  of  the  Roman  Law  in  the 

cial  decisions,  etc.     But  as  even  common  error  Middle  Ages,"  ch.  iii. 

may  establish  law  ("comrmmis  error  fac it  jus"),  2  Chalmer's  Col.  Op.,  747,  757;  Dawson's  "Sons 

the  principle  enunciated    by  the  commentators  of  Liberty,"  23. 


538  HISTORY    OF    NEW- YORK 

These  persons  directed  the  deliberations  of  the  several  boards  or 
councils  having  successive  charge  of  the  colonial  trade  and  planta- 
tions, and  they  were  the  draftsmen  of  the  various  instruments  of 
colonial  government,  which  consequently  conformed  to  English  pre- 
cedents and  conceptions  of  government. 

In  the  course  of  development,  the  English  colonial  constitutions 
underwent  very  great  modifications,  due  partly  to  the  temper  of  the 
time  and  partly  to  historical  incidents.  For  example,  at  first  the 
king  of  England  was  regarded  as  seized  of  all  unsettled  colonial 
lands  as  demesne  lands  in  partibus  exteris,  as  they  were  called.  Later 
in  colonial  history,  the  king  was  held  to  be  seized  of  all  such  lands 
jure  corona.  This  was  a  distinct  advance.  The  earlier  Stuarts  em- 
braced the  idea  of  modeling  the  government  of  the  American  colonies 
after  that  in  force  in  the  remnant  of  the  Duchy  of  Normandy  then 
under  their  jurisdiction — the  islands  of  Jersey  and  Guernsey.  Ac- 
cording to  such  Norman  precedents,  the  American  colonies  were  en- 
titled to  their  own  legislatures  and  to  be  independent  of  the  British 
Parliament;  the  English  king  being  simply  the  common  head  of  the 
various  peoples.  .This  framework  of  colonial  government — very  de- 
sirable to  the  crown  and  the  colonies  in  its  deductions,  for  it  made 
them  independent  of  the  English  Parliament— was  singularly  enough 
impaired  by  the  republican  movement  in  England.  It  was  the  Com- 
monwealth which  led  at  last  to  the  English  House  of  Commons  acquir- 
ing an  undisputed  sovereignty  over  colonies  unrepresented  in  their 
body.  Thus  it  happened,  as  Bentham  said,  "  democrats  at  home  often 
became  aristocrats  abroad."  But,  fortunately  for  Americans,  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  colonies  was  ultimately  quickened  by  the  intrusion  of 
the  English  Parliament  into  colonial  affairs.  Had  the  various  colonial 
legislatures  been  severally  independent  of  the  English  Parliament  and 
owing  only  an  allegiance  to  a  common  king,  the  world  might  have 
seen  here  a  confederation  of  constitutional  monarchies,  each  inde- 
pendent of  the  mother  country.  Thus  the  constitutional  development 
of  this  entire  country  would  have  been  very  different,  and  indepen- 
dence greatly  retarded. 

The  government  first  established  in  New- York  by  the  English  was 
that  classed  by  English  jurisprudents  as  a  proprietary  government 
which  was  in  the  nature  of  a  feudatory  principality.  Such  govern- 
ment owed  its  authority  entirely  to  the  Duke  of  York's  patent  of  1664, 
which  operated  to  divest  the  crown  of  all  except  paramount  rights. 
The  duke,  as  lord  proprietor,  held  the  province  as  a  fief  of  the  crown. 
He  could  establish  new  laws,  agreeable,  not  contrary,  to  the  funda- 
mental laws  of  England ;  he  might  establish  courts,  but  the  hearing 
of  final  appeals  was  reserved  to  the  crown.  The  lord  proprietor 
exercised  the  subordinate  prerogatives  primarily  vested  in  the  crown, 


CONSTITUTIONAL    AND    LEGAL    HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK      539 

or  those  jura  regalia  usually  accorded  to  a  county  palatine,  after  which 
the  proprietary  governments  were  to  some  extent  modeled.  The 
actual  business  of  government  of  such  an  establishment  was  usually 
delegated  to  a  local  Deputy  Governor,  commissioned  by  the  proprietor, 
who,  with  a  Council,  selected  either  by  the  Governor  or  named  by  the 
lord  proprietor,  possessed  in  the  absence  of  a  legislature  the  power 
of  initiating  legislation,  which  might  or  might  not  (according  to  the 
terms  of  the  powers  granted)  be  valid  until  confirmed  or  otherwise. 

The  patent  with  the  commission  from  the  lord  proprietor  to  his 
first  Deputy  Governor,  Colonel  Richard  Nicolls,  and  the  latter's  in- 
structions, which  were  of  a  quasi-private  character  but  nevertheless  an 
amplification  of  the  commission,  formed  the  first  so-called  political 
constitution  of  the  province  of  New- York  under  the  English.  The 
Deputy  Governor's  commission  was  sealed,  and  was  virtually  in  form 
at  first  a  mere  letter  or  power  of  attorney.  Colonel  Nicolls'  commis- 
sion from  the  Duke  of  York  referred  specifically  to  the  duke's  patent 
as  a  final  limitation  of  the  political  authority  delegated.  In  course  of 
time  the  construction  given  to  these  instruments  of  delegated  author- 
ity by  the  court  of  final  resort  in  England1  became  part  of  the  con- 
stitution of  the  province.  All  colonial  governors  were  liable  to  be 
called  to  account  at  the  king's  bar  for  misdeeds,  even  prior  to  the 
British  acts  of  Parliament  11  William  III.,  c.  12;  13  Geo.  III.,  c.  63, 
sec.  39;  and  42  Geo.  III.,  c.  85. 

The  proprietary  government  of  the  Duke  of  York  embraces  about 
twenty  years,  which  may  be  divided  into  two  periods,  the  first  between 
1664  and  1674  (the  date  of  the  reconquest  and  retrocession  by  the 
Dutch),  and  the  second  between  1674  and  1685,  when  the  duke's  estate 
merged  in  his  crown,  and  the  province  became  what  was  called  by 
jurisprudents  a  royal  or  crown  province.  The  ducal  laws  enacted 
under  the  proprietary  government  have  not  been  published,  although 
they  were  collected  by  Dr.  George  H.  Moore  many  years  ago,  and  the 
valuable  and  unique  collection  is  now  in  the  library  of  the  Historical 
Society  at  Philadelphia — a  veritable  mine  for  historians  and  students 
of  institutions.  Their  publication  would  tend  mucl,i  to  clear  up  doubts 
and  difficulties  that  have  since  arisen  concerning  the  exact  form  of 
what  is  undoubtedly  the  basis  of  the  English  law  of  New- York. 

The  first  important  act  of  the  new  government  was  the  erection  of 
courts  of  justice.  For  this  purpose  Staten  Island  and  the  English 
settlements  on  Long  Island  and  in  Westchester  County  were  divided 
into  three  ridings,  called  Yorkshire.  The  justices  of  the  peace  were 
to  hold  a  court  of  sessions  in  each  riding  three  times  in  the  year.  Once 
in  each  year  the  justices  of  the  peace  were  permitted  to  sit  at  New 

l  Appeals  at  first  lay  to  the  king  by  special  reservation  in  the  patent  of  1664,  but  afterwards  to  the 

king  in  council. 


540  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

York,  with  the  Governor  and  his  Council,  in  the  Court  of  Assizes.  In 
capital  cases,  unless  the  Court  of  Assizes  was  to  sit  within  two  months 
after  information,  the  Governor  and  Council  were  to  issue  a  commis- 
sion of  Over  and  Terminer  for  the  more  speedy  trial  of  offenders.  This 
Court  of  Assizes  possessed  general  jurisdiction  at  law  and  in  equity 
where  the  matter  involved  upwards  of  twenty  pounds.  It  was  also  an 
appellate  court  for  the  entire  province.  As  its  sessions  were  attended 
generally  by  the  inferior  magistrates,  it  was  the  occasion  of  register- 
ing the  laws  and  edicts  of  the  Governor  and  Council,  and,  no  doubt, 
new  measures  were  either  suggested  or  considered  at  its  sessions. 
The  nature  of  its  legislative  powers  has  been  the  subject  of  much  dis- 
cussion by  historians  and  antiquaries. 

The  most  important  duty  of  the  first  Deputy  Governor  of  New- York 
was  the  preparation  of  English  laws  for  the  province.  Proceeding 
under  the  authority  conferred  by  the  patent  and  commission,  he  had 
prepared  a  code  of  laws,  modeled  on  the  laws  of  the  other  colonies, 
which  was  promulgated  at  a  convention  of  deputies  from  the  various 
towns  of  Long  Island,  held  at  Hempstead  the  28th  of  February,  1665. 
The  laws  thus  prepared  are  generally  known  as  "  Mcolls'  Code "  or 
more  commonly,  as  the  "Duke's  Laws."  For  a  time  they  were  not  en- 
forced in  the  Dutch  parts  of  the  province,  where  the  introduction  of 
English  law  was  very  gradual.  As  the  code  called  the  "Nicolls"  or 
"Duke's  Laws"  has  been  published  in  both  New- York  and  Pennsyl- 
vania, it  is  unnecessary  here  to  treat  of  more  than  its  general  effect. 
It  served  to  establish  the  leading  features  of  the  English  law  of  prop- 
erty and  personal  rights,  no  doubt  roughly,  but  in  a  manner  adapted 
to  the  simple  social  conditions  then  prevailing.  It  regulated  the  tenure 
and  conveyance  of  real  property,  wills  and  testaments,  actions  of  debt, 
slander,  and  case,  trial  by  jury,  the  relations  of  master  and  servant, 
husband  and  wife,  parent  and  child,  besides  many  other  topics.  It 
will  be  sufficient  to  point  out  that  between  1664  and  1674  the  civil  and 
criminal  jurisprudence  of  the  province  was  determined  by  the  Nicolls 
Code  as  promulgated  in  1665 ;  the  alterations,  additions,  and  amend- 
ments of  1665  and  1666;  the  Duke's  Laws  as  established  in  1667-68; 
the  orders  of  the  General  Court  of  Assizes,  and  of  the  Governor  and 
Council,  from  1667  to  1674 ;  and  also  the  remnant  of  the  former  Dutch 
laws,  saved  expressly  by  the  Articles  of  Capitulation. 

In  1665  Governor  Nicolls  changed  the  form  of  the  government  of 
the  city  of  New- York  so  as  to  conform  to  the  customs  of  England. 
The  burgomaster,  schout,  and  schepens  gave  place  to  a  mayor,  alder- 
man, and  sheriff,  appointed  by  Nicolls.  In  this  same  year,  at  a  Court 
of  Assizes,  all  wills  and  land  patents  were  required  to  be  recorded  or 
deposited  in  the  Eecord  Office  at  the  city  of  New-York.  The  court 
proceedings  in  New-York,  formerly  in  the  Dutch  tongue,  began  now 


CONSTITUTIONAL    AND    LEGAL    HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK      541 

to  be  kept  partly  or  exclusively  in  the  English  language,  while  the 
jury  system  was  making  its  way.  Prior  to  1674  there  was  much  dis- 
satisfaction among  both  Dutch  and  English  because  there  was  no  rep- 
resentative assembly  in  the  province  such  as  existed  in  the  other 
plantations,  yet  this  institution  was  postponed  for  nearly  a  decade. 

On  August  9,  1673,  the  province  was  reconquered  by  the  Dutch, 
who  restored  their  own  laws  and  institutions.  But  the  interregnum 
was  of  short  duration,  for,  by  the  treaty  of  Westminster,  the  United 
Provinces  finally  ceded  New  Netherland  to  the  former  lord  and  pro- 
prietor, and  in  November,  1674,  the  English  resumed  formal  possession 
of  the  province.  The  cession  of  New- York  to  the  English,  under  the 
treaty  of  Westminster,  occasioned  doubts  as  to  the  nature  of  the  duke's 
title  to  New- York,  it  being  asserted  that  the  jus  postliminii  did  not 
obtain  here.  The  crown  lawyers  advised  that  the  king  alone  was  now 
seized  of  New- York,  by  virtue  of  the  treaty  of  Westminster.  For  this, 
and  other  reasons  of  the  duke's  own,  a  second  patent  for  the  province, 
in  precisely  the  same  terms  as  that  of  1664,  was  again  granted  to  him 
by  Charles  II. 

The  first  Deputy  Governor  under  this  second  patent,  Major  Edmund 
Andros,  who  was  an  accomplished  soldier  of  fortune,  devoted  to  the 
house  of  Stuart,  issued  a  proclamation  saving  to  the  inhabitants  "  all 
grants,  privileges,  and  concessions  theretofore  granted,  and  all  estates, 
legally  possessed,  by  any  under  his  Royal  Highness  before  the  late 
Dutch  Government."  This  proclamation  was  in  strict  accord  with  a 
principle  of  the  law  of  nations,  including  England,  that  when  a  [con- 
quered province  was  recaptured,  the  rights  of  the  inhabitants,  under 
charters  previously  granted  by  the  conqueror,  revive  and  are  restored 
jure  postliminii,  the  intermediate  conquest  operating  merely  as  an 
abeyance  or  suspension  of  rights.  Long  subsequent  to  1674  the  Ca- 
pitulation Articles  of  1664  were  recognized  as  having  to  some  extent 
survived,1  although,  subsequent  to  the  treaty  of  Westminster,  Gover- 
nor Andros  had  refused  to  expressly  recognize  them,  and  thereafter 
they  never  were  officially  recognized  by  the  duke's  government,  except 
very  indirectly.  The  constitutional  rights  of  the  inhabitants  of  New- 
York,  Dutch  and  English,  after  the  year  1674,  were  again,  as  at  first 
under  the  English  rule,  mainly  determined  by  the  crown  patent  and 
the  Deputy  Governor's  commission  and  instructions,  the  authority  of 
the  Capitulation  Articles  being  either  annulled  or  diminished  by  the 
nature  of  the  treaty  of  Westminster,  which  contained  no  express 
reservation  in  favor  of  the  articles  of  1664. 

The  state  of  the  jurisprudence  of  the  province  from  this  period  tends 
to  become  more  clear.  The  instructions  from  the  Duke  of  York  to 
Andros  were  to  put  in  force  such  laws,  rules,  and  orders  as  had  been 

i  1  Geo.  I.,  c.  ccxciii.,  A.  D.  1715 ;  Van  Schaack's  "  Laws  of  New- York,"  1  :  97. 


542  HISTORY    OF     NEW-YORK 

established  by  Nicolls  and  his  successor,  Colonel  Lovelace,  in  so  far 
as  they  were  convenient,  and  not  to  vary  from  them  except  upon 
emergent  necessity,  and  with  the  advice  of  the  Council.  In  case  any 
amendment  was  made,  it  was  to  be  valid  for  a  year's  space,  and  if  not 
confirmed  by  the  duke  within  that  time,  it  was  to  be  utterly  void,  and 
as  if  never  permitted.  Obedient  to  these  instructions,  the  Duke's  Laws 
were,  in  1674,  formally  reestablished  throughout  the  province,  while 
the  English  form  of  government  was  restored  to  the  city  of  New- York. 

We  may  next  proceed  to  a  survey  of  the  state  of  the  jurisprudence  of 
New- York  between  1674  and  1683,  when  the  first  regular  legislature 
of  the  province  was  convened.  The  courts  formerly  established  by  the 
English  were  at  once  reestablished  by  Andros.  The  records  of  the  May- 
or's Court  in  New- York  were  directed  to  be  thereafter  kept  in  the  Eng- 
lish language,  except  in  the  case  of  those  too  poor  to  pay  for  translations. 
Admiralty  cases  were  tried  by  virtue  of  special  commissions,  or  else  in 
the  Mayor's  Court  at  New- York,  which  was  invested  with  an  admiralty 
jurisdiction  specially  delegated.  The  Duke  of  York,  as  admiral  of  all 
the  American  plantations,  was  charged  with  admiralty  jurisdiction  in 
this  part  of  the  world,  and  such  jurisdiction  was  thought  to  be  dele- 
gated to  the  Deputy  Governor  of  New- York  by  the  latter's  commission. 
Probate  matters  were  fully  regulated  by  the  Duke's  Laws,  which 
contained  general  directions  for  the  entire  judicial  establishment  of 
the  colony.  The  practice  in  the  courts  of  justice  of  this  period  ap- 
pears to  have  been  simple,  and  devoid  of  the  archaic  niceties  then  in 
vogue  in  England.  Writs  ran  in  the  king's  name,  and  not  in  that  of  the 
proprietor.1  The  penal  laws  were  much  more  enlightened  and  less 
rigorous  than  those  then  prevailing  in  England.  Such  amelioration 
was  undoubtedly  attributable  to  the  earlier  Dutch  institutions,  which 
were  the  more  humane.  Public  officers  were  appointed  for  a  year,  or 
during  the  pleasure  of  the  proprietor. 

The  introduction  of  foreign  law  into  a  colony  three-fourths  of 
whose  inhabitants  were  Dutch,  and  accustomed  to  Dutch  laws,  was 
not  an  easy  task.  The  introduction  of  foreign  law,  as  Bentham  has 
said,  is  always  a  difficult  matter,  but  it  was  rendered  more  easy  at 
that  time  in  New- York  by  the  exceedingly  simple  conditions  of  society. 
Very  little  law  then  sufficed  here  for  the  ordinary  affairs  of  life.  The 
code  called  the  "Duke's  Laws,"  though  often  inartificial,  was  very 
comprehensive,  and  in  some  respects  could  not  have  been  better 
adapted  to  the  exigencies  prevailing.  It  is  well  deserving  of  a  closer 
study  by  students  of  our  institutions  than  it  has  generally  received. 
While  up  to  this  time  there  appears  to  have  been  no  definite  legisla- 
tion introducing  in  express  terms  the  common  law  of  England  as  the 
common  law  of  New- York,  by  a  general  consensus  that  system  seems 

l  Doc.  rel.  Col.  Hist.  N.  Y.,  3  :  219,  239. 


CONSTITUTIONAL    AND    LEGAL    HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK      543 

to  have  been  regarded  as  the  rule  in  all  cases  not  regulated  by  the  posi- 
tive laws  of  the  province.  The  Duke's  Laws  themselves  contain  one  pro- 
vision, not  generally  commented  on,  but  susceptible  of  being  construed 
as  a  legislative  introduction  of  the  common  law  of  England  into  this 
province.  Such  provision,  entitled  "  La^ves,"  is  as  follows :  "  In  re- 
gard it  is  almost  impossible  to  provide  Sufficient  Lawes  in  all  Cases, 
or  proper  Punishments  for  all  Crimes,  the  Court  of  Sessions  shall  not 
take  further  Cognizance  of  any  Case  or  Crimes  whereof  there  is  not 
provision  made  in  some  Lawes,  but  to  remit  the  Case  or  Crime,  with 
the  Due  Examination  and  proof,  to  the  New  Court  of  Assizes,  where 
matters  of  Equity  shall  be  decided,  or  Punishment  awarded  according 
to  the  discretion  of  the  Bench,  and  not  Contrary  to  the  known  Laws 
of  England."  This  important  provision,  in  connection  with  the  duke's 
patent  of  1674,  directing  that  legislation  conform  to  the  laws  of  Eng- 
land, may  be  regarded  then  as  introducing  at  least  the  rationale  of 
English  law,  and  as  a  repeal  of  the  laws  of  New  Netherland.  But  it 
is  to  other  parts  of  the  Duke's  Laws — for  these  were  then  the  sum 
and  substance  of  all  the  positive  law  of  New-York — that  we  must 
look  for  the  introduction  of  many  principles  of  the  positive  law  of 
England.  Governor  Andros,  in  1678,  in  an  official  report  on  the  state 
of  the  province,  says :  "  The  law  booke  in  force  was  made  by  the 
Governor  and  Assembly  att  Hempsted  in  1665,  and  since  confirmed 
by  his  Eoyall  Highnesse." l 

The  English  law  of  real  property  owes  its  introduction  fundamen- 
tally to  the  duke's  patents  from  Charles  II.  for  all  the  land  in  the 
province,  the  habendum  of  which  was  "to  be  holden  of  us,  our  heirs, 
and  successors,  as  of  our  Manor  of  East  Greenwhich  and  our  County  of 
Kent,  in  free  and  common  soccage,  and  not  in  capite  nor  by  knight's 
service  yielding  and  rendering."  By  many  positive  directions  of  the 
new  government  those  who  held  their  lands  under  Dutch  "ground 
briefs,"  or  transports,  were  compelled  to  take  out  new  confirmatory  pat- 
ents, reciting  a  tenure  of  his  royal  highness  the  proprietor.2  The  pre- 
sumption of  law  is  that  all  Dutch  landowners  complied;  thus,  the 
Dutch  estates  were  converted  into  freehold  estates  at  common  law. 
Free  socage  tenures  were  subject  to  a  determinate  rent  and  fealty,  due 
to  the  feudal  lord,  and  reserved  in  the  reddendum  clause  of  a  grant.  The 
quit-rents  became  in  time  a  very  troublesome  incident  in  New- York, 
and  were  ultimately  abolished,  but  not  until  the  present  century. 

The  Duke's  Laws  provided  that  all  lands  and  heritages  should  be 
free  from  fines  and  licenses  upon  alienation,  and  from  all  heriots, 
wardships,  etc.,  and  recognized  the  devisability  of  socage  lands  by  the 
laws  of  England,  and  to  the  same  extent.  The  Duke's  Laws,  therefore, 
virtually  reenacted  the  celebrated  English  statute  12  Ch. II.,  c. 24,  which 

l  Doc.  rel.  Col.  Hist.  N.  Y.,  3  :  260.  2  Amendment  of  1666  to  Duke's  Laws. 


544  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

had  in  England  already  abolished  knight-service;  and  with  such  aboli- 
tion had  disappeared  there  most  of  the  burdens  of  feudal  tenures.  It 
would  seem  that  this  celebrated  statute,  12  Ch.  II.,  was,  independently 
of  the  Duke's  Laws,  in  force  in  the  province  of  New- York,  by  virtue  of 
the  duke's  patent,  which  was,  as  before  stated,  in  free  and  common 
socage  as  of  the  king's  manor  in  Greenwich,  in  the  county  of  Kent. 
Such  a  grant  would  necessarily  carry  with  it  all  the  incidents  of  the 
socage  tenure  as  it  then  existed  in  this  particular  manor  in  England. 

The  tenure  of  free  and  common  socage,  as  it  stood  in  1664  in  the 
king's  manor  mentioned,  was  the  most  liberal  of  all  the  English  ten- 
ures, and  had  all  the  advantages  of  allodial  ownership,  and,  indeed,  it 
is  supposed  to  have  been  the  lineal  successor  of  the  ancient  allodial 
proprietorship.  Escheat  was  the  only  material  incident  of  this  tenure 
beneficial  to  the  lord.  An  owner  in  fee  simple  of  socage  lands  could, 
of  his  own  authority,  create  in  it  any  estates  and  interests  not  con- 
trary to  the  general  rules  of  law.  The  feudal  system  never  prevailed 
in  New- York  after  1664.  The  article  of  the  "  Duke's  Laws  "  relative  to 
conveyances  of  real  property  was  very  simple,  yet  very  comprehensive ; 
it  ordained  simply  that  the  habendum  of  all  deeds  and  conveyances  of 
houses  and  lands  within  this  government,  when  an  estate  of  inheri- 
tance was  to  pass,  should  be  expressed  in  these  words :  "To  have  and 
to  hold  the  said  houses  and  Lands  respectively  to  the  party  or 
grantee,  his  heirs  and  Assigns  forever";  or,  if  an  estate  tail  was  to 
pass,  then  these  words :  "To  have  and  to  hold,  &c.,  to  the  grantee  and 
to  the  heirs  of  his  body  lawfully  begotten  between  him  and  such  an 
one  his  wife."  Thus  were  introduced  into  the  province  the  leading 
provisions  of  the  English  law  of  real  property. 

In  the  main,  the  lands  of  the  province  under  the  Duke  of  York  were 
held  by  farmers  and  the  denizens  of  the  town  in  fee  simple  absolute, 
subject  to  certain  quit-rents  of  small  amount ;  but  the  manors,  which 
afterwards  played  so  important  a  part  in  the  politics  of  New- York, 
began  to  be  thought  of,  and  the  "  Colonie  "  of  the  Van  Eensselaers  was 
converted  into  an  English  manor.  Some  inducement  to  draw  the 
capital  of  the  mercantile  classes  from  the  trade  of  the  towns  to  the 
wild,  unsettled  lands  of  the  interior  was  needed,  and  it  was  found  in 
the  later  manor-grants.  With  the  exception  of  the  Dutch  "  Colonie" 
of  the  Van  Eensselaers,  nearly  all  the  manor-grants  were  at  first  in- 
tended as  mere  land  speculations  of  persons  who  had  been  successful 
in  the  province.  In  no  instance  was  a  New- York  manor  con- 
ferred as  the  reward  of  distinguished  services,  or  of  merit  in  any 
particular.  Manors  were  granted  on  certain  conditions  to  any  one 
who  sought  them  and  paid  the  fees  for  them.  There  was  nothing 
invidious  in  the  erection  of  the  English  manors  in  New- York;  they 
sprang  into  being  as  part  of  the  institutions  of  England  adopted 


CONSTITUTIONAL    AND    LEGAL    HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK      545 

here,  and,  as  in  England,  any  one  who  had  the  means  could  acquire  a 
manor  in  New-York.  As  values  increased  with  the  disappearance  of 
the  forests,  the  position  of  the  manor-proprietors  of  New- York  grad- 
ually became,  by  force  of  circumstances,  a  position  of  dignity  and 
privilege  somewhat  anomalous.  But  the  system  was  from  the  first 
doomed  to  ultimate  destruction,  for  it  was  not  consistent  with  the  inde- 
pendence which  reigned  in  the  primitive  forests  of  a  new  country.  The 
spirit  hostile  to  manors  found  an  expression  from  the  many  farms 
owned  absolutely,  whether  by  Dutch  boers  or  English  yeomen.  Two 
systems  so  opposed  as  peasant  proprietorship  and  landlordism  could 
not  long  coexist  in  a  new  country.  But  not  until  1859,1  when  the  long 
farm-leases  made  by  the  manor-proprietors  had  become  intolerably  ob- 
noxious to  the  tenants  of  the  manors,  was  it  finally  held  by  a  court  of 
New- York  that  the  English  statute  of  quia  emptores,  directed  against 
subinfeudation,  was  always  in  force  in  New-York.  But  the  court  also 
held  that  the  king  was  not  within  the  statute,  and  that,  as  the  law  ex- 
isted in  New- York  under  the  lord  proprietor  and  under  the  kings  of 
England,  the  manor-grants  were  lawful  in  their  origin. 

Immediately  after  Andros'  arrival,  in  1674,  the  popular  desire  for  a 
representative  assembly,  which  had  been  disappointed  in  1665,  began 
to  be  expressed.  But  the  Duke  of  York  could  see  no  use  for  any  other 
assembly  than  that  which  yearly  took  place  at  the  Court  of  Assizes. 
He  pretended  to  think  that  under  any  other  constitution  the  jus- 
tices then  assembled  would  probably  be  the  representatives.  In  so 
rudimentary  a  government  there  was,  no  doubt,  reason  in  the  duke's 
objection  to  a  formal  parliament  for  the  province,  because  of  its 
greater  expense  to  the  people,  already  in  arrears  in  the  payment  of  the 
public  charges.  A  proprietary  government  is,  after  all,  a  species  of 
property,  and  the  profit  of  a  lord  proprietor  is  often  inconsistent  with 
the  exercise  of  the  fullest  forms  of  legislative  privilege.  The  revenue 
of  the  province  could  then  barely  defray  the  charges  which  the  pro- 
prietor incurred  by  its  government.  The  reflections  of  some  of  our 
historians  on  the  character  of  the  duke's  government  of  New- York 
fail  at  times  to  consider  fully  either  the  problems  to  be  solved  or  the 
precedents  then  to  be  observed  in  establishing  representative  institu- 
tions in  a  proprietary  government.  Certainly  the  few  contemporary 
documents  relating  to  the  subject  which  emanate  from  the  duke  him- 
self do  not  seem  to  be  characterized  by  the  unyielding  temper  which 
ultimately  lost  for  him  the  throne  of  England,  and  with  it  the  trans- 
atlantic province  to  which  he  had  affixed  forever  his  own  title. 

After  some  years  of  agitation  and  disaffection  on  the  part  of  the 
inhabitants  of  New- York,  the  Duke  of  York  finally  consented,  in  1682, 
to  their  having  a  representative  assembly.  Doubts  concerning  the 

l  Van  Rensselaer  vs.  Hayes,  19  N.  Y.,  68. 
VOL.  L— 35. 


546  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

extent  of  the  legislative  power  of  the  proprietor  had  already  begun  to 
be  openly  expressed  in  the  matter  of  the  tariff  levied  on  imports,  al- 
though the  newer  doctrine,  that  certain  classes  of  legislation  were  ultra 
vires  a  proprietor  of  such  a  colony,  had  not  yet  been  definitely  for- 
mulated or  decided.  These  doubts  took  various  shapes,  which  soon 
reached  the  proprietor,  and  perhaps  Chastened  the  establishment  of  a 
formal  legislature  here.  The  duke's  allowance  of  an  assembly  neces- 
sarily diminished  the  law-making  power  of  his  Deputy  Governor  and 
Council,  which  was,  to  some  extent,  transferred  to  the  representatives 
of  the  freeholders  of  the  province. 

A  new  Governor,  Colonel  Dongan,  was  commissioned  to  carry  out 
the  reform.  His  instructions  virtually  formed  a  new  constitution, 
granted  by  the  proprietor  to  the  province.  According  to  such  instruc- 
tions all  laws  passed  by  the  Assembly  and  assented  to  by  the  Gov- 
ernor were  to  be  valid  until  rejected  by  the  lord  proprietor,  but  the 
Governor  might  veto  all  acts  and  prorogue  the  Assembly.  No  man's 
life,  liberty,  or  property  was  to  be  taken  away  except  pursuant  to  es- 
tablished laws  not  repugnant  to  the  laws  of  England.  The  Governor 
and  Council  were  authorized  to  erect  courts  of  justice,  but  the  Gov- 
ernor alone  had  the  power  to  pardon  all  offenders,  before  or  after 
conviction,  except  those  charged  with  high  treason  or  murder,  who 
were  pardonable  only  by  the  proprietor.  Encouraged  by  these  liberal 
measures,  the  Mayor  and  Common  Council  of  the  city  of  New- York, 
in  November,  1683,  reciting  their  ancient  charters  and  privileges,  pe- 
titioned Governor  Dongan  for  a  new  municipal  charter,  by  which  the 
freemen  of  the  city  might  be  enabled  to  elect  their  own  aldermen  and 
other  municipal  officers,  except  the  Mayor,  who  was  to  be  selected  by 
the  Governor  and  Council  from  the  Board  of  Aldermen.  The  petition 
was  not,  however,  acted  on  further  than  to  divide  the  city  into  wards. 
The  municipal  government  remained,  until  the  year  1686,  under  the 
amended  charter  of  Governor  Nicolls,  granted  in  1665,  with  the 
modification  indicated. 

The  instructions  to  Colonel  Dongan  mark  a  distinct  advance  in  the 
autonomy  of  the  province.  Under  them  the  first  Assembly  was  con- 
vened, in  the  city  of  New- York,  on  the  17th  of  October,  1683.  During 
a  session  of  three  weeks  it  passed  fifteen  acts,1  the  most  important  of 

i  The  following  were  the  titles  of  the  acts  passed:  "  NOVEMBER  1,  1683. 

"  An  Act  to  divide  this  province  and  Dependen- 
"  OCTOBER  30,  1683.        eyes  into  Shires  and  Countyes. 

' '  The  Charter  of  Liberty  s  and  privileges  granted  ' '  An  Act  for  naturalizing  all  those  of  Foreign  Na- 
by  his  Royall  Highnesse  to  the  inhabitants  of  New  tions  at  present  inhabiteing  with  in  this  province 
Yorke  and  its  dependencyes,  (Vetoed  by  James  II.,  and  professing  Christianity,  and  for  Encourage 
3rd  March,  1685);  and  A  Continued  Bill  for  the  ment  of  others  to  come  and  settle  within  the  same, 
requisite  charges  of  the  Government.  "An  Act  for  repealing  the  former  Lawes  about 

Rates    and   Allowance    to    the    Justices    of    the 
"  OCTOBER  31,  1683.         Peace. 
"  An  Act  for  the  Allowance  to  Representatives.          "  An  Act  to  settle  Courts  of  Justice. 


CONSTITUTIONAL    AND    LEGAL    HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK      547 

which  was  the  first,  called  the  "  Charter  of  Libertys."  This  act  was 
passed  at  a  venture ;  the  Assembly  knew  that  it  would  be  valid  until 
rejected,  and  they  hoped  that  it  might  be  confirmed  by  the  duke.  The 
obvious  purpose  of  this  celebrated  statute  was  to  secure  a  permanent 
legislative  assembly,  and  restrict  within  defined  limits  the  powers  of 
government.  It  was  intended  to  operate  as  a  bill  of  rights  and  priv- 
ileges. It  contained  the  substance  of  the  Constitution  of  England  in 
so  far  as  it  was  defined  by  Magna  Charta  and  the  Petition  of  Right ; 
several  others  of  its  clauses  related  to  estates  and  conveyances  of  lands. 

The  second  act  of  the  Assembly  was  one  to  subdivide  the  province 
into  shires  and  counties,  after  the  English  manner.  This  act  is  at  this 
day  the  most  vivid  reminder  of  the  rule  of  the  Stuarts  left  in  this  State. 
New- York  County  was  named  after  the  last  king  of  their  race;  Orange, 
after  his  Dutch  son-in-law ;  Richmond,  for  the  king's  illegitimate  son 
by  the  Duchess  of  Portsmouth ;  Ulster,  after  the  duke's  Irish  earldom. 
But  more  important  to  this  State  than  these  historic  names,  now 
made  more  famous  by  the  rich  and  populous  counties  which  bear 
them,  is  the  fact  that  under  this  dynasty  the  enduring  principles  of 
the  English  common  law  were  introduced  into  the  old  Dutch  province. 

By  another  act  of  this  session,  entitled  "  An  Act  to  settle  Courts  of 
Justice,"  the  Court  of  Assizes,  which  had  stood  for  a  period  of  nine- 
teen years,  disappeared  to  give  place,  so  far  as  its  jurisdiction  at  law 
was  concerned,  to  the  Court  of  Oyer  and  Terminer,  a  name  afterwards 
retained  to  indicate  the  criminal  circuit  of  the  court  which  in  turn 
followed.  From  Governor  Dongan's  report  to  the  Lords  of  Trade 
(Col.  Doc.,  3:389)  the  reason  of  the  change  in  the  judicial  establish- 
ment appears  to  have  been  the  difficulty  of  bringing  together,  from 
the  remote  parts  of  the  province,  the  justices  of  the  peace,  who,  with  the 
Governor,  composed  the  Court  of  Assizes.  The  latter  court  was  for- 
mally abolished,  by  a  bill  passed  October,  1684,  the  following  session.1 

By  the  act  to  settle  courts  of  justice  a  Court  of  Chancery  for  the 
province  was  also  established.  This  court  received  the  equity  juris- 
diction before  exercised  in  the  Court  of  Assizes.  It  is  a  remarkable 
fact  that  the  Court  of  Assizes,  the  first  English  court  of  the  province, 
should  have  had  the  blended  jurisdiction  in  law  and  equity  now  pos- 

"  An  Act  to  prevent  wilfull  perjury.  "An  Act  of  Settlement 

"  An  Act  for  the  defraying  of  the  publick  and        "  An  Act  for  a  free  and  voluntary  present  to  the 

necessary  charges  of  each  respective  Citty,  Towne,  Governour. 

and  County  throughout  this  province,  and  for  "  NOVEMBER  3,  1683. 

maintaining  the  Poor  and  preventing  vagabonds.  "  An  Act  to  prevent  frauds  in  conveyanceing  of 

"An  Act  for  rewarding  of  those  who  destroy  Lands." 

wolves.  After  a  session  of  nearly  three  weeks,  the  Legis- 

"  An  Act  to  prevent  damages  done  by  Swine.  lature  adjourned,  having  enacted,  among  other 

things  —  "  That,  according  to  the  usage,  custome, 

"  NOVEMBER  2,  1683.  and  Practice  of  the  Realme  of  England,  a  Sessions 

"  An  Act  for  the  due  regulacon  and  proceedings  of  a  General  Assembly  be  held  in  this  Province 

on  Execucon,  returnes  of  Writts,  and  confinneing  once  in  three  years  att  least." 
the  ffees  usually  taken  by  officers,  &c.  l  See  MS.  act,  office  Secretary  of  State,  Albany. 


548  HISTOBY    OF    NEW-YORK 

sessed  by  the  present  Supreme  Court  of  the  State.  But  the  practice 
then  seems  to  have  been  distinctively  either  in  law  or  in  equity,  in  a 
manner  more  analogous  to  the  present  course  in  a  Circuit  Court  of 
the  United  States.  The  jurisdiction  of  the  new  Court  of  Oyer  and 
Terminer  was  denned  in  the  following  section  of  the  act : 

"  Be  itt  further  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid,  That  annually 
and  every  year  there  shall  be  within  this  said  province,  and  in  each 
respective  county  within  the  same,  a  Court  of  Oyer  and  Terminer, 
and  General  Gaol  Delivery,  which  said  court  shall  have  power  and 
jurisdiction  to  try,  hear,  and  determine  all  matters,  causes,  and  cases, 
capitall,  criminall,  or  civill,  and  causes,  tryalls  at  common  law,  in  and 
to  which  the  said  Court  all  and  every  persons  whatsoever  shall  or  may, 
if  they  see  meet,  remove  any  action  or  suit — debts  or  damages  laid  in 
such  actions  and  suits  being  five  pounds  or  upwards  — or  shall  or  may 
by  warrant,  writt  of  error  or  certiorari,  remove  out  of  any  inferior 
court  any  judgment,  information,  or  indictment  there  had  and  depend- 
ing, and  may  correct  errors  in  judgment,  and  reverse  the  same  if  there 
be  just  cause  for  it ;  the  members  of  which  court  shall  be  a  judge, 
assisted  with  four  of  the  justices  of  the  Peace  of  the  county,  who  shall 
be  commissioned  for  that  purpose."  In  the  city  of  New- York  the 
Mayor  and  four  aldermen  sat  with  the  judges  of  the  court,  by  virtue 
of  their  commissions  as  magistrates  of  the  peace.  By  this  same  act 
courts  of  sessions  for  the  counties,  and  town  courts  for  the  trial  of 
small  causes,  were  also  established. 

The  Court  of  Oyer  and  Terminer  was  a  pure  law  court,  and,  unlike 
its  predecessor,  had  no  equity  jurisdiction.  All  issues  of  fact  in  this 
court  were  to  be  tried  by  jury,  pursuant  to  the  following  section  of 
the  act :  "  That  no  person's  right  or  property  shall  be  by  this  court 
determined,  excepting  where  matters  of  fact  are  either  acknowledged 
by  the  parties,  or  judgment  bee  acknowledged  or  passeth  by  the  de- 
fendants fault  for  want  of  plea  or  answer,  unless  the  fact  be  found  by 
the  verdict  of  twelve  men  of  the  neighbourhood  as  it  ought  of  right  to 
be  done  by  the  law."  Any  inhabitant  might  appeal  to  the  king  from 
judgments  of  the  higher  courts,  according  to  a  clause  in  the  Duke  of 
York's  patent.  The  courts  thus  established  by  the  act  of  1683  were 
to  endure  unchanged  until  James  II.  lost  his  throne  and,  with  it,  this 
province.  This  act  affords  a  remarkable  illustration  of  the  continuity 
which  characterizes  our  institutions. 

The  second  session  of  the  first  Assembly  began  in  October,  1684. 
Mr.  Matthias  Nicolls  was  chosen  Speaker,  and  Mr.  Robert  Hammond 
Clerk.  The  Governor  assented  to  thirty-one  acts.1  Vacancies  having 
occurred  in  the  Assembly  before  the  meeting  of  the  legislature  again, 

i  The  titles  of  all  the  acts  of  the  ducal  assemblies  are  given  in  Dr.  O'Callaghan's  historical 
introduction  to  the   "Journals  of  the  New-York  Council." 


CONSTITUTIONAL    AND    LEGAL    HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK      549 

writs  were  issued  for  the  election  of  representatives  for  the  city  of  New- 
York,  Staten  Island,  and  Westchester.  But  news  of  the  death  of  King 
Charles  II.  being  meanwhile  received,  the  question  was  raised  whether 
the  Assembly  was  not  dissolved  in  consequence  of  the  demise  of  the 
crown.  To  prevent  the  inconvenience  which  might  follow  the  dispute, 
it  was  the  opinion  of  the  Council  that  it  was  expedient  to  dissolve  the 
present  Assembly  and  to  issue  writs  for  a  new  one,  to  meet  on  the  first 
Monday  of  October,  1685.  A  proclamation  was  accordingly  issued. 

At  the  first  session  of  the  second  Assembly,  held  November  3, 1685, 
six  acts  received  the  assent  of  the  Governor.  At  the  close  of  this  ses- 
sion the  legislature  adjourned  to  the  25th  of  September,  1686;  but  on 
the  4th  day  of  September,  1686,  it  was  prorogued  by  Governor  Dongan, 
and  ten  days  later  he  dissolved  it  by  proclamation.  Thus  ended 
the  second  Assembly  of  the  province.  The  acts  of  these  several 
assemblies  are  of  great  interest,  because  they  mark  the  beginning  of 
self-government  in  one  of  the  greatest  and  most  important  political 
communities  of  the  world's  history.  To  ignore  them,  as  the  modern 
authorities  have  done,  by  refusing  to  print  them,  is  neither  prudent  nor 
philosophic,  for  even  recently  litigations  of  importance  have  involved 
their  consideration  by  courts  of  justice  under  circumstances  more 
confusing  to  the  judges  than  the  opportunity  has  warranted. 

It  will  be  observed  that  among  the  first  acts  passed  by  the  Assembly 
was  one  for  naturalizing  those  of  foreign  nations  inhabiting  the  prov- 
ince and  professing  Christianity.  Its  avowed  purpose  was  to  encou- 
rage immigration  to  the  great  port  which  has  since  welcomed  the 
oppressed  of  all  lands  with  a  hospitality  never  before  accorded  in  the 
history  of  nations.  To  the  student  of  institutions  such  an  act  can 
never  be  obsolete  and  must  always  be  instructive.  So  generous  a 
measure  was  but  another  consequence  of  the  mixed  nationality  of 
those  who  from  the  first  inhabited  the  best  seaport  of  North  America. 

Although  the  Duke  of  York  had  signed  the  "  Charter  of  Liberty's," 
before  it  left  his  hand  the  death  of  King  Charles  II,  occurred,  and,  as 
next  heir  to  the  throne,  the  duke  and  lord  proprietor  of  New- York  be- 
came King  James  II.  of  England.  The  New- York  "  Charter  of  Libertys" 
declared  that  the  supreme  legislative  authority,  "under  his  Majesty  and 
Royall  Highness,  should  forever  be  and  reside  in  a  governor,  councell, 
and  the  people  mett  in  General  Assembly,"  and  it  provided  that  the 
inhabitants  should  be  governed  by  and  according  to  the  laws  of  Eng- 
land. It  also  limited  the  powers  of  the  governor  of  the  province,  and 
required  the  Assembly  to  meet  once  in  three  years  or  oftener.  After 
the  accession  of  King  James  these  provisions  of  the  charter  were  de- 
clared by  the  crown  lawyers  to  embrace  much  greater  privileges  than 
were  accorded  by  the  constitution  of  the  other  plantations.  The  words 
"  the  people "  were  deemed  a  step  toward  popular  sovereignty,  and 


550  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

repugnant  to  the  established  forms  of  plantation  government.  It  is 
a  striking  fact  that  this  assertion  of  the  right  of  the  people  to  parti- 
cipate in  their  own  government,  which  is  now  the  key  to  our  entire 
political  superstructure,  should  have  been  first  made  in  the  year  1683, 
in  New- York.  It  was  probably  the  first  great  public  assertion  of  the 
right  of  popular  government  in  all  history.  This  is  one  of  the  pleasant 
heritages  of  our  State. 

The  accession  of  King  James  II.  merged  his  estate  in  the  province  in 
that  of  the  crown.  The  franchises,  liberties,  and  jurisdiction  of  a  pro- 
prietary government,  when  they  came  to  be  in  the  hands  of  him  who 
had  the  crown  and  jurisdiction  royal,  devolved  on  the  crown,  and  were 
thenceforth  determined  by  the  law  governing  the  royal  prerogatives. 
As  Duke  of  York,  James  was  no  longer  seized  of  the  province  in  his 
natural  capacity,  but  in  some  manner  the  province  was  annexed  to 
his  English  crown  and  went  with  it.  New-York  now  became  a  crown 
government,  or  one  in  which  the  crown  asserted  that  it  had  the  entire 
control  of  legislation,  while  the  administration  was  by  public  officers 
controlled  by  the  king.  The  "  Charter  of  Libertys"  being  still  proba- 
tionary or  not  confirmed,  the  province,  at  the  time  of  King  James's 
accession,  was  in  no  respect  a  chartered  province,  and,  therefore,  by 
the  contemporary  law  governing  the  prerogatives  of  the  crown,  the 
inhabitants  of  the  newly  made  crown  province  had  as  yet  no  strict 
legal  right  to  participate  in  their  own  government.  It  was  otherwise 
in  a  chartered  colony,  or  in  a  crown  dependency,  when  representative 
government  had  been  once  allowed. 

In  the  second  year  of  his  reign  King  James  II.  issued  a  new  and 
much  fuller  commission  to  Governor  Dongan,  which  was,  as  usual,  ac- 
companied by  formal  instructions,  dated  May  29,  1686.1  They  finally 
rejected  the  "Charter  of  Libertys,"  but  confirmed  all  those  laws  of  the 
Assembly  which  had  been  previously  allowed.  By  the  new  instruments 
the  entire  legislative  power  was  restored  to  the  Governor  and  Council 
of  the  province,  subject  to  the  veto  of  the  crown.  The  legal  right  of 
the  crown  to  take  away  an  Assembly  allowed  by  the  lord  proprietor 
presented  a  novel  question,  but  one  which  James  II.  determined  for 
himself.  Had  he  been  king  when  he  granted  the  Assembly,  the  grant 
would  have  been  irrevocable.  The  constitution  of  the  province  was 
now  determined  only  by  the  common  law  relative  to  the  prerogative, 
and  no  longer  by  the  duke's  patent,  and  it  found  its  chief  expression 
in  the  Governor's  commission  and  instructions.  The  new  instructions 
were  in  many  respects  less  liberal  than  those  which  they  superseded. 
They,  however,  again  declared  that  all  laws  enacted  by  the  Governor 
and  Council  were  to  be  as  nearly  as  convenient  "agreeable  to  the  laws 
and  statutes  of  England."  Appeals  in  civil  cases  involving  upward 

l  Doc.  rel.  Col.  Hist.  N.  Y.,  3  :  369. 


CONSTITUTIONAL    AND    LEGAL    HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK      551 

of  one  hundred  pounds  were  to  lie  from  the  courts  of  original  juris- 
diction in  the  province  to  the  Governor,  and  thence  to  the  king  in 
Council  when  the  matter  involved  three  hundred  pounds  sterling. 
The  new  instructions  are  sometimes  thought  to  have  established  the 
English  Church  in  the  province,  and  they  lend  color  to  this  opinion. 

A  full  account  of  the  laws  and  the  judicial  establishment  of  the 
province  under  Dongan  is  given  in  his  official  report  to  the  Committee 
of  Trade  of  the  Province  of  New- York,  dated  22d  February,  1687,'  in 
the  course  of  which  he  says:  "The  laws  in  force  are  ye  Laws  called  his 
Boyall  Highnesses  Laws  and  the  Acts  of  the  General  Assembly."  By 
"his  Royall  Highnesses  Laws"  is  meant  the  code  called  the  "Duke's 
Laws."  It  appears  also  from  the  report  that  Governor  Dongan  erected 
a  court  of  judicature  which  was  really  a  court  of  exchequer,  having 
cognizance  of  disputes  between  the  king  and  the  inhabitants  of  the 
province  concerning  the  crown  lands  and  revenues.  As  this  court  was 
held  by  the  Governor  and  Council,  it  was  more  efficacious  than  popular. 

In  1683  the  city  of  New-York  had  been  divided  into  wards,  but  not 
until  1686  did  Governor  Dongan  grant  it  a  new  charter.  This  cele- 
brated charter  of  1686  is  now  called,  after  him,  the  Dongan  Charter. 
It  expressly  recognized  and  sanctioned  the  prior  charter  granted  to 
the  city  by  Governor  Nicolls,  and  also  the  franchises  and  privileges 
conferred  by  the  Dutch  authorities  while  the  city  was  under  their  juris- 
diction. By  this  charter  the  present  Court  of  Common  Pleas  in  New- 
York  City  was  perpetuated.  At  this  time  New- York  was  already  a  place 
of  great  commercial  importance,  and  the  Dougan  Charter  recites  that 
it  was  "  an  ancient  city,  and  the  citizens  of  the  said  city  have  anciently 
been  a  body  politic  and  corporate."  In  the  year  1688  the  population 
of  the  province  was  upwards  of  twenty  thousand,  it  having  doubled 
since  1664.  Its  commercial  importance  was  much  in  excess  of  its 
relative  size.  Throughout  the  province  the  Dutch  were  still  in  the 
majority,2  and  they  were  increasing  in  number ;  they  adhered  tena- 
ciously to  their  own  customs  and  habits,  and  modified  the  English  in- 
stitutions in  practice  by  the  observance  of  many  local  customs.  In 
this  year  an  event  occurred  which  gave  great  uneasiness  to  the  Dutch 
of  New-York.  Their  hope  that  the  Princess  Mary,  wife  of  the  Prince 
of  Orange,  the  Stadholder  of  their  Fatherland,  would  succeed  to  the 
throne  of  England,  appeared  to  be  frustrated  by  the  birth  of  a  son  to 
James.  The  result  of  this  event,  in  quickening  the  failing  fortunes  of 
the  Stuarts,  is  too  well  known  to  bear  repetition.  In  October  of  1688 
William  of  Orange  landed  in  England,  and  in  December  King  James 
abjured  the  realm  and,  with  it,  the  province  of  New- York. 

Every  student  of  our  colonial  history  is  familiar  with  the  fate  of  the 
Dutch  colonist  Jacob  Leisler,  who,  taking  advantage  of  the  fact  that 

i  Doc.  rel.  Col.  Hist.  N.  Y.,  3  :  389.  2  Doc.  rel.  Col.  Hist.  N.  Y.,  3  :  478. 


552  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YOKK 

the  commissions  of  the  crown  officers  in  New-York  expired  with  the 
authority  from  which  they  emanated,  seized,  in  June,  1689,  the  govern- 
ment of  the  province,  in  the  name  of  Protestantism  and  William  and 
Mary.  Leisler,  without  authority,  convened  delegates,  who  acted  as 
an  Assembly  of  the  province,  and  who  passed  certain  acts;  but  the 
invalidity  of  these  acts  has  been  generally  recognized,  and  they  do  not 
now  figure  in  the  legislation  of  the  province,  except  as  historical  curiosi- 
ties. Yet  the  Leisler  Assembly  is  probably  the  key  of  the  entire  Leis- 
ler episode.  Had  it  not  been  for  the  fact  that  James  II.  had  recently 
taken  away  a  legislative  Assembly  from  the  province,  it  is  most  prob- 
able that  the  Dutch  of  New- York  would  have  allowed  political  events 
to  take  the  same  tranquil  course  here  which  was  pursued  in  England. 
The  Leisler  Assembly,  therefore,  best  manifested  the  spirit  which  ani- 
mated the  conduct  of  the  disaffected  in  the  province.  It  was  the  overt 
expression  of  an  actual  revolution  against  the  arbitrary  power  of  King 
James  II.  But,  unfortunately,  the  justifiable  motive  of  the  Leislerians 
was  wholly  misapprehended,  or  else  never  made  apparent  to  the  new 
sovereigns.  Upon  the  arrival,  in  1691,  of  Governor  Sloughter,  the  first 
Governor  under  William  and  Mary,  Leisler  was  tried  for  high  treason 
before  a  Court  of  Oyer  and  Terminer,  appointed  by  special  ordinance. 
His  conviction  and  execution  speedily  followed.  That  the  execution, 
notwithstanding  an  appeal  to  the  sovereign  was  prayed,  was  arbitrary 
and  unlawful  is  not  at  this  day  denied.  The  attainder  of  blood  was 
subsequently  reversed  by  act  of  Parliament  upon  proceedings  insti- 
tuted by  Leisler's  son,  but  the  legality  of  Leisler's  conviction  and 
execution  was  affirmed  by  the  Lords  of  Trade  in  England.  To-day 
the  name  of  Leisler  stands  forth  as  that  of  the  one  historic  figure  who 
first  suffered  for  the  inherent  right  of  Americans  to  govern  themselves 
without  commission  or  authority  from  any  prince  or  potentate.  Had 
it  not  been  for  his  convocation  of  a  popular  Assembly,  the  Leisler 
incident  would  not  differ  greatly  from  a  mere  emeute,  and  would  pos- 
sess small  historic  importance. 

The  right  of  William  and  Mary  to  exercise  the  prerogatives  of  the 
crown  over  the  colonies  was  deduced  from  the  English  convention  of 
1688.  The  prerogatives  of  the  crown  remained  the  same  after  the 
English  revolution  as  before.  The  legal  effect  of  such  a  revolution 
was  analogous  to  the  demise  of  the  crown,  and  the  same  here  as  in 
England.  Thereafter,  as  provided  by  the  Act  of  Settlement,  the  crown 
provinces  pursued  the  line  of  devolution  prescribed  for  the  crown,  the 
crown  possessions  and  the  crown  itself  being  concomitantia.  The 
new  sovereigns  placed  the  government  of  the  province  of  New- York 
upon  a  permanent  footing  by  the  commission  to  Governor  Sloughter. 
The  commission1  contained,  among  others,  the  following  clauses: 

l  Doc.  rel.  Col.  Hist.  N.  Y.,  3  :  624. 


CONSTITUTIONAL    AND    LEGAL    HI8TOEY    OF    NEW-YORK      553 

"And  we  do  hereby  give  fa)  grant  unto  you  full  power  and  authority, 
with  the  advice  fa)  consent  of  our  said  Councill  from  time  to  time  as 
need  shall  require,  to  summon  &  call  generall  Assemblies  of  the  In- 
habitants being  Freeholders  within  your  Government,  according  to 
the  usage  of  our  other  Plantations  in"  America.    And  our  Will  and 
Pleasure  is  that  the  persons  thereupon  duely  elected  by  the  Major 
part  of  the  Freeholders  of  the  re- 
spective County s  and  places  and  so 
returned  and  having  before  their  sit- 
ting taken  the  oaths  appointed  by 
Act  of  Parliament  to  be  taken  in- 
stead of  the  oath  of  Allegiance  and 
Supremacy  and  the  Test — which  you 
shall  Coinmissionate  fit  persons  under 
our  seal  of  New  York  to  administer, 
and  without  taking  which  none  shall 
be  capable  of  sitting  though  elected 
— shall  be  called  and  held  the  Genral 
Assembly  of  that  our  Province  and 
the  Territories  thereunto  belonging. 
And  that  you,  the  said  Henry  Slough- 
ter,  by  fob  with  the  consent  of  our 
said  Councill  and  Assembly,  or  the 
major  part  of  them,  respectively  have 
full  power  and  authority  to  make 
constitute  and  ordaine  Laws  Statutes 
fa)  ordinances  for  y°  publique  Peace, 
welfare,  and  good  Government  of  our 
said  Province  and  of  the  people  fa) 
Inhabitants  thereof,  and  such  others 
as  shall  resort  there  to  &  for  the 
benefit  of  us  our  Heirs  and  Succes- 
sors.   Which    said    Laws,  Statutes, 
and  Ordinances  are  to  be  (as  near  as  may  be)  agreeable  unto  the 
Lawes  and  Statutes  of  this  our  kingdom  of  England.    Provided  that 
all  such  Laws,  Statutes  &  Ordinances,  of  what  nature  or  Duration 
soever,  be  within  three  months,  or  sooner,  after  the  making  there- 
of, transmitted  unto  us,  under  our  seal  of  New- York  for  our  Ap- 
probation or  Disallowance  of  the  same,  as  also  Duplicates  thereof 
by  the  next  conveyance.    And  in  case  any  or  all  of  them,  being  not 
before  confirmed  by  Us  Shall  at  any  time  be  disallowed  fa)  not  ap- 
proved, and  so  signified  by  Us,  our  Heirs,  &  Successors,  under  our  or 
their  Sign  Manual  and  Signet,  or  by  order  of  our  or  their  Privy  Coun- 
cil unto  you  the  said  Henry  Sloughter,  or  to  the  Commander  in  Chief 


THE    DONGAN    CHARTER    SEAL. 


554  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

of  the  said  Province  for  ye  time  being,  then  such  and  so  many  of  them 
as  shall  be  soe  disallowed  and  not  approved  shall  from  thenceforth 
cease,  determine,  fa)  become  utterly  voyd  and  of  none  effect,  any 
thing  to  the  contrary  thereof  notwithstanding." 

Pursuant  to  this  commission,  an  Assembly  of  representatives,  chosen 
by  the  freeholders,  was  regularly  convened  at  the  city  of  New- York, 
on  April  9,  1691,  and  thereafter,  until  the  year  1716,  members  of  as- 
semblies were  elected  biennially.  After  1716  the  elections  continued 
at  intervals  of  greater  or  less  duration  until  the  War  of  Independence. 

When  a  representative  Assembly  was  once  granted  in  a  royal  prov- 
ince the  prevailing  opinion  was  that  it  could  not  be  taken  away.  The 
grant  was  deemed  irrevocable,  as  the  colonists,  being  once  enfranchised, 
ought  not  to  be  arbitrarily  disfranchised.  Yet  this  opinion  was  not 
without  its  opponents,  as  is  apparent  from  Lord  Cornbury's  position  in 
1705,  which  asserted  that  the  people  of  New- York  "  had  no  claim  of  right 
to  General  Assemblies." l  If  New- York  occupied  the  status  of  a  con- 
quered province,  its  constitutional  right  to  a  permanent  representative 
Assembly  was  more  clear,  as  it  was  certainly  the  law  of  England  that 
the  king  might  preclude  himself  from  the  exercise  of  his  prerogative 
legislative  authority  over  a  conquered  province  by  vesting  it  in  an 
Assembly.  The  commission  to  Governor  Sloughter  to  summon  an 
Assembly  was,  therefore,  in  any  aspect,  of  immense  consequence  to  the 
liberties  of  the  people  of  New- York.  The  legislature  permanently 
established  in  1691  was,  as  usual  in  such  cases,  an  imitation  of  the 
British  Parliament,  a  bicameral  body,  the  Governor's  colonial  Council 
forming  the  upper  house.  The  lower  house  constituted  the  "  Com- 
mons "  of  the  province.  The  action  of  both  houses  and  the  consent 
of  the  Governor  were  essential  to  a  complete  enactment.  The  colonial 
Council,  as  an  upper  legislative  house,  derived  its  authority,  both 
executive  and  legislative,  from  the  formal  instructions  given  by  the 
crown  to  the  Governor,  and  was  evidenced  by  a  special  commission 
issued  to  each  member  of  the  Council. 

The  nature  of  the  law-making  forces  thereafter  residing  in  the 
province,  down  to  its  independence  of  the  crown,  was  substantially  as 
follows :  The  immediate  representative  of  the  crown  was  the  Gov- 
ernor, who,  by  virtue  of  his  office  and  commission,  was  Captain-Gen- 
eral of  the  military  forces  in  New- York ;  he  was  one  of  the  constituent 
parts  of  the  General  Assembly.  He  had  the  custody  of  the  great  seal 
of  the  province,  and  was,  ex  officio,  chancellor  within  his  government. 
He  possessed  also  an  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction  as  ordinary,  and  could 
collate  to  all  benefices  within  the  province.  He  might,  with  the  con- 
sent of  the  Council,  erect  courts  of  judicature,  and  by  himself  could 
appoint  all  judicial  officers.  He  presided  in  the  Court  of  Errors,  con- 

1  Doc.  rel.  Col.  Hist.  N.  Y.,  4  : 1155. 


CONSTITUTIONAL    AND    LEGAL    HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK      555 

sisting  of  the  Governor  and  Council,  and  he  was  Vice- Admiral,  and 
could  erect  Courts  of  Admiralty.  All  these  powers  were  a  reflection 
of  the  institutions  of  England,  and  in  them  we  may  detect  the  crown 
lawyers'  conceptions  of  the  prerogative  in  the  seventeenth  century. 

The  Assembly  derived  its  energy  from  the  crown,  but  the  operation 
of  its  acts  within  its  own  proper  jurisdiction  was  as  absolute  as  that 
of  an  act  of  Parliament  in  England ;  yet,  unlike  Parliament,  the  As- 
sembly of  a  crown  province  was  regulated  wholly  by  the  crown  and 
by  the  common  law.  It  had  no  title  to  the  prescriptive  and  inde- 
pendent jurisdiction  of  Parliament,  which  was  omnipotent,  and  regu- 
lated only  by  the  lex  et  consuetudo  parliamenti.  Such,  then,  was  the 
general  constitution  of  the  legislature  of  New- York  as  established  by 
William  and  Mary.  Altogether,  it  was  an  extremely  curious  and 
archaic?  form  of  government,  utterly  unfitted  to  survive  the  conditions 
from  which  it  was  transplanted. 

The  establishment  of  an  Assembly  in  the  province  did  not  then 
transfer  to  it  all  the  local  legislative  authority  over  the  province,  as  it 
undoubtedly  would  have  done  at  a  later  stage  in  the  political  devel- 
opment of  English  colonies.  There  was  a  certain  power  usually 
reserved  to  the  Governor  of  crown  governments,  to  make  laws,  with 
the  advice  of  the  Council,  on  emergent  occasions  (Chalmer's  Col.Opiu., 
p.  192),  and  Colonel  Sloughter's  commission,  in  accordance  with  the  cus- 
tom, reserved  to  him  the  right  to  enact  certain  laws  by  ordinance, 
independently  of  the  Assembly.  This  dual  power  of  making  laws  of 
equal  force  and  obligation  was  often  complained  of  by  the  colonists ; 
yet  it  was  consistent  with  the  theory  of  sovereignty  which  then  pre- 
vailed. The  entire  theory  of  colonial  government  during  the  seven- 
teenth century  was  based  on  the  assumption  by  the  English  authorities 
that  the  political  status  of  an  English  subject  was  impaired  by  his 
having  left  the  realm.  Whatever  else  they  differed  about,  the  collec- 
tive political  imperium,  seated  in  England,  agreed  upon  that  theory, 
and  practised  it.  It  was  not  so,  however,  in  the  colonies,  where  the 
English  colonists  clung  to  the  idea  that  by  crossing  the  seas  they  had 
not  lost  their  former  political  status.  When  driven  from  this  position, 
they  and  their  descendants  took  refuge  in  the  abstract  rights  of  man, 
and  ultimately  in  revolution.  In  this  course  of  reasoning  the  English 
in  New- York  found  ready  coadjutors  in  their  fellow-citizens  of  Dutch 
descent.  Thus  a  common  contention  ultimately  helped  to  obliterate 
all  race  differences  between  them,  and  to  weld  them  into  a  homogene- 
ous political  society. 

One  of  the  first  proceedings  of  the  lower  house  of  Assembly  in  1691 
was  to  adopt  a  resolution  which  has  done  much  to  confuse  the  state 
of  the  early  laws  of  New- York.  This  resolution '  is  as  follows : 

l  "Journal  of  N.  Y.  Assembly,"  p.  8. 


556  HISTORY    OF    NEW- YORK 

"  Upon  an  Information  brought  into  this  House  by  several  Members 
of  the  House,  declaring,  That  the  several  Laws  made  formerly  by  the 
General  Assembly,  and  his  late  Eoyal  Highness  James  Duke  of  York, 
&c.,  and  also  the  several  Ordinances,  or  reputed  Laws,  made  by  the 
preceding  Governors  and  Councils  for  the  Eule  of  their  Majesties 
Subjects  within  this  Province,  are  reported  amongst  the  People,  to  be 
still  in  force : 

"  Eesolved,  Nemine  Contradicente,  That  all  the  laws  consented  to 
by  the  General  Assembly,  under  James  Duke  of  York,  and  the  Lib- 
erties and  Privileges  therein  contained  granted  to  the  People,  and 
declared  to  be  their  Rights  not  being  observed  and  not  ratified  and 
approved  by  his  Royal  Highness,  nor  the  late  King,  are  null,  void, 
and  of  none  effect.  And  also  the  several  Ordinances  or  reputed 
Laws  made  by  the  late  Governors  and  Councils,  being  contrary  to  the 
Constitution  of  England,  and  the  Practice  of  the  Government  of 
their  Majesties  other  Plantations  in  America,  are  likewise  null,  void, 
and  of  none  effect  nor  force  within  this  Province." 

From  that  day  to  this  the  effect  of  the  resolution  quoted  has  been 
debated.  The  resolution  was  not  concurred  in  by  the  upper  house, 
and  never  passed  into  a  law.  It  seems  to  have  been  a  mere  declara- 
tion by  the  lower  house  of  an  existing  fact,  for  laws  not  ratified  by 
James  were,  by  the  constitution  of  that  time,  void,  as  were  those  ordi- 
nances of  the  late  governors  which  were  contrary  to  the  laws  of  Eng- 
land. Yet  from  a  variety  of  causes  this  resolution  has  been  often 
assumed  to  have  had  the  effect  of  sweeping  away  the  entire  legislation 
effected  under  the  Duke  of  York  and  James  II.  If  this  were  the  re- 
sult, all  the  English  laws  then  known  to  the  province,  being  the  Duke's 
Laws  and  the  acts  of  the  Dongan  assemblies,  were  abrogated.  It  is 
difficult  to  conceive  how  such  a  construction  of  this  resolution  ever 
obtained,  as  it  undoubtedly  did  obtain,  some  currency.  In  1840  Judge 
Furman,  in  the  Court  of  Errors  of  New- York,1  referring  to  the  resolu- 
tion of  1691,  said  "  that  the  laws  of  1683,  1684,  and  1685  are  generally 
as  well  worthy  of  attention  as  any  which  have  been  passed  since,  but 
never  having  been  printed,  the  public  know  little  or  nothing  about 
them."  In  1853  the  New-York  Court  of  Appeals  held  (10  N.  Y.,422)  that 
this  resolution  of  1691  "was  not  intended  as  a  repeal,  but  as  a  statement 
of  the  fact  that  they  had  been  disallowed  or  discontinued  by  the  late 
duke  or  king."  There  are  various  arguments  which  may  be  adduced  in 
support  of  such  a  conclusion.  The  late  Judge  Murray  Hoffman  dis- 
cusses some  of  them  in  his  Chancery  Practice  (1 : 15),  but  he  fails  to 
notice  the  strongest  argument  of  all  —  the  legislature's  own  construc- 
tion of  this  resolution.  Several  times  subsequent  to  this  resolution  of 
1691  bills  were  brought  into  the  New- York  Assembly  to  repeal  the 

1  24  WendeU'a  Reports,  pp.  587,  625. 


CONSTITUTIONAL    AND    LEGAL    HLSTORY    OF    NEW-YORK      557 


THE 

LAWS & ACTS 

OF  THE 

General 

FOR 

Their  Majefties  Province 

NEW-YORK, 

As  they  were  Enafted  in  divers  Scffions,  the  firft  of 
which  began  April>  the  pth,  Annoy,  Domini, 

i  <Jp-i. 


* 


At  New-Tort, 

ld  by  WiUitmBrttford,  Printer  to  their  Majefties,  King 
William  &  Queen 


PROM    THE    NEW-YORK    SOCIETY    LIBRARY    COPY. 


558  HISTORY    OF    NEW- YORK 

Duke's  Laws  and  the  acts  of  the  Dongan  assemblies,1  but  they  failed  to 
become  laws.  Independently  of  this,  the  lower  house  had,  on  principle, 
no  legal  authority  to  give  effect  to  the  resolution  of  1691.  In  the  re- 
cent contest  concerning  the  succession  to  the  Lauderdale  peerages  in 
England,  which  depended  on  the  validity  of  a  marriage  in  New- York 
during  the  colonial  era,  the  legal  effect  of  this  resolution  of  1691  on 
the  Duke's  Laws  and  the  acts  of  the  Dongan  assemblies  was  pre- 
sented for  adjudication,  but  it  was  not  decided,  as  the  contest  was 
determined  upon  a  principle  of  the  law  of  evidence  which  enabled 
the  committee  of  the  House  of  Lords  to  assume  that  even  if  the 
Duke's  Laws  were  in  force  in  New- York  after  1691,  the  result  of  the 
Lauderdale  contention  would  be  the  same  in  the  absence  of  certain 
proofs  not  then  able  to  be  adduced  by  one  of  the  contesting  claimants, 
Sir  James  Maitland,  Bart.  But  several  of  the  lawyers  on  both  sides 
of  that  case  were  agreed  in  their  briefs  that  the  resolution  of  1691  was 
inoperative  as  a  repeal  of  the  Duke's  Laws  and  the  acts  of  the  Dongan 
assemblies,  although  others  were  of  the  opinion  that  the  Duke's  Laws 
became  inoperative  after  1691,  either  by  reason  of  the  revolution  of 
1688,  the  resolution  of  1691,  or  by  their  falling  into  desuetude,  or  else 
by  presumptive  repeal.  The  answer  to  the  latter  opinion  was  that  no 
express  repeal  of  the  Duke's  Laws  was  ever  enacted,  and  that  by  the 
common  law  a  statute  once  regularly  in  force  cannot  fall  into  desue- 
tude, but  continues  in  operation  even  though  not  in  viridi  observan- 
tia.  Independently  of  this  reasoning,  the  opinion  of  many  lawyers 
and  judges  for  two  centuries  succeeding  the  resolution  of  1691  warrants 
the  conclusion  that  such  resolution  of  the  lower  house  of  Assembly 
in  1691  was  wholly  inoperative  to  repeal  the  Duke's  Laws  or  the  acts 
of  the  Dongan  assemblies  which  received  the  royal  assent.  Yet  it  is 
no  doubt  the  fact  that,  the  inhabitants  of  New- York,  in  the  rough-and- 
ready  fashion  of  that  time,  regarded  the  Duke's  Laws  as  things  of  the 
past  subsequent  to  1691.  But  popular  misconception  cannot  control 
the  principles  upon  which  the  validity  of  ancient  laws  is  determined, 
and  no  proof  has  ever  yet  been  adduced  that  either  the  Duke's  Laws 
or  the  acts  of  the  Dongan  assemblies  perished  in  any  other  mode 
than  by  a  repeal,  either  actual  or  by  implication,  by  reason  of  subse- 
quent inconsistent  acts  on  the  same  subject. 

At  the  date  of  the  Assembly  of  1691  it  may  be  said  then  that,  strictly 
speaking,  the  general  law  of  the  province  was  to  be  found  in  the  Duke's 
Laws,  the  acts  of  the  Dongan  assemblies,  and  the  decisions  of  the  Eng- 
lish courts  of  justice  of  New- York,  which  last,  in  the  absence  of  stat- 
utory directions,  were  controlled  by  the  principles  of  the  common  law 
of  England,  and  no  longer  by  the  Dutch  jurisprudence ;  for,  if  we  as- 
sume the  province  to  have  been  acquired  by  the  English  by  conquest 

i  Journal  Assembly,  Nov.  17,  1741. 


CONSTITUTIONAL    AND    LEGAL    HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK      559 

or  cession,  the  laws  of  the  conquered  remained  in  force  only  until 
abrogated,  and  there  are  many  sufficient  evidences  of  such  abrogation. 
The  most  important  effect  of  this  abrogation  was  its  abolition  of  the 
ancient  rule  that  the  Dutch  common  law  controlled  those  cases  in  the 
territory  unaffected  by  positive  law,  and  the  substitution  of  the  rule 
that  the  common  law  of  England  was  the  form  for  all  cases  not  regu- 
lated by  statute.  But  even  if  we  assume,  as  we  ought  not  to  do,  that 
the  Dutch  laws  never  rightfully  obtained  here,  there  is  abundant  evi- 
dence that  the  English  common  law  was  established  here  after  1664  by 
positive  legislation,1  and,  in  accounting  for  it,  it  is  unnecessary  to  re- 
sort to  the  antiquated  and  figurative  formula  of  the  early  English 
commentators,  that  the  common  law  owes  its  introduction  in  New- 
York  because  the  English  were  the  first  discoverers  and  settlers  of 
New  Netherland. 

But,  notwithstanding  the  change  in  the  common  law  of  the  province, 
certain  incidents  of  the  Dutch  jurisprudence  long  continued  to  obtain 
recognition  here,  and  many  cases  have  arisen,  and  still  arise,  in  which 
it  is  maintained  that  they  are  even  now  controlled  by  principles  of  the 
ancient  Dutch  law,  rather  than  by  the  more  modern  law  of  English 
origin.  Chief  among  these  cases  are  those  involving  the  right  of 
owners  of  real  estate  held  anciently  under  Dutch  ground  briefs  and 
abutting  on  the  ancient  Dutch  highways.-  The  acts  of  the  Assembly, 
long  subsequent  to  1691,  recognized  at  intervals  the  ancient  Dutch 
laws.3 

The  ordinary  effect  of  the  capitulation  of  the  Dutch,  reserved  in  the 
articles  of  1664,  furnishes  another  claim,  even  by  the  principles  of 
English  law,  that  a  remnant  of  the  ancient  Dutch  law  continued  in 
force  after  1664  (5  Wendell's  Reports,  pp.  445, 446),  although  subsequent 
to  the  year  1674  the  right  of  the  Dutch  to  avail  themselves  of  the 
terms  of  the  capitulation  of  1664  is  not  clear  (24  Wendell,  624).  With 
the  few  exceptions  denoted,  the  law  of  New  Netherland  has  probably 
passed  into  history,  and  now  concerns  the  antiquarian  and  the  his- 
torian, rather  than  the  practical  lawyer  and  litigant  of  this  day.  Yet 
the  effect  of  Dutch  institutions  on  the  character  of  the  early  legisla- 
tion of  the  province  of  New- York  was  at  first  marked,  although  at  a 
later  period  it  became  insignificant.  Owing  to  such  causes  as  frequent 
intermarriages  between  the  Dutch  and  English,  and  the  gradual  sub- 
stitution of  the  English  tongue,  as  well  as  to  the  adoption  of  English 
habits  by  the  leading  Dutch  landowners,  but  above  all  to  the  fact  that 
the  early  bar  and  the  judges  of  the  province  were  trained  in  English 
law,  the  Dutch  of  New- York  soon  abstained  from  maintaining  their 
own  legal  institutions,  and  gradually  acquiesced  in  those  introduced 

i  Stokes's  "Colonies,"  p.  31.  2  Dunham  vs.  Williams,  37  N.  Y.,  253. 

3  Van  Schaack's  "Laws,"  1  :  97;   id.,  2  :  611 ;  see  also  ch.  216,  9th  Anne,  N.  Y.  Law*. 


560  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

by  the  English  colonial  authorities.  But  for  a  long  time  after  the 
year  1664  the  influence  of  the  Dutch  settlers  impressed  itself  upon 
the  agrarian  communities  and  upon  the  social  and  commercial  customs 
of  the  province.1 

One  of  the  first  acts  passed  by  the  Assembly  of  1691  was  entitled 
"  An  Act  for  Quieting  and  Settling  the  Disorders  that  have  lately 
happened  within  this  Province."  It  was  broad  enough  to  be  directed 
against  all  persons  disaffected  to  the  change  in  the  succession  to  the 
crown,  whether  such  persons  might  call  themselves  Dutch,  Leislerians, 
or  English  Jacobites,  of  which  there  were  not  a  few  in  the  province. 
The  act  was  capable  also  of  being  construed  as  a  voluntary  compact, 
on  the  part  of  the  people  of  New- York  with  the  new  sovereigns 
William  and  Mary,  that  the  province  should  continue  on  the  footing 
of  a  royal  province  of  the  crown.  No  more  explicit  statement  of  the 
relations  of  the  people  of  New- York  to  the  crown  could  have  been 
exacted  by  the  crown  itself  than  that  contained  in  this  act,  which  was 
as  follows : 

"  Be  it  therefore  enacted  and  ordained  by  the  Governor,  and  Coun- 
cil, and  Representatives,  met  in  General  Assembly,  and  it  is  hereby 
Published,  Declared,  Enacted,  and  Ordained  by  the  Authority  of  the 
same,  That  there  can  be  no  Power  and  Authority  held  and  exercised 
over  Their  Majesties  Subjects  in  this  Their  Province  and  Dominion 
but  what  must  be  derived  from  their  Majesties,  Their  Heirs,  and  Suc- 
cessors. And  we  do  hereby  recognize  and  acknowledge,  That  Their 
Majesties  William  and  Mary  are,  and  as  of  Right  they  ought  to  be, 
by  the  Laws  of  the  Realm  of  England,  our  Liege  Lord  and  Lady,  King 
and  Queen  of  England,  France,  and  Ireland  and  the  Dominions  there- 
unto belonging,  etc.,  that  thereby  Their  Princely  Persons  are  only 
invested  with  the  Right  to  Rule  this  Their  Dominion  and  Province ; 
and  that  none  ought  or  can  have  Power,  upon  any  Pretence  whatso- 
ever, to  use  or  exercise  any  Power  over  Their  Subjects  in  this  Prov- 
ince, but  by  Their  immediate  Authority,  under  Their  Broad  Seal  of 
Their  Realm  of  England,  as  now  established." 

While  admitting  the  validity  of  the  change  in  the  succession  to  the 
crown,  this  act  did  not  change  the  political  status  of  the  province  as 
defined  by  the  public  law  of  England.  The  same  Assembly  also  passed 
an  act  for  settling,  quieting,  and  confirming  all  charters  previously 
granted  by  the  Stuarts  to  any  cities,  towns,  or  freeholders  within  the 
province.  This  act  was  passed  to  allay  the  uncertainty  which  natu- 
rally was  felt  after  so  great  a  revolution  as  that  which  had  happened 
in  England,  and  consequently  in  all  its  dependencies.  Lapse  of  time 
showed  that  the  act  was  unnecessary,  as  the  new  sovereigns  made  no 

i  Elting's  "  Dutch  Village  Communities" ;  "  Johns  Hopkins  University  Studies  in  Historical  and 
Political  Science  " ;  "5  Wendell's  Reports,"  446. 


CONSTITUTIONAL    AND    LEGAL    HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK      561 

attack  upon  the  grants  and  patents  of  their  predecessors  in  any  part 
of  the  English  dominions. 

The  Assembly  of  1691,  with  a  view  of  placing  their  right  to  a  repre- 
sentative government  on  a  surer  footing  than  the  grace  of  the  crown, 
again  passed  an  act  declaring  what  are  tEe  rights  and  privileges  of  their 
Majesties'  subjects  inhabiting  within  this  province  of  New- York.  It 
was  virtually  a  reenactment  of  the  old  "Charter  of  Libertys"  dis- 
allowed by  James  II.  In  1697  the  act  of  1691  shared  the  fate  of  its 
predecessor,  and  was  disallowed  by  the  king. 

The  most  important  act  of  the  Assembly  of  1691  was  that  remodel- 
ing the  judicial  establishment.  After  two  centuries  have  passed  we 
must  still  go  back  to  the  legislation  of  this  year  to  determine  some 
questions  concerning  the  jurisdiction  of  the  existing  courts  of  New- 
York.  The  act  of  1691,  for  "  establishing  Courts  of  Judicature  for  the 
ease  and  benefit  of  each  respective  City,  Town,  and  County  within  the 
Province,"  provided  that  justices  of  peace  should  have  cognizance  of 
"  all  causes,  cases  of  debt,  and  tresspasses  to  the  value  of  forty  shillings." 
Either  party  might  demand  a  jury.  Every  city  and  county  was  to 
have  a  court  of  sessions  of  the  peace  and  a  court  of  common  pleas.  By 
this  act  the  present  Supreme  Court  of  New -York  came  into  existence, 
just  two  centuries  ago,  as  a  law  court,  having  cognizance  "  of  all  Pleas, 
civil,  criminal,  and  mixt,  as  fully  and  amply,  to  all  intents  and  purposes 
whatsoever,  as  the  Courts  of  Kings  Bench,  Common  Pleas,  and  Ex- 
chequer in  England  have,  or  ought  to  have,"  provided  such  causes  in- 
volved upward  of  twenty  pounds.  The  Supreme  Court  was  vested 
with  an  extended  supervisory  and  appellate  jurisdiction  over  inferior 
law  courts.  The  trial  of  all  issues  of  fact  in  the  Supreme  Court  was 
to  be  by  jury,  unless  waived.  Although  the  act  contained  no  express 
repeal  of  the  act  of  1683,  it  repealed  it  by  implication,  and  with  its 
passage  and  approval  the  old  Court  of  Over  and  Terminer  ceased  to 
exist.  Nearly  half  a  century  later  it  was  asserted  that  the  Supreme 
Court  had  an  equity  jurisdiction  in  the  exchequer  branch  of  its  or- 
ganization, and  this  was  decided  in  the  affirmative. 

The  judiciary  act  of  1691  was  a  temporary  act,  but  was  continued 
by  an  act  of  Assembly,  passed  November  9  or  11, 1692 ; '  and  the  latter 
was  again  renewed  in  October,  1695,  for  two  years.  In  1697  this  act 
was  finally  extended  for  one  year ;  but,  on  its  expiration,  differences 
having  arisen  between  the  Assembly  and  the  Governor,  it  was  allowed 
to  expire  by  limitation.  For  a  time  the  province  was  without  a  judi- 
cial establishment.  Finally  Lord  Bellomont,  as  the  Royal  Governor 
of  the  province,  in  1699,  resorted  to  the  prerogative,  and  continued 
the  courts,  on  the  footing  of  the  act  of  1691,  by  an  ordinance  in  which 
the  Assembly  had  no  part.2  This  ordinance  was  confirmed  by  Lord 

i  Bradford's  ed.  N.  Y.  Laws,  1694,  p.  64.        2  Appendix  No.  V.,  2  Revised  Laws  of  New  York  of  1813. 
VOL.  I.— 36. 


562  HISTOBY    OF    NEW- YOKE 

Cornbury  in  1704.1  On  this  basis  the  Supreme  Court  continued  down 
to  the  establishment  of  the  State  government,  when  it  was  further 
continued  as  part  of  the  existing  order  of  things.  In  1692  a  preroga- 
tive court  was  erected,  having  cognizance  of  probate  matters. 

The  Court  of  Chancery  of  the  province,  originally  erected  by  the 
act  of  1683,  was  remodeled  by  the  "Act  for  establishing  courts  of 
judicature,"  of  1691.  This  act,  continued  from  time  to  time,  as  de- 
scribed in  the  preceding  paragraph,  finally  expired.  On  the  28th  of 
August,  1701,  an  ordinance  was  issued  reestablishing  the  Chancery, 
and  authorizing  the  Governor  and  Council,  or  any  three  of  them,  to 
hold  the  court.  In  June,  1702,  its  operations  were  suspended  until  a 
fee  bill  should  be  settled,  and  it  was  not  again  revived  until  the  7th 
day  of  November,  1704,  when  it  was  directed  to  proceed.2  At  various 
times  the  lower  house  of  Assembly  protested  against  the  establish- 
ment of  a  Court  of  Equity  by  ordinance  of  the  Governor  without  their 
concurrence,  but,  notwithstanding  this  fact,  the  Court  of  Chancery, 
until  the  year  1711,  continued  to  be  held  by  the  Governor  and  Council, 
by  virtue  of  the  ordinance  mentioned.  Subsequent  to  the  year  1711 
the  Governor  alone  sat  as  chancellor.  The  very  early  establishment 
of  a  chancery  court  in  New- York  was  one  of  several  causes  contributing 
to  the  relative  preeminence  of  its  particular  jurisprudence.  In  many 
of  the  American  colonies  equity  jurisprudence  had,  prior  to  the  War 
of  Independence,  no  distinct  existence  in  any  large  and  appropriate 
sense.  But  in  the  province  of  New- York  matters  of  equity,  as  distinct 
from  cases  cognizable  at  law,  were  recognized  by  the  "Duke's  Lawes" 
of  1665,  while  a  Court  of  Chancery  was  established  by  the  act  of  1683. 

The  short  administration  of  Colonel  Sloughter,  the  first  Governor 
under  William  and  Mary,  was  terminated  by  his  death  July  23,  1691. 
He  was  succeeded  by  Colonel  Benjamin  Fletcher,  who  took  ofiice 
under  a  commission  almost  identical  with  that  held  by  Governor 
Sloughter.3  There  is  a  slight  divergence  between  the  commission  and 
the  private  instructions  to  Colonel  Fletcher.4  By  the  former  the  Gov- 
ernor was  empowered  to  erect  courts  of  judicature  and  public  justice, 
with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Council,  whereas  the  instructions 
directed  that  no  court  or  office  of  judicature,  not  before  established, 
should  be  created.  The  commission  was  undoubtedly  paramount,  as 
the  instructions  were  a  mere  criterion  of  the  Governor's  authority.  In 
case  of  urgent  necessity  the  instructions  could  be  departed  from  with- 
out the  violation  of  authority,  but  a  departure  from  the  commission 
was  wholly  unauthorized,  and  was  void  as  ultra  vires.  As  the  pre- 
rogative stood  in  the  seventeenth  century,  the  crown  might  erect 
courts  of  justice  in  crown  provinces  by  ordinance,  even  where  there 

1  Idem,  Appendix  No.  VI.  3  Doc.  rel.  Col.  Hist.  N.  Y.,  3  :  827. 

2  Idem,  Appendix  No.  VII.  <  Idem,  3  :  818,  827. 


CONSTITUTIONAL    AND    LEGAL    HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK      563 


SEVERAL 

L  A  W 

Orders  &  Ordinances 

Eftablifhed    by   the 

MAYOR' 

Recorder,     Alder-men   and  Affiftants 


O  F     T   H  E 


Cttp  of  jSeto 

Convened  in  Common- Council  y 

For  the  good  Rule  and  Government  of  the  Inhabi- 
tants of  the  faid  City.     And  pubiifhed  this  s8th  Day  of 
March,  in  the  Mayoralty  ofWillijm  Pcartree,, 
Armo  Domini    1  J  O  J 


Printed  and  Sold  by  William  Bradford  at  the  Sign  of  the  Bible  in 
the  City  of  New. York,    tyoy. 


FROM    THE    LENOX    LIBRARY    COPY. 


564  HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YOEK 

was  an  Assembly.  To  be  sure,  this  power  was  always  vehemently 
disputed  in  New- York,  and  the  branch  of  the  royal  prerogative  has 
now  been  wholly  taken  away,  but  at  that  time  it  was  beyond  question 
a  lawful  power.1  In  any  historical  review  of  the  institutions  of  the 
British  plantations  of  the  seventeenth  century,  we  cannot  consider  the 
present  standards  applicable  to  the  modern  British  colonies ;  we  can 
only  determine  what  the  standard  was  then.  If  an  ancient  act  was  legal 
by  the  colonial  constitution  then  in  force,  it  cannot  be  made  illegal  by 
the  verdict  of  historians,  or  because  it  deviates  from  popular  or  philo- 
sophic conceptions  of  a  more  ideal  system  of  government.  Professor 
Dicey  has  well  remarked,  in  a  discussion  of  the  prerogative  under  the 
English  constitution,  that  "the  struggles  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
the  conflict  between  James  and  Coke,  Bacon's  theory  of  the  preroga- 
tive, Charles'  effort  to  substitute  the  personal  will  of  Charles  Stuart 
for  the  legal  will  of  the  king  of  England,  are  all  matters  which  touch 
not  remotely  upon  the  problems  of  actual  law." 2  As  it  then  was  in 
England  so  it  was  here,  but  with  this  modification,  that  the  prerog- 
atives claimed  by  the  Stuarts  in  the  crown  colonies  have  since  been 
pretty  generally  allowed,  and  have  passed  into  settled  law  in  accor- 
dance with  their  earlier  assertions. 

The  joint  reign  of  William  and  Mary  ended  in  1694,  when  the  queen 
died.  Thenceforth  the  king  alone  possessed  the  regal  authority,  pur- 
suant to  the  declaration  of  the  convention  Parliament  of  the  12th  of 
February,  1688.  The  Earl  of  Bellomont  held  the  first  commission 
from  King  William  III.,  succeeding  Colonel  Fletcher  in  1695,  but  he 
delayed  his  voyage  until  after  the  peace  of  Eyswyck,  and  did  not  ar- 
rive in  New- York  until  April  of  the  year  1698.  During  the  war  with 
France,  1689-1697,  New- York  was  greatly  infested  with  pirates,  who 
sailed  from  the  seaports  of  the  province  to  the  Spanish  main  and  else- 
where, and  many  of  the  inhabitants  of  New- York,  it  was  believed,  were 
concerned  in  these  unlawful  ventures.  Part  of  Lord  Bellomont's  mis- 
sion was  to  check  piracy  in  the  province.  His  government  included 
Massachusetts  Bay  and  New  Hampshire,  as  well  as  New- York,  and, 
owing  to  the  multiplicity  of  business  necessary  to  its  administration, 
John  Nanfan,  a  relative  of  Lord  Bellomont's,  came  out  as  Lieutenant- 
Governor  of  New- York.3  Before  this  appointment  the  president  of 
the  Council  had  usually  acted  as  Lieutenant-Go vernor  of  the  province. 
The  Lieuten  ant-Governor  was  authorized  to  exercise  all  the  powers 
stated  in  the  Governor's  commission,  in  case  of  the  latter's  death  or  ab- 
sence.4 Lord  Bellomont's  commission  as  Governor  of  New- York5  did 
not  materially  vary  from  that  of  Colonel  Fletcher.  It  formed  the  last 

1  Chalmer's  Col.  Opin.,  pp.  192,  194.  *  Doc.  rel.  Col.  Hist.  N.  Y.,  4  :  277. 

2  Dieey's  "  Law  of  the  Constitution,"  pp.  17,  59.          5  Idem,  4  :  266. 

3  Smith,  History  of  N.  Y.,  1 :  252. 


CONSTITUTIONAL    AND    LEGAL    HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK      565 

constating  instrument  in  the  compound  constitution  of  New- York  in 
the  eighteenth  century. 

As  stated  at  the  outset,  the  government  of  a  colonial  dependency  is 
from  without,  and  not  from  within.  Jii  this  particular  an  English 
colonial  government  of  the  eighteenth  century  differed  essentially 
from  the  government  of  a  perfect  state.  We  shall  now  attempt  to 
offer  a  few  generalizations  from  the  facts  already  stated,  so  as  to  make 
more  clear  the  legal  and  political  conditions  in  New- York  at  the  close 
of  the  seventeenth  century. 

At  the  date  of  the  settlements  of  the  American  colonies  the  com- 
mon law  of  England  was  an  archaic  and  confused  system,  of  feudal 
origin  in  the  main,  although  many  doctrines  of  the  Roman  law  had  been 
surreptitiously  interpolated  in  the  accepted  text  of  the  law.  Such  a 
system,  localized  for  centuries,  could  hardly  be  conceived  as  extend- 
ing beyond  the  borders  of  the  narrow  realm  in  which  it  had  been 
formulated.  At  first,  therefore,  it  was  thought  that  the  English  who 
departed  from  England  were  subject  only  to  the  natural  law,  but  at  a 
later  day  it  was  asserted  that  they  carried  their  own  law  with  them. 
As  nobody  in  particular  ever  carried  a  law,  it  is  obvious  that  this  ex- 
pression is  figurative,  and  intended  simply  to  impart  the  conception 
that  the  English  emigrating  to  new  and  uninhabited  countries  con- 
tinued to  be  subject  to  the  control  of  English  laws.  But  before  this 
last  idea  was  attained  there  was  much  fluctuation  in  principle.  For 
instance,  the  Parliament  of  England  was  at  first  told  that  it  was  not 
proper  for  it  to  make  laws  for  the  colonies;  these  were  the  de- 
mesnes of  the  king,  subject  only  to  his  prerogative ;  but  in  the  days 
of  the  Commonwealth  Parliament  assumed  the  foreign  executive,  and 
became  the  actual  sovereign  in  the  colonies.  This  power,  once  gained, 
was  never  relinquished. 

In  1643  a  committee  was  appointed  for  regulating  the  plantations, 
and  in  1650  this  power  was  lodged  in  a  council  of  state.  Upon  the 
restoration  of  the  monarchy,  the  king  and  Parliament  first  shared  do- 
minion over  the  American  plantations.  With  the  growing  years,  and 
step  by  step,  Parliament  increased  its  power  over  the  colonies.  First 
it  regulated  their  trade,  next  the  internal  rights  of  the  colonists ;  but 
when  it  taxed  them  the  jurisdiction  was  repudiated  by  the  colonists, 
not  always  consistently,  but  in  the  end  effectually.  Thus,  the  most 
obnoxious  thing  about  the  colonial  government  by  England  became 
the  dominion  of  the  Parliament,  which,  unlike  the  prerogative  of  the 
king,  was  above  the  law  and  the  courts.  Parliament  became  in  the 
colonies  an  intolerable  absolutism,  wielded  by  an  oligarchy  or  a  com- 
mittee of  aristocrats  selected  by  a  few  landholders  of  Great  Britain. 
Thus,  the  colonies  were  politically  mere  dependencies  without  the  realm, 
and,  unless  they  had  legislatures  of  their  own,  they  possessed  no  con- 


566  HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YOEK 

stitutional  rights  which  were  effectual,  or  at  least  paramount.  But 
until  the  king  confederated  with  the  Parliament  there  was  never  any 
general  hatred  of  monarchy  in  the  colonies,  and  at  the  last  the  people 
here  indicted  by  their  declarations  of  grievances  the  Parliament 
rather  than  the  king. 

After  the  accession  of  James  II.,  when  the  proprietary  government 
devolved  upon  the  crown,  New- York  fell  under  the  superintending 
power  of  a  committee  of  the  Privy  Council  in  England,  which  had 
been  charged  by  King  Charles  II.,  by  an  order  in  council,  dated  March 
12,  1675,  with  the  general  administration  of  the  colonies.  The  rela- 
tion of  this  committee  to  the  colonies  lasted  until  King  William  III. 
superseded  it  by  the  Board  of  Trade  and  Plantations,  in  1696.  But 
even  then  appeals  continued  to  lie  from  the  highest  court  of  the  prov- 
ince of  New- York  to  the  king  in  council.  The  reservation  to  this  ef- 
fect, contained  in  the  commissions  forming  the  various  constitutions 
of  a  province  without  a  charter,  is  traced  to  the  course  of  appeals  from 
the  Islands  of  Jersey  and  Guernsey,  the  remnant  of  the  duchy  of  Nor- 
mandy, which  was  also  "  without  the  realm  and  beyond  the  seas,"  and 
therefore  afforded  a  good  precedent  for  the  transatlantic  colonies. 
Had  it  not  been  for  that  precedent,  the  course  of  colonial  appeals  might 
have  been  quite  different.  Such  are  the  effects  of  the  accidents  of 
history. 

When  the  English  obtained  the  actual  dominion  over  New- York 
they  certainly  found  a  government,  established  by  the  Dutch  and 
possessed  of  a  judicial  establishment,  in  satisfactory  operation,  ad- 
ministering a  highly  refined  system  of  laws  centuries  older  than  the 
English  laws,  and  much  more  entitled  to  the  respect  of  the  civilized 
world.  The  problem  for  the  English  here  was  quite  different,  there- 
fore, from  that  in  most  of  their  other  plantations,  except  Jamaica. 
It  was  a  principle  of  English  law,  as  of  the  laws  of  other  European 
nations,  that  in  conquered  Christian  provinces  the  laws  of  the  con- 
quered remained  in  force  until  abrogated,  and  that  terms  of  capitu- 
lation were  paramount  to  all  other  laws.  Although  the  English 
agents  had  sometimes  pretended  that  the  Dutch  of  New  Netherland 
had  intruded  on  English  territory,  there  is  ample  evidence  not  only 
of  the  falsity  of  this  assertion,  but  of  the  subsequent  abandonment  of 
it  by  the  English,  and  their  conformity  to  the  rule  of  law  indicated. 
They  recognized  the  province  of  New- York  as  a  conquered  province ; 
they  formally  abrogated  the  Dutch  laws  and  substituted  their  own, 
though  they  observed  the  Articles  of  Capitulation  of  1664,  until  the 
Dutch,  under  the  treaty  of  Westminster,  had  themselves  abandoned 
the  articles,  and  even  then  the  English  authorities  in  New- York  long 
tolerated  many  Dutch  institutions  reserved  by  the  articles,  as  if  such 
articles  had  continued  of  binding  force  and  obligation.  In  1688  a 


CONSTITUTIONAL    AND    LEGAL    HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK      567 

will  of  a  Dutch  ante-natus  was  probated  in  New- York,  appointing  a 
universal  legatee  in  the  Dutch  manner.  In  1684  a  will  conveying  real 
estate  was  executed  in  New- York  before  a  Dutch  notary.  Tutors  and 
curators  continued  to  be  appointed  by  wills  according  to  Dutch  law 
long  subsequent  to  1674.  In  1710  a  statute  was  passed  by  the  assem- 
bly, enacting  that  the  Dutch  words  onroerende  and  vaste  staat  in 
Dutch  antenuptial  contracts,  wills  or  deeds,  should  be  taken  to  mean 
real  estate,  and  be  operative  as  a  conveyance  of  real  estate  at  com- 
mon law  (act  of  30th  October,  1710). 

The  law-officers  of  the  English  crown,  in  their  opinions  upon  the 
prerogative  and  the  powers  of  the  government  of  New- York,  always 
assumed  that  this  province  was  acquired  by  conquest  and  cession 
from  the  Dutch,  and  that  in  this  particular  New- York  stood  in  a 
position  different  from  the  English  colonies  acquired  by  discovery. 
Such  an  assumption  involved  the  conclusion  that  the  crown  was 
invested  primarily  with  the  prerogative  of  legislation  here  until  relin- 
quished in  some  manner  by  charter  or  grant  to  the  inhabitants  them- 
selves. Much  of  the  confusion  observable  in  the  jurisprudence  of  the 
province  was  probably  occasioned  by  the  evident  unwillingness  of  the 
leading  lawyers  and  inhabitants  of  New- York  to  yield  to  a  premiss 
conceding  so  great  a  power  to  the  crown.  They  were  familiar  with 
the  political  status  of  a  conquered  province  and  its  subordination  to 
the  crown  by  the  common  law  of  England.  Upon  this  point,  there- 
fore, the  Dutch  of  New- York  were  silent.  Had  the  Dutch  possessed  a 
great  political  leader  of  their  own  race,  this  might  have  been  different. 
It  is  a  singular  fact  that  during  the  entire  colonial  period  after  1664, 
the  Dutch  of  New- York  never  produced  a  great  leader  in  politics. 
They  seem,  from  the  year  1664,  to  have  acquiesced  in  the  leadership 
of  the  English.  From  this  year  dates  the  unceasing  struggle,  between 
the  inhabitants  of  New- York  and  the  law-officers  of  the  crown,  con- 
cerning the  extent  of  the  prerogative  power  of  legislation,  in  the 
course  of  which  all  the  people  of  New- York  learned  to  claim  that 
they  were  entitled  to  the  common  law  of  England,  because  they  were 
advised  that  such  right  carried  with  it  a  share  in  the  making  of  laws, 
and  that  the  crown  had  not  an  independent  power  of  legislation  where 
the  English  common  law  was  once  established.  Yet  the  people  of 
New- York  did  not  desire  the  private  department  of  the  common  law 
so  much  as  the  principles  of  the  public  law  of  England,  or  that  part 
which  established  their  right  to  an  independent  legislature  of  their 
own  choosing.  The  political  history  of  the  province  between  the 
years  1664  and  1775  turns  upon  the  seat  of  the  legislative  power. 
In  the  conflict  between  the  crown  and  the  people  of  New- York, 
in  regard  to  the  legislative  power,  the  people  were  constantly  vic- 
torious, and,  with  a  firmness  and  astuteness  as  remarkable  as  any  in 


568  HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YORK 

history,  by  various  means  succeeded  in  establishing  and  maintaining 
a  legislature  which  formed,  after  1691,  as  bold  and  independent  a 
branch  of  government  as  any  then  existing.  But  it  was  vigilance 
only  which  restrained  and  defeated  the  prerogative,  and  when  George 
III.  at  last  confederated  with  his  British  Parliament  in  an  effort  to 
seat  the  entire  political  power  over  the  colonies  in  England,  the  people 
of  New- York  realized  that  armed  resistance  was  inevitable.  The 
issue  of  the  War  of  Independence  was  self-government.  Had  it  not 
been  that  it  militated  against  their  political  status,  as  they  believed, 
the  inhabitants  of  New- York  would  have  made  it  clearer  that  New- 
York  was  a  province  of  England  by  virtue  of  conquest,  and  not  dis- 
covery.1 Yet  it  is,  unfortunately,  not  to  the  political  action  of  the 
early  inhabitants  of  New- York  that  we  can  look  for  a  solution  of 
many  legal  questions  of  this  time,  but  to  the  constitution  of  the 
government  which  was  then  recognized  as  sovereign  here. 

The  establishment  of  the  English  political  authority  in  the  year 
1664,  and  the  appointment  of  English  administrative  officers  hold- 
ing commissions  from  the  crown  or  its  delegate,  of  itself  introduced 
the  public  law  of  England  in  New- York  in  the  place  of  the  Dutch  public 
law.  When  a  peopled  province  is  acquired,  the  public  law  of  the  new 
sovereign  is  the  measure  of  its  authority,  and  consequently  the  public 
law  of  England  (as  contradistinguished  from  the  private  law)  came 
into  operation  in  New- York  in  1664  with  the  dominion  exercised  by 
the  English. 

We  have  now  traced  the  growth  of  the  autonomy  of  the  province, 
and  the  expression  of  the  leading  institutions,  down  to  the  year  1700. 
By  that  year  the  population  of  the  province  had  greatly  increased  in 
number  and  in  wealth.  A  large  proportion  were  native-born,  and  yet 
many  were  still  unfamiliar  with  the  language  and  institutions  of 
England.  The  City  of  New- York  had  long  possessed  an  established 
municipal  government,  now  patterned  after  the  English  municipal 
governments,  and  therefore  destined  to  introduce  to  the  country  the 
English  conceptions  of  city  government,  rather  than  those  practised 
by  the  continental  nations  of  Europe.  Permanent  courts  of  judicature 
of  the  English  type  had  been  established,  which  were  to  endure  for 
centuries,  and  although,  as  Governor  Lord  Bellomont  frequently  stated 
to  the  Lords  of  Trade,  their  administration  was  probably  not  then  of  a 
very  high  order,  yet  it,  no  doubt,  responded  to  the  requirements  of  so 
simple  a  society. 

The  general  state  of  the  law  of  the  province  in  1700  was  well  defined 
by  William  Smith,  chief  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  province, 
in  a  report  to  Lord  Bellomont,  written  on  the  26th  of  November,  1700. 

l  See,  by  way  of  argument  on  this  point,  the  statement  of  the  churchwardens  and  vestry  of 
Trinity  Church  to  Archbishop  Tenisen,  Doc.  rel.  Col.  Hist.  N.  Y.,  4:526, 


CONSTITUTIONAL    AND    LEGAL    HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK      569 

There  is  nothing  more  authoritative  now  extant.  He  says : f  "  That 
the  Courts  of  Law  in  this  province  establish'd  are  the  Corporation 
Courts  who  derive  their  powers  from  Charters  granted  from  several 
persons  who  have  heretofore  commanded  this  province.  And  the 
provincial  courts,  which  are  authorized  from  an  ordinance  of  Your 
Excellcy  and  Councill,  in  virtue  of  the  powers  given  you  by  His 
Majtiea  letters  pattents  under  the  great  Seal  of  England  and  am 
humbly  of  opinion  that  the  coppyes  of  such  Charters  and  of  the 
Ordinance  aforesaid  would  be  best  manifest  to  their  Excellcie8  by 
what  rules  and  methods  we  are  govern'd  in  all  tryalls  which  is  the 
common  law  of  England  and  that  several  statutes  there  made  declar- 
ative thereof  and  as  near  as  may  be  according  to  the  manner  and 
methods  of  His  Majtys  Courts  at  Westminister  Hall,  except  in  the 
Court  of  Appeals  which  consists  of  the  Governour  or  Commander  in 
Chief,  and  his  Majesty's  Councill  for  the  time  being  and  is  constituted 
by  His  Majestys  letter  pattents."  This  report  is  of  importance  also  in 
enabling  us  to  determine  what  English  statutes  were  then  recognized 
by  the  courts  as  in  force  in  New- York.  It  will  be  observed  that  Chief- 
Justice  Smith  refers  to  them  as  those  statutes  declarative  of  the  com- 
mon law.  This  agrees  with  the  rule  then  observed — that  in  provinces 
acquired  by  England  by  conquest  general  English  statutes  were  bind- 
ing only  when  in  affirmance  of  the  common  law  and  made  before  the 
conquest. 

In  the  same  year  Lord  Bellomont  wrote  to  the  Lords  of  Trade :  - 
"  Nobody  here  understands  the  drawing  of  an  act  of  Assembly  and 
the  Courts  of  Justice  are  managed  att  a  strange  rate  " ;  but  as  William 
Bradford,  the  first  printer  of  the  province,  had  begun  regularly,  in 
1694,  to  print  the  acts  of  Assembly,  including  those  passed  during  the 
year  1691  and  subsequently,  we  may  now  readily  see  from  the  acts 
themselves  that  the  character  of  such  legislation  was  well  adapted 
to  the  wants  of  the  province.  The  important  fact  in  this  connection 
is  that  there  was  then  a  representative  Assembly  which  stood  for 
local  self-government,  and  against  the  strained  prerogative  asserted 
by  the  crown.  It  is  of  secondary  importance  that  its  acts  were  some- 
times crude  or  inartificial. 

Thus  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century  saw  established  in  the 
province  of  New- York  certain  great  institutions  of  civil  government, 
many  of  which  still  endure  under  forms  more  or  less  modified  by  the 
action  of  the  body  politic  in  the  succeeding  centuries. 

l  Doc.  rel.  Col.  Hist.  N.  Y.,  4:  828.  *  Doc.  rel.  Col.  Hist.  N.  Y.,  4:830. 


CHAPTER  XV 


FEINTING   IN   NEW-YOKK   IN   THE   SEVENTEENTH   CENTURY 


O  New- York  belongs  the  honor  of  being  the  first  English 
colony  in  America  to  give  governmental  encouragement 
to  the  printer's  art.  In  all  the  four  other  colonies  in 
which  the  printing-press  was  set  up  prior  to  its  establish- 


ment in  New- York,  the 
printers,  far  from  re- 
ceiving government  aid, 
were  soon  called  upon 
to  answer  for  some  in- 
fringement— real  or  fan- 
cied—  of  the  dignity  of 
the  provincial  authori- 
ties. In  Virginia,  the 
first  English  press  south 
of  Massachusetts  was 
suppressed  in  1682,1  and 
if,  as  is  supposed,  the 
Virginia  printer  was 
William  Nuthead,  he 
fared  but  little  better 
on  his  removal  to  St. 
Mary's  in  Maryland.  In 
1643  Stephen  Daye, 
Massachusetts'  first 
printer,  was  put  under 
£100  bonds  by  the  Gen- 
eral Court.2  Cf  Penn- 
sylvania we  shall  speak 
later.  Dr.  Moore3  has 
not  long  since  called 

1  Kenning,  2 : 518. 

2  Thomas,  1 : 43.   Albany,  1874. 

3  "  Historical  Notes  on  the  Intro- 
duction of  Printing  into  New-York, 
1693,"  by  George  H.  Moore,  LL.  D. 
Printed  for  the  Author.   New-York, 
1888. 


Dtpraiiara  torrigtte  -tt  fnttommta  cc  • 
rlrftEpuro  Rfi&tW  apttircfmonnutl 
a  faftioioQ  a  urt  a  raalipia  Itdorifo 
•  n  cm  orb  to  rtprobati.  flja  brat  qui  no* 
lutit  umtro  librae  url  f  mrmbranra 
puruiirtie-aura  arrrirocr.ftfmincm: 
nrlumjah'buammtlgoamntlittma 
nura  limrjw  tpirata  quam  raBirra: 
oiiiucto  mirt)i  tnrifqt  gimttantpmi 
pttra  Ijntetc  tcOulae-rt  nmt  rant  puk 
nun  ra  oitra  quam  nuc&atoB  .  IJtta* 
IT,  anran  tttttip  ft  ftp  tuarnnra  iutra 
BmnottmtamjEtaiirtjrrap-ilarinu 
racplabotf  tratlatnift.  fflipt  umif 
rimrq;q8uuIr:rtftuQurt~uracmagi8  ' 
in.ua  raaliuou],pbfUJlo{ni6  ftiuD' 
iaatfiWlafuntntticttui 
I  nut  palmao  foliammpli 
JcanmautinrutDttDuJt? 
ntn  ronitOnrui  patunMT 
inttr  pttttfldii- 


Dttrt./Rur  aut  quia  iiiga  f 
faliiarariB  ooto  op  ttart  nbu  qiu  no 
pmtttannquanniinorumriiroina 
utatu  ftntibus  uirgxiItiTm  purgarr. 
toot  unit]  i  {fmitnuo  infigttut  •  njftr« 
ttor  uirioij  falfariuo  oonir-rt  ntortr 
non  autax  ftD  ftnit  .  lanta  tft  mhn 
UEtuBananmrumitQutcnatanMTa 
pi  trifq?  oi  ria  plarcaiircii  ma^ia  pul< 
ttoa  oolut  b,  abttt  totntto  qua  tcata* 
Dato3.  E/uaprcptrc  oicsttco  cil?&f( 
finti  oniiu  nobilirans  tt  tjuuulitatw  • 
trnitplar  cc  pro  fliibrtla  ralanalpoi' 
tttlifcji  mumiiCUuO  mono  ttion  •  iptn? 
tualia  Ijtc  tt  rannfuta  tDnafirfrijmn 
ac  teaiu  iob  qui  aoljut  opuo  lannor 
latrbann  ftmurr  tt  orambj  ftatcbat 
ttro'c-utitgrii  tt  iinmatulotuq; 
tr.Kucnm  mint  pnft  ptobarionmi 
atrp  oidona  oupfiaa  funt  n  oniufa 


rtOnirn:imtrjo  in  lingua  naBramut 


rafirat  rgirant  oB8  n  mulqumui!  If  < 
(toratt  fnl  ita  pfatio  nc  contcnto  tt  in 
prit;npi)Q  librae  taQI  fciiig  aiuuUco 
rogxtuc  obidiqt  Ihruj  prmflnre  uit  • 


runt  in  ij  tbraino  ooluminite  nnn  tp  - 
bt  Bitlc  nna  ITO  pfirtlfrif* 
fniioutufoaDoitafuuf. 
,    foion  tt  ilia  qut  Ijabm  niHfban* 
'  tur-ttiranjttuptattaiunt&niunilf- 
{ntuioua  rallnTat-oranabua  oobia 
magno  lab  on  ontEfi  :  mania  unit 
quifi  t|  oom  nun  ttdiOpj  rnfii  ottnu* 
fruroraiua-qua£|alionimnrgBao. 
"agilnnpitlibeciob 
r  DC  ttot  In  tttra  b,  uo 
I  tionuntioixift  (rat 
uit  illt  fnnpltf  tt  rt 
I  thia  atitmniaofii; 
I  n  rrttOniB  a  malo. 
!  jHantnfurn  ftptt  ft< 

|rt.t|  Hty  nlTf  ,  Jfififfy  nfyffipiiity  ft?  fiptp 

jujlia  ouiU'tt  tn  a  imlia  IB  iun  tmnn* 
quingttua  $  tuga  bourn  tt  quinffrrt 
K  afmn  ar  f  a  iml  la  rafta  n  ntiio.  fira  t 


tilinuni 


tate.I&ibantfiltinuattEaafbant 


{iio.l£t  nnttttuns  DOrabant 
nefiioe-ntuuuittuntnfadm&oini 

jtauuifnit  Bins 


pft  fi  nnuUJB  . 


fanrtjat  iob  Hindis  tritoua .  iDuaoa 

I  autincmuCTiffrothujDnutairttect 

mtanitnia :  affutt  inert  toa  mam  ra< 


PAGE    FROM 
570 


THE    GUTENBERG    BIBLE. 


PRINTING    IN    NEW-YORK    IN    THE    SEVENTEENTH    CENTURY     571 


THE 


WHOLE 

BOOKEOFPSALMES    <" 

Faithfully 
TRANSLATED   into    ENGLISH 


attention  to  a  small  volume  entitled  "An  Arrow  against  Idolatry,"  by 
Henry  Ainsworth,  which  bears  the  fictitious  imprint  of  "Novi  Belgia, 
1640,"  as  well  as  the  fact  that  Francis  Lovelace,  the  second  English 
Governor  of  New- York, 
"  soon  after  he  assumed  the 
government  in  1668,  mani- 
fested his  desire  for  having 
a  printer  in  the  province 
by  sending  for  one  to  New 
England;  but  he  does  not 
appear  to  have  been  success- 
ful in  his  application."1  The 
first  step  towards  success 
was  in  the  passage  of  the 
following  resolution  by  the 
Provincial  Council:  "March 
23,  1693.  Resolved  in  Coun- 
cil, That  if  a  Printer  will 
come  and  settle  in  the  city 
of  New- York  for  the  print- 
ing of  our  Acts  of  Assembly 
and  Publick  Papers,  he  shall 
be  allowed  the  sum  of  £40 
current  money  of  New- York 
per  annum  for  his  salary  and 
have  the  benefit  of  his  print- 
ing besides  what  serves  the 
publick."2  This  offer  met 
with  a  ready  response  from 
William  Bradford,  who  for 


'^.  Whereuntoisprefixedadifcourfede-  („ 
jcbn'ng  not  only  the  lawfullnes,  butalfoo 
the  neceffity  of  the  heavenly  Ordinance  ^ 
of  ringing  Scripture  P  fclmes  in          J-^ 
the  Churches  of 
Cod. 

Coll.  in. 

LetthewordofGoddweUplenteoufly  in  ^ 


grace  inyottrhe*rf$. 


ing  to  th 


j 
Lord 


mtl) 


v. 


If  any  beaffllcted,  let^impr^  andif 
anybemerry  lethimfingpfaJmei. 


Imprint* A> 
1.640 


FROM  THE  LENOX  LIBRARY  copy.3 


eight  years  had  been  en- 
gaged as  printer  and  book- 
seller in  Philadelphia. 

William  Bradford,  the  founder  of  the  press  in  the  middle  colonies, 
was  the  son  of  William  and  Ann  Bradford,  of  the  parish  of  Barwell, 
in  the  county  of  Leicester,  England.  He  was  born  there  May  30, 1663, 


1  Historical  Notes,  p.  5,  and  "An  Address  de- 
livered at  the  Celebration  by  the  New- York  His- 
torical Society  of  the  Two  Hundredth  Birthday  of 
William  Bradford,"  by  John    William    Wallace, 
Albany,  1863,  p.  62. 

2  Council  Minutes,  6  : 182. 

3  Several  f ac-similes  of  title-pages  appear  in  this 
chapter  for  special  reasons,  although  not  printed 
in  New-York.     A  page  of  the  Gutenberg  Bible, 
of  which  there  are  but  two  copies  in  this  country, 
is  introduced  as  being  the  first  work  printed  with 


movable  types ;  the  Bay  Psalm  Book  is  included 
as  being  the  first  work  in  English  that  appeared 
in  the  New  World;  and  Eliot's  Indian  Bible, 
owing  to  its  being  the  earliest  Bible  printed  on 
this  continent.  The  chapter  also  includes  a  fac- 
simile of  the  first  page  of  an  early  number  of 
the  pioneer  newspaper  printed  in  our  city,  copied 
from  an  exceedingly  rare  volume  of  Bradford's 
"Gazette, "in  possession  of  the  New- York  Society 
Library.  EDITOE. 


572 


HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YORK 


M  A  M  V  S  S  E 

WUNNE'ETUPANATAMWE 

UP-BIBLUM    GOD 

NANEESWB 


:ss 


•oc. 
«•€ 
••S 


KAH 
WUSKU   TESTAMENT. 


Me  qoofokinnuouk  tufaft  Wurtinneumob 
i,oh 


and  baptized  the  same  day  by  the  rector  of  the  parish.  His  father 
died  in  1668,  and  his  mother  in  1683 ;  both  were  buried  in  the  church- 
yard at  Bar  well.  He  was  apprenticed  to  Andrew  Sowle,  of  London, 
the  principal  Quaker  printer  and  bookseller  of  his  day.  Bradford  re- 
mained with  Sowle  until  1685,  and  during  this  time  became  a  Quaker, 
but  whether  the  influence  of  his  master  or  his  master's  daughter 
Elizabeth,  whom  he  married  in  London  on  the  28th  of  April,  1685,  was 
most  potent  in  bringing  about  his  "  convincement,"  is  now  hard  to  say. 
It  has  been  asserted  that  he  was  one  of  Penn's  company  on  the  Wel- 
come. It  is  not  only  unlikely 
that  it  was  our  printer,  as 
he  was  not  then  out  of  his 
apprenticeship,  and  there  is 
no  record  of  his  having  ob- 
tained a  certificate  of  removal 
from  the  London  meeting  prior 

JNUKKONE  TESTAMENT  IS  to  1685,  but  is  directly  at  vari- 
ance with  the  tone  of  George 
Fox's  letter  of  sixth  month, 
1685,1  commending  him  to 
"  Friends "  in  Pennsylvania 
and  elsewhere.  The  compan- 
ion of  Penn  on  his  first  voy- 
age to  America  was  beyond  a 
doubt  another  William  Brad- 
ford, who  settled  and  became  a 
man  of  some  local  importance 
in  Sussex  County,  now  part  of 
Delaware.  William  Penn  re- 
turned to  England  in  1684,  and 
it  may  be  inferred  from  Brad- 
ford's statements  in  1689 2  that 
he  held  out  inducements  to  the  young  printer  which  led  him  to  emigrate 
to  Pennsylvania.  Bradford  obtained  from  the  London  meeting  a  cer- 
tificate of  removal  for  himself  and  wife,  dated  August  12, 1685,  which 
was  read  to  the  quarterly  meeting  in  Philadelphia  on  the  4th  of  the 
following  January ;  his  arrival  here  is  thus  shown  to  have  been  some 
time  between  the  October  and  January  quarterly  meetings.  His 
printing-office  and  residence  appear  to  have  been  first  in  Philadel- 
phia, then  in  Oxford  Township,  Philadelphia  County,  from  whence  he 
seems  to  have  removed  his  office  back  to  Philadelphia  in  1688,  add- 
ing to  it  a  book-store,  and  keeping  it  there  but  residing  in  Oxford 
Township  during  the  remainder  of  his  stay  in  Pennsylvania. 
His  first  publication  was  "  Kalendarium  Pennsilvaniense,  or  Amer- 

l  Wallace's  Address,  p.  24.  2  Wallace's  Address,  p.  50. 


JOHN    ELIOT* 


C  A  MLR  IDG  B> 

ii-j 

W  \      PliotCUOOp  Mfhpe  Samxti  Initn  k J>  MormMbAf 

>€'  1      4     6     }. 


TITLE    TO    ELIOT'S    INDIAN    BIBLE. 


PRINTING    IN    NEW-YORK    IN    THE    SEVENTEENTH    CENTURY     573 


DEFENCE,  A.  D.  1689,  BY  WILLIAM  BRADFORD,  WHO  ESTABLISHED  PRINTING  IK 

THE  MIDDLE  COLONIES,  OF  THE  LIBERTY  OF  THE  PRESS. 
(FROM  THE  ORIGINAL  IN  THE  NEW-YORK  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY.) 


'6h*r^Sc/fi*^^$*^^9^J^^ 
tTTrt-ftv-t-,  «~J  tv&Se^yv**  -fv  -twists' 

^fK™^*j%^t#~*?&*  ~~f;~~~-Ka+™/^>/2~^ 


&'•*&&  ^ 


ty  &*~**Zr±/*p  &~^j  *&•  ^f  «^~*  '&& 
£~*4**«&  *  £•  frfrj-J'^-  ™*x*J  £~>-&&^. 

./tr^s   '..    s  .    c\jr.s»*  .  ss  /y(\    ..  'T\  is.    "/i a j 


^ 


r^2^*'^^%&£2_£*' 


f*v£--. 


&***** 


-•^/^^3^fe^5^JrS; 

^''^/M^^T^.^Z^OL  $/&«*/><*&*&*- 

t^jfzzg^^^  Vg2E25aZ«Z3y 

rr^M^^.^^-««!*j^^*^>*^*fry:~^'M^.      .  ^ 

/^tr^L" 


€*.**y  — 

O^terAr^ 

**-£&£> 
',3>~4. 

'Jt&c**- 


*tiiir*v**j^'~i jf~~^  ••  f  - 

l^^^££f>-0&*-*< 

<3hA.*  &**&** ,  *^v^ 

ft  ,  ff>   '  —  y_ ^if,''^.  •  ^L-^'tt 


[Continued  on  next  page.] 


574 


HISTORY    OF    NEW- YORK 


feP^^^w^,^ 


ica's  Messinger;  Being  an  Almanack  for  the  Year  of  Grace  1686." 
This  brought  him  a  summons  before  the  Governor  and  Council,  for 
referring  to  the  Proprietary,  in  the  table  of  chronology,  as  "Lord 
Penn  " ;  and,  on  his  appearance,  he  was  ordered  to  blot  out  the  objec- 
tionable title,  and  forbidden  to  print  anything  without  license  from 
the  Provincial  Council.1  In  1687  he  was  cautioned  by  the  Philadel- 

l  Colonial  Records,  1 : 165. 


THE 


AS  n   R  'i^ 

<f NS  "    "•>  *^Ti 

,S«  The  *vay  r»f  training  up  of  our  K 
|jp    l«fi.i»   Toftft  in  the   gibi!  *>^ 
^   knortdedge  of  Goil,  in  the 
knowledge  of  the  So  ip:un< 
and  in  an  ability  to  Beade. 


PRINTING    IN    NEW-YORK    IN    THE    SEVENTEENTH    CENTURY    575 

phia  meeting  not  to  print  anything  touching  the  Quakers  without  its 
approval.  Two  years  later  he  was  again  called  before  the  Governor 
and  Council— this  time  for  printing  the  charter  of  the  province.  The 
spirited  report,  in  his  own  handwriting,  of  his  examination  on  this 
occasion  is  now  preserved  in 
the  collection  of  the  New- 
York  Historical  Society.1 
Disappointed  at  the  non-ful- 
filment of  Penn's  promise  of 
the  government  printing  and 
the  failure  of  his  scheme  for 
printing  an  English  Bible, 
which,  although  indorsed  by 
the  meeting,  found  few  sub- 
scribers, and  harassed  by 
both  the  civil  and  religious 
authorities,  Bradford  deter- 
mined to  leave  the  province. 
Having  transferred  his  press 
to  his  "Assignes,"  and  in 
July  obtained  the  customary 
certificate  of  removal,  he  and 
his  family  returned  to  Eng- 
land.2 But  the  Quakers  were 
loath  to  spare  him.  At  the 
yearly  meeting,  held  in  Sep- 
tember, it  was  "  agreed  to 
grant  him,  besides  all  the 
business  which  they  could  throw  in  his  way,  a  yearly  salary  of  £40."3 
The  sum  offered  induced  Bradford  to  return;  and  next  year  he  was 
one  of  the  founders  of  the  first  paper-mill  in  America. 

Early  in  1692  he  asked  for  and  received  a  release  from  his  contract 
with  the  meeting,  no  doubt  wishing  to  feel  entirely  free  to  support 
George  Keith  in  his  struggle  against  the  Unitarian  tendency  then 
prevalent  among  the  Quakers  in  America.  As  the  quarrel  grew 
more  and  more  violent  he  became  one  of  Keith's  most  active  sup- 
porters; and  in  August,  on  the  appearance  of  Keith's  "Appeal  from 
the  Twenty-eight  Judges,"  some  of  his  type  was  seized,  and  he  and 
others  were  arrested  and  imprisoned.  The  account  of  the  trial,4  which 
took  place  in  the  following  December,  probably  written  by  Bradford 
or  Thomas  Budd,r>  was  printed  by  him  soon  after  his  removal  to  New- 


THE    ELIOT    INDIAN    PRIMER. 


1  It  is  given  in  full  inWallace's  Address,  pp.  49-52. 

2  The  birth  of  his  son  Isaac  is  recorded  in  London 
in  1689. 

*  Wallace's  Address,  p.  53. 


*  "New  England's  Spirit  of  Persecution  Trans- 
mitted to  Pennsilvania." 

5  While  Keith  was  before  the  London  yearly  meet- 
ing, May  28th  to  June  11, 1694,  "  Inquiry  was  made 


576 


HISTOKY    OF    NEW- YORK 


York ;  and  from  it  we  learn  that  "  on  the  soil  of  Pennsylvania,  the 
father  of  our  press  asserted,  in  1692,  with  a  precision  not  since  sur- 
passed, a  principle  in  the  law  of  libel  hardly  then  conceived  anywhere, 
but  which  now  protects  every  publication  in  much  of  our  Union — a 
principle  which  English  judges,  after  the  struggles  of  the  great  Whig 
Chief  Justice  and  Chancellor,  Lord  Camden,  through  his  whole  career, 

and  of  the  brilliant  declaimer,  Mr. 
Erskine,  were  unable  to  reach,  and 
which,  at  a  later  day,  became  final- 
ly established  in  England  only  by 
the  enactment  of  Mr.  Fox's  Libel 
Bill  in  Parliament  itself."1  The  jury 
disagreed,  and  Bradford  was  held 
for  appearance  at  the  next  court. 
In  the  mean  time  the  dissensions 
in  the  province  aroused  by  the 
Keithian  schism  had  led  to  the  ab- 
rogation of  Penn's  charter  by  the 
crown,  and  the  appointment  of  Ben- 
jamin Fletcher  to  be  Royal  Gov- 
ernor of  Pennsylvania  as  well  as  of 
New- York.  No  further  action  was 
taken  in  the  Bradford  case  before 
the  arrival  of  the  new  Governor, 
except  the  issuance  of  a  writ  under 
which  "the  Sheriff  took  Goods  out 
of  the  Shop  of  Wil.  Bradford  half 
as  much  more  as  the  said  Warrant  was  for." 3  One  of  Fletcher's  first 
acts  on  reaching  Philadelphia  was,  upon  Bradford's  petition,  to  order 
the  restoration  of  his  types  and  other  goods. 

Bradford's  first  warrant  for  his  salary  as  "  Printer  to  King  William 
and  Queen  Mary,  at  the  City  of  New- York,"  was  dated  October  12, 
1693,  and  was  for  six  months,  due  on  the  10th  preceding,  thus 
showing  that  upon  the  10th  of  April,  1693,  he  had  complied  with  the 
terms  of  the  resolution  of  the  Council  passed  in  the  previous  March, 
and  introduced  the  art  and  mystery  of  his  craft  into  New- York.4 
What  was  the  first  product  of  his  press  is  a  matter  of  doubt.  It  may 
have  been,  as  Dr.  Moore  suggests,  the  "  Journal  of  the  Late  Actions  of 


Relatiptv  What  Wtmggre  kfi 


FROM    THE    ONLY    KNOWN    COPY.2 


in  this  Meeting  who  was  the  owner  and  author  of 
it  [i.  e.,  New  England's  Spirit  of  Persecution] ; 
and  G.  Keith  disowned  it  to  be  his,  but  he  owned 
that  part  of  it  which  concerned  his  Trial ;  and  T. 
Budd  said  he  was  not  willing  to  discover  the  au- 
thor's name."  ("True  Account  of  the  Proceed- 
ings, &c.,  of  the  Yearly  Meeting  begun  in  London 
on  the  28th  of  3d  month,  1694,"  by  Robert  Han- 
ney,  London,  1694,  p.  6. ) 


1  Wallace's  Address,  p.  56. 

2  The  copy  of  Frame's  poem  belonging  to  the 
Library  Company  of  Philadelphia  is  unique,  and 
no  other  perfect  copy  is  known  of  the  Book  of  Com- 
mon Prayer,  except  that  in  the  possession  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Historical  Society.     See  p.  582. 

EDITOR. 

3  "  New  England's  Spirit  of  Persecution, "pp.  3, 4. 

4  Wallace's  Address,  p.  63. 


PRINTING    IN    NEW-YORK    IN    THE    SEVENTEENTH    CENTURY    577 

the  French  at  Canada,"1  or  "New  England's  Spirit  of  Persecution 
Transmitted  to  Pennsilvania,"  or  the  Act  of  Assembly  noticed  later. 
The  first  of  these  is  certainly  among  the  very  earliest  issues  of  the 
New- York  press,  as  the  London  edition  was  licensed  on  September  11, 
1693,  while  the  license 

New-England's   Spirit   of  Perfection 


Tranfmittcd  To 


PENNSILVANIA, 

And  the  Pretended  Qytktr  Ibund  Perfecutingthe  True 

Cfetfttan  -  Quaker, 


IN  THE 


T  R  Y  A   L 


OF 


for  the  reprint  of  the 
second  bears  date  of  Oc- 
tober 19,  1693.  It  has 
been  argued  that  "New 
England's  Spirit  of 
Persecution"  was  printed 
before  Bradford  left 
Philadelphia,  because  he 
omitted  his  name  from 
the  imprint,  but  he  made 
the  same  omission  in 
Keith's  "  Truth  Ad- 
vanced," which  was  not 
published  till  nearly  a 
year  after  his  settlement 

in    New- York,    and    in 

-,.»•  i  ,  urn  AT.  rr  u 
Maule's  'Truth  Held 

Forth,"  which  was  not 
printed  tiU  1695;  this 
argument  is  therefore 
of  no  weight.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  must  be 
remembered  that  the 
year  in  Pennsylvania 
then  began  by  law  on  March  1st,2  and  anything  printed  prior  to 
that  day  would  have  been  dated  1692.  The  title-page  of  "New 
England's  Spirit"  says  "Printed  in  the  Year  1693";  and  as  we  have 
already  said  the  tract  is  a  report  of  Bradford's  trial  at  the  Decem- 
ber term  of  the  Court  of  Quarter  Sessions.  The  last  leaf  of  the  tract 
contains  an  account  of  his  appearance  at  the  next  court,  which  was 
not  held  until  March,  1692-93,  and  it  could  not  therefore  have  been 
written  till  after  the  first  week  of  that  month ;  and  as  he  certainly 
issued  two,  and  probably  three  small  works  in  Philadelphia  during 
the  brief  portion  of  1693  he  remained  there,  and  his  office  was  still 
crippled  by  seizure  made  in  the  preceding  September,  he  could  hardly 
have  got  out  this  tract  before  his  removal  to  New- York. 

Besides    the    two    pamphlets    just    mentioned,   three    separately 

1  "Historical  Notes,"  pp.  16-18,  New-York,  1888. 

2  "Charter  and  Laws  of  Pennsylvania,  1682-1700,"  p.  116,  Harrisburgh,  1879. 
VOL.  I.— 37. 


Teter  Bofs,  George  Keith,    Thomas 
and  Wmiam  Bradford, 


At  the  Setfions  held  at  PJiildelphia  the  Nineth,  Tenth  and 
Twelfth  Days  of  December,  1692,  Giving  an  Account 
of  the  moft  Arbitrary  Procedure  of  that  Court. 


Printed  in  the  Year    1693. 

FROM  THE  LENOX  LIBRARY  COPY. 


578 


HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YOEK 


printed  acts  of  the  New- York  Assembly,  passed  in  1692  and  1693,  and 
an  ordinance  establishing  courts,  passed  in  1691,  are  of  uncertain 
priority.  The  coincidence  of  the  date  of  one  of  the  former,  "An  Act 

for  raising  six  Thou- 
sand Pound  for  the  pay- 
ment of  three  Hundred 
Volunteers  and  their 
Officers  to  be  employed 
in  the  Reinforcement  of 
the  Frontiers  of  this 
Province  at  Albany," 
etc.,  passed  April  10, 
1693,  with  the  commence- 
ment of  Bradford's  term 
of  office,  suggests  the 
probability  of  its  having 
been  the  very  first  print 
of  his  press  in  New- York. 
Lancaster's  "  Queries  to 
the  Quakers "  and  the 
"  New  England  Primer," 
of  which  only  fragments 
have  been  preserved,  also 
hold  uncertain  positions 
as  to  their  order  of  ap- 
pearance among  the  pub- 
lications of  this  year.  The 
FROM  THE  NEW-YORK  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  COPY.  order  in  which  the  re- 
maining known  issues  of  Bradford's  press  appeared  during  its  first  year 
must  be  nearly  as  follows:  An  Act  for  the  Assembly  of  Pennsylvania 
levying  a  tax  for  the  support  of  the  government,  passed  June  2;  Fletch- 
er's Proclamation  granting  license  to  Warner  Wessells  and  Antie  Chris- 
tians to  collect  money  for  the  redemption  of  their  relatives  from  slavery 
in  Salee,  dated  June  8th;  A  translation  of  the  same  in  Dutch;  A  Proc- 
lamation in  regard  to  erecting  Fire  Beacons  to  give  warning  of  inva- 
sions from  Canada,  dated  August  25th ;  A  Catalogue  of  Fees,  after 
September  20th ;  An  Exhortation  and  Caution  to  Friends  Concerning 
the  buying  or  keeping  of  Negroes,1  after  October  13th ;  An  Account 
of  Several  Passages  and  Letters  between  his  Excellency  Benjamin 
Fletcher,  etc.,  And  the  present  Administrators  of  the  Laws  in  the  Col- 
lony  of  Connecticut,  after  October;  A  Proclamation  urging  the  people 
of  Connecticut  to  yield  obedience  to  their  Majesties  Commission  to 

1  The  first  protest  against  slavery  printed  in  "Pennsylvania  Magazine  of  History  and  Biogra- 
America.  It  was  issued  by  the  Keithian  Quaker  phy  for  1889,  "from  the  only  known  copy,  now  in  the 
meeting  at  Philadelphia,  and  was  reprinted  in  the  library  of  Devonshire  meeting-house,  London. 


I  N    THE 

CORRECTION 

O  F    MANY 

Grofs  &  hurtful  Errors  ; 

Wherein  is  occafionally  opened  &  explained  many  great  and 
peculiar  Myfteries  and  Doctrines  of  the 

Cljttfttan  Religion.   ! 

By    George  Keith. 

Whereunto  is  added, 

A  Chronological  'Treatife  of  the  fever al  Ages 

(f  the  WO  RLD  : 

Showing  the  Intervals  Time  &  Effecte  of  the  Seven  Churches 
Seven  Seals,  Seven  Trumpets,  andfeven  Vials,  called,  TheSeven 
Plagues i  and  the  various  dreadful  Effefts  that  are  like  to  enfueat  the 
pouring  forth  of  each  of  them,  which  is  near  at  hand. 
Together  with.an  Account  of  the  Time  of  the  Churches  goin^ 
into  the  Wildernefs,  her  Return,  full  Reftoration,  and  Universal 
fpreadingofthe  glorious Gofpel  into  all  Nationsof  theEarth. 
A,  alfo,  the  time  of  thePerfonal  Anti-chrift,his  Reign  and  laft 
Perfecution ;  With  the  Time  of  the  Prophecy!  ng,  Killing  and  Rifmg 
aaain  of  the  two  "Witnefles. 

And  Laftly  Concerning  the  Thousand  Years  Reign  of  the 
Saints  with  Christ  yet  to  come,  and  time  of  beginning  thereof,  only 
by  way  of  Effay  and  Hypothefis. 


PRINTING    IN    NEW- YORK    IN    THE    SEVENTEENTH    CENTURY     579 


Fletcher  to  be  Governor  of  that  colony,  dated  November  8th;  A  Proc- 
lamation relative  to  deserters  from  the  army  and  navy  and  travellers 
and  others  without  passes,  dated  November  13th;  and  Leeds'  Alma- 


CORRECTION 

O  F    MANY 

Grofs  &  hurtful  Errors  ; 

Wherein  is  ccofionally  opened  &  explained  many  great  and 
peculiar  Myfterits  and  Doftrines  of  the 


By    George  Keirb. 


nac  for  1694.  The  im- 
print of  the  last  is  dated 
1694,  but  it  was,  no 
doubt,  issued,  as  was 
usual  with  like  publica- 
tions,latein  1693.1  Brad- 
ford maintained  to  the 
end  of  his  career  this 
practice  of  dating  the 
imprint  of  almanacs 
published  by  him  with 
the  year  for  which  they 
were  to  serve,  while  the 
advertisements  in  his 
newspapers  show  that 
they  were  generally  on 
sale  about  October  of 
the  preceding  year. 

The  almanac  for 
1694  announces  Keith's 
"  Truth  Advanced  "  as 
"  now  in  the  Press," 
and  the  speedy  print- 
ing of  the  Laws  of  the 
Province.  The  former 
small  quarto  volume 
of  two  hundred  and 
twenty-four  pages  is,  with  the  exception  of  Maule's  "  Truth  Held 
Forth,"2  the  largest  work  printed  by  Bradford  at  one  time  prior  to 


W hereunto  is  added, 

A  Chronological  Treatife  of  the  fiver  al  Age? 

of  tbt  WORLD: 

Showing  the  Intervals,  Time  &  Erfcfts  of  the  Seven  Churches 
SevcnSeals,  Seven  Trumpets,  and  feven  Vials,  called,  Tmlev*tlti> 
YUgMti^  and  the  yarious  dreadful  EfFefts  rhat  arc  lixe  to  cnfue  at  tb 
pouring '01  liofeachof  tlnm,  which  is r.eaw.  hand. 

Together  with  an  Account  of  the  Time  of  the  Churches  going 
into 'he  WilderneG,  her  Return,  fuil  Relto  ation,  and  Univcila 
fpreadingoftb  g'orions  Gof pel  into  all  Nu  ions  of  the  Earth. 

Asalfo,  the  time  of  thcPcrlon^  Anti-chrift  his  Reignand  lalt 
P  rfecurion  ^  With  the  Time  of  ibe  Proph.ec.,  ing,  Kiilu  g  and  Riling 
again  of  the  two  WitneflX 

And  Ltftfy,  Concerning  the  Thoufand  Years  Reign  of  the 
Saints  withChrilr  yet  t  com.,  and  t  me  of  beginning  itieieof,  only 
by  way  of  Eflay  and  Hypotheiis- 


in  the  Tetr  1694. 


PROM    THK    PENNSYLVANIA    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY    COPY. 


1  In  1863  the  two-hundredth  anniversary  of  the 
birth  of  William  Bradford,  "who, first  of  all  men 
in  America,  asserted,  and  maintained  to  his  cost, 
the  liberty  of  unlicensed  printing,"  was  appropri- 
ately celebrated  by  the  New- York  Historical  Soci- 
ety, the  principal  feature  of  the  occasion  being  an 
admirable  address  delivered  by  the  late  John  Wil- 
liam Wallace  of  Philadelphia,  one  of  Bradford's 
descendants,   and  for  many  years  the  honored 
President  of  the  Pennsylvania  Historical  Society. 
The  approaching  two-hundredth  anniversary  of 
the  introduction  of  the  printing-press  in  our  city 
will  also  be  suitably  commemorated,  in  1893,  by  the 
New-York  Historical  Society.  EDITOR. 

2  Thomas  Maule  was  born   in   Warwickshire. 
England,  in  1645,  and  died  in  Salem,  Mass.,  in 
1724.     In  his  religious  faith  he  was  a  Quaker.     He 
was  in  many  respects  a  remarkable  person,  and 


without  the  possibility  of  contradiction,  a  stanch 
defender  of  his  religious  opinions,  a  troublesome 
man  to  the  authorities  of  Massachusetts  Colony, 
and  a  thorn  in  the  side  of  Cotton  Mather.  He  was 
the  author  of  several  works,  three  of  which  were 
printed  by  William  Bradford  in  New- York  before 
1701.  The  work  of  which  two  fac-simile  pages 
are  given,  reduced  one-third,  is  so  far  as  known 
believed  by  many  to  be  the  earliest  and  "the 
most  considerable  monument  of  typography  in 
New- York  previous  to  1700."  The  following  is  its 
title:  "Crutfj  3UeH>  JforH)  and  maintained  According 
to  the  Testimony  of  the  holy  Prophets,  Christ  and 
his  Apostles  recorded  in  the  holy  Scriptures. 
With  some  Account  of  the  Judgements  of  the 
Lord  lately  inflicted  upon  Nrto  liutjlanb  65  EBitrfjcraft. 
To  which  is  added  Something  concerning  the  Fall 
of  Adam  his  state  in  the  Fall  and  the  way  of  Res- 


580 


HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 


1710.  It  is  printed  on  paper  made  at  the  Eittenhouse  Mill,  of  which 
Bradford  was  part  owner,  and  in  the  water-mark  of  some  of  the  sheets 
can  be  seen  the  name  of  the  manufacturer.  The  Hebrew  letters  which 
occur  in  its  pages  made  the  compiler  of  the  Brinley  catalogue  skeptical 
f  f  ^  as  to  its  having  come  from 

Cod.  before  whom,  In  the  time  of  pravtns  &  nronhecyiirgfc  Bradford's  press,  because  he 
the  Head  is  to  be  u  ncovered,  for  the  &*d  of  every  01*9  it,  Vi  fl  /I  "  n  of  f  on  n  H  th  PTYI  i  n  a  n  v 
Chrift,  tndtheHeadofCbntt,  loi  ;  which  proves  a  dif' 
honour  to  the  Name  of  the  Lord,  to  lion  jur  men  .whole 
hearts  they  know,  not  as  to  God,  but  honour  them  in  the 
Ja.nefonn  as  they  do  the  Lord,  when  their  Prayers  are 
made  to  him,  who  is  the  featcher  .ot  a' I  hearts,  and-jivsr 
to  every  man  according  to  the  fruits  of  his  doings,  which; 
to  the  aitbful  will  be  a  Crown  of  Righteou  fuels  to  the 
hoary  Head,  but  to  the  Sinner,  though  a  hundred  yea  -s 
old.  be  is  accurfed,  which  alfb  doth  of  Hat-Honour,  by 
Which  men  hon.ur  that  which  is  accurfcd  of  God. 


CHAP.    XXIX. 

Contenting  the  great  ^nd^mentiofGod  upon  the  Inhibit  aatt 
of  New-England  by  Witch-craft. 


other  volume  printed  by 
him."  But  they  are  to  be  seen 
on  page  8  of  "New  England's 
Spirit  of  Persecution."  The 
historical  importance,  rar- 
ity, and,  of  late  years,  the 
high  price  commanded  by 
the  "  Laws  and  Acts  of  the 
General  Assembly  of  their 
Majesties  Province  of  New- 
York,  As  they  were  enact- 


WJtch-craft  js  altogether  wrought,  through  tfi»%)^    ed  in  divers  Sessions  the 
Jevil,  which  rules  irr  the     firgt  of  which  began  April 

the  9th,  Anno  Domini,  1691. 
At  New- York,  Printed  and 
Sold  by  William  Bradford, 
1694,"  have  made  it  the  most 
famous  of  all  of  Bradford's 
publications.  As  originally 
issued  it  consisted  of  eighty- 
four  small  folio  pages,  to 
which  were  added  the  Cata- 
logue of  Fees  and  the  three  separately  issued  acts  printed  in  1693,  mak- 
ing one  hundred  and  twelve  pages  in  all.  To  this  Bradford  continued 


Jtch-craft  js  altogether  wrought,  through  tfis^Ji. 
rtt  arid  Power  of  the  Devil,  which  rules  in  the 
Children  of  Difobedience,  W!ID  ramain  in  the  Works  of 
the  fle*fh,  with  which  Witch-craft  is  included,  t  Gal.  j. 
and  5  20.  for  which  caufe  the  juft  Judgments  ot-Godi 
are  the  Reward  ot  all  Wicked  and  Urtgodly  men,,  bat 
to  all  that  repent,  their  Sins  and  Blafphemies,  where* 
xvithfoever  rhey  Ihall  blafpheme,  (hall  be  forgiven,  but 
he  that  blafphemeih  againft  the  holy  Ghofl^  fhaU  not  be 
forgiven  In  this  World,  nor  the  world  to  come-,  job.  {, 
6,  17.  M*t.  31.  10.  Now  as  to  divers  Authors*  their 
apprchenfions  are  various,  in  differing  one  from  the  other 
about  Witches  and  Witch-craft,  which  to  prevent  error, 
¥  a  that 


PROM  MAULE'S  "TRUTH  HELD  FORTH. 


toration  to  God  again,  With  many  other  Weighty 
things  necessary  for  People  to  Weigh  and  con- 
sider." Printed  by  W.  Bradford.  Quarto,  pp. 
viii.,  and  260.  On  December  12,  1695,  the  Massa- 
chusetts authorities  issued  to  the  sheriff  of  Essex 
County  a  warrant  for  the  arrest  of  Thomas  Maule 
of  Salem  for  printing  and  publishing  without 
license  of  authority  this  book.  The  return  of 
the  warrant  by  George  Corwin,  the  sheriff,  was 
made  on  December  14,  1695,  and  states  that  he 
had  seized  said  Maule  and  thirty-one  copies  of 
the  work.  Maule  was  confined  in  the  jail  in 
Salem,  and  the  books  burnt  by  the  public  execu- 
tioner. In  his  second  work,  also  printed  by  Wil- 
liam Bradford  in  New-York  in  1697,  entitled  "  New 
England  peaccutors  iKaulti  With  their  own  Wea- 
pons," etc.,  which  gives  an  account  of  this  trial  in 
Boston,  he  states,  page  61,  that  his  "Copy  [manu- 
script of  the  work]  is  in  another  government  in  the 
hands  of  the  printer."  In  Judge  SewelFs  Diary, 


published  by  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society 
in  1878,  Vol.  I,  page  416,  it  is  said,  under  date  De- 
cember 16,  1695,  that  "Thomas  Maule  Shopkeeper 
of  Salem  is  brought  before  the  council  for  print- 
ing and  publishing  a  quarto  of  260  pages  entitled 
Truth  held  forth  and  maintained — owns  the  book 
but  will  not  own  all  till  sees  his  copy  which  is  at 
N.  York  with  —  Bradford  who  printed  it,  Saith  he 
writt  to  the  Governour  of  New- York  before  he 
could  get  it  printed.  Book  is  ordered  to  be 
burnt,"  etc.  Chapter  XXIX.  of  Erutfj  f^clto  jFortJ) 
and  maintained  is  a  masterly  expos4  of  the  Salem 
Witchcraft  Delusion,  and  is,  so  far  as  at  present 
known,  the  earliest  printed  refutation  extant.  Per- 
haps the  most  perfect  copy  of  this  extremely  rare 
work,  and  from  which  the  fac-similes  were  made, 
is  in  the  library  of  Dr.  Samuel  S.  Purple  of  New- 
York.  The  few  copies  of  this  book  of  which  we 
have  any  knowledge  lack  the  title-page. 

EDITOR. 


PRINTING    IN    NEW-YOKK    IN    THE    SEVENTEENTH    CENTUBY     581 

to  add  the  acts  passed  by  successive  assemblies  down  to  1709,  and  so 
carelessly  was  the  work  performed  that  it  has  resulted  in  a  bibliograph- 
ical puzzle  which  no  one  has  yet  thoroughly  mastered.  Of  the  seven 
copies  known  to  exist  no  two  are  exactly  alike  in  their  contents  and 
pagination.  Mr.  Briuley's  copy  sold  in-1880  for  $1600;  Mr.Vanderpool's 
in  1888  for  $1450 ;  and  in  1889  a  copy  lacking  the  title-page  was  sold 
privately  for  $1750;  all  these  of  course  contained  more  or  less  of  the 
laws  added  between  1694  and  1710.  Bradford  also  printed  in  1694  the 
first  edition  of  the  "Charter  and  Laws  of  the  City  of  New- York,"  but 
no  copy  is  now  known  to  be  extant.  In  1695  he  began  printing  the 
;'  Votes  of  Assembly,"  the  earliest  publication  of  the  proceedings  of 
an  American  legislature,  and  in  consideration  of  this  additional  labor 
his  salary  was  raised  to  £60. 

In  1696  he  reprinted,  with  that  is  not  of  him  Pel  f;  for  that  which  only  is  of  himfclffhaU 

some     alterations,     an     old  ft*nd' and  tf'at  which  is  not  othimfelffliall  come  to  nought, 

TJ,          i  -,         ,,T      m    ,  and  therefore  judgment  from  God  is  gone  forth  to  the  end* 

.b  rencn  work —     Le  Tresor  of  Earth,   that  all  that  will  be  gathered  may  be  preferved, 

des  Consolations  Divines  et   a  nd  th?c  vvhich  ,wi11  flor  h<nr  th^  sPirit  of  Tl «"'», to  be  obe- 

T-T  mi  tiient  thereto,  the  fame  fltall  be  fcattcred  abroad,  till  ludg- 

Mumailies."       1  he    expense  mcnt  gather  it,  as  Fuel  for  the  fire  of  Gods  Wrath,  which 

of  the  work  was  borne  by  forcver  bnrncth  againl*  the  unrighteoufnefi   of  wicked 

1VT,.      A     T>'  A  i     •       t   iai  and  ungodly  men  ;   and  for  this  very  end  is  judgment  at 

Mr.   A.   Pintard,1    111   fulfil-  work  for  God,  that  he  may  gather  a  People  pure  m  hearr, 

of    a  VOW  made    by  and  of  up"ghtntfs  in  mmd,  which  in  all  things  fhall  be  of 

one  fpirit  and  mind  towards  him  j  in  thought,  word  &•  work 


ment  of  a  vow  made 
him  during  a  dangerous  ill- 
ness. Among  the  publica- 
tions in  1697  John  Clap's 
Almanac  for  that  year — the 
first  almanac  compiled  in 
New- York — of  which  Brin- 
ley's  very  imperfect  copy 
sold  for  $420 ;  Leeds'  "News 
of  a  Trumpet "  and  Maule's 
"  New  England  Pesecutors 
Mauld"  are  the  most  im- 
portant. "  The  Secretary's 
Guide,"  a  text-book  of  prac- 
tical forms  and  informa- 
tion compiled  by  Bradford 
himself,  made  its  first  appearance  about  1698,  and  was  frequently  re- 
printed during  the  ensuing  forty  years.  "A  Letter  from  a  Gentleman 
in  the  City  of  New- York,"  a  copy  of  which  sold  at  the  Barlow  sale  in 
1889  for  $320,  and  Francis  Daniel  Pastorius'  "  New  Primer,  or  Method- 
ical Directions  to  Attain  the  True  Spelling,  Reading,  and  Writing  of 


therefore  let  none  in  this  day,  which  make  a  profeffionof 
Gods  hoiy  Truth,  deceive  themfelves,  for  God  will  not  be 
mocked,  fuchas  every  man-fbweth,  of  the  fame  he /hall 
atlb  reap,'  whether  to  the  rkfh,  or  to  the  Spirit ;  for  all  that 
is"  of  the  Spirit,  the  fpirit  giveth  evidence  in  every  faithful 
man  and  woman,  (that  it  is  of  God;  &  though  the  Spirit 
abideth  not  in  every  unrighteous  man,  yet  the  appearance 
of  it  is  often  to  their  condemnation,  and  fo  doth  continue, 
until  it  hath  left  ftriving,  and  the  day  of  Gods  Grace  be 
over,  having iirtried  out  ths  day  of- Gods  Vifitation.  Let 
all  therefore  confider  in- whac  Itatc-  they  abide,  as  to  God, 
whofe  promrfe  to  the  Righteous  is,  Tbttit  (btllgo  veil  »itb 
them,  batitfbAH  goillmth  the  WitktA\  Therefore  let  not 
thefe  Truths  which- have  been  received  by  the  Spirit  of 
Truth,  find.itching  Ears  among  any,  but  as  every  man  turn 
in  his  mind  to  the  Spirit  of  Truth,  he  .will  witoe(s  the  trutb 
of  ihele  Things'. 


4fh.  lf.Mon.  1694. 
T   H 


THO.  MAVIE. 


£  NO. 


1  This  gentleman  was  Antoine  Pintard,  a  Hu- 
guenot native  of  Bochelle,  who  came  to  this  country 
from  France  in  1685,  and  settled  in  Shrewsbury, 
New  Jersey,  where  he  and  his  wife  are  buried. 


He  resided  for  mauy  years  in  this  city,  and  was 
the  great-grandfather  of  John  Pintard,  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  New- York  Historical  Society. 

EDITOR. 


582 


HISTORY    OF     NEW-YORK 


BOOK 

O    F 

Common-Prayer> 


And  Other 

R  ires  and  Ceremonies  of  the  Church, 

According  to  the  I'fc  of  the 


Cljmcl)  of 

Together  with  che 

PSALTER, 

o  a 

Pfalms  of  David, 

Pointed  K  they  in  to  be  Sung  or  Slid  in 
CHURCHES. 

__  i  __  |     < 

Printed  and  Sold  by  MUum  BrdfirJ  in  Ktvfult,    17'° 


English ;  whereunto  are  added  some  things  Necessary  .  .  .  for  those, 
who  from  foreign  Countries  and  Nations  come  to  settle  among  us," 
were  also  issued  in  1698. 

Leeds'  "  Trumpet  sounded  out  of  the  Wilderness  "  is  the  only  work 
printed  in  1699,  except  an  almanac  and  the  usual  public  documents, 

which  has  been  preserved.  In  1700  Brad- 
ford published  "A  Hue  and  Cry  against 
Errors,"  one  of  the  endless  number  of 
tracts  arising  out  of  the  Keithian  contro- 
versy (the  books  by  Leeds  mentioned 
under  1697  and  1698  refer  to  the  same 
subject),  and  Southwick's  "  Gospel  Order 
Revived."  The  latter  was  an  attack  on 
Mather's  "  Order  of  Gospel,"  printed  in 
Boston  in  the  preceding  year,  and  to  the 
pamphlet  was  prefixed  an  "Advertisement. 
The  Reader  is  desired  to  take  Notice,  that 
the  Press  in  Boston  is  so  much  under  the 
aw  [sic]  of  the  Reverend  Author  whom  we 
answer,  and  his  Friends,  that  we  could  not 
obtain  of  the  Printer  there  to  print  the 
following  sheets,  which  is  the  only  reason  why  we  have  sent  the  copy 
so  far  for  its  impression,  and  where  it  [sic]  printed  with  some  Diffi- 
culty." Bradford  seems  to  have  considered  the  last  seven  words  to 
cast  an  imputation  on  his  professional  skill,  and  caused  them  to  be  taken 
out  of  the  form,  so  that  in  most  of  the  known  copies  they  do  not  appear. 
Such  is  the  record  of  the  New- York  press  in  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, so  far  as  has  now  been  discovered.  The  recall  of  Fletcher  in 
1698  deprived  Bradford  of  a  stanch  and  influential  friend,  and  with 
Lord  Bellomont,  the  new  Governor,  he  soon  quarreled,  the  climax 
being  reached  in  1700,  when  his  salary  was  suspended.  But  the  sus- 
pension was  only  temporary.  Bellomont  died,  and  in  less  than  a  year, 
by  order  of  Lord  Cornbury,  Bellomont's  successor,  Bradford's  salary 
was  restored  to  him.  The  beginning  of  the  new  century  found  the 
press  firmly  established  in  New- York,  and  the  first  printer  entering 
on  a  long  course  of  well-merited  prosperity. 


THE    FIRST    PRAYER-BOOK. 


Through  the  courtesy  of  N.  W.  Stuyvesant  Cat- 
lin,  Esq.,  of  New-York,  the  Editor  has  been  so  for- 
tunate as  to  obtain  a  picture  of  the  birthplace,  near 
Alphen,  Holland,  of  Colonel  Nicholas  Bayard,  the 
author  of  the  Journal  mentioned  on  another  page, 
and  for  two  score  years  among  the  most  prominent 
characters  of  this  city.  The  figures  represented 
in  this  ancient  painting,  which  is  appropriately 
framed  in  the  wood  of  his  uncle  Stuyvesant's 
famous  pear-tree  that  stood  for  more  than  two 
centuries  in  Third  avenue,  are  those  of  Samuel 


Bayard,  the  opulent  Amsterdam  merchant,  and  his 
wife  Anna  Stuyvesant.  The  painting  represents 
his  country  seat,  some  seven  miles  from  Leyden, 
and  it  is  now  engraved  for  the  first  time.  The 
two  accompanying  portraits  (on  page  584)  which 
have  never  appeared  before  and  are  also  the  prop- 
erty of  Mr.  Catlin,  are  those  of  the  Rev.  Lazare 
Bayard,  D.  D.,  and  his  wife  Judith  Beyens,  the 
father  and  mother  of  Samuel  Bayard,  the  ancestor 
of  all  the  American  Bayards.  EDITOR. 


PRINTING    IN    NEW-YORK    IN    THE    SEVENTEENTH    CENTURY     583 


BIBLIOGRAPHY   OF   NEW-YORK   PRESS  IN   SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY.  1 

1693. 

AN  I  ACCOUNT  |  of  |  several  Passages  and  Letters  between  his  Excellency 
|  Benjamin  Fletcher,  |  Captain  General  and  Governour  in  Chief  of  the  Prov- 
ince of  New- York,  |  Province  of  Pennsilvania,  County  of  New-Castle,  &c. 
Commissionated  |  by  their  Majesties  under  the  great  Seal  of  England,  to  be 
their  Lieut.  |  and  Commander  in  chief  of  the  Militia,  and  of  all  the  Forces  by 
Sea  |  and  Land  within  their  Majesties  Collony  of  Connecticut,  and  of  all  the  | 
Forts  and  places  of  Strength  with  the  same.  |  And  |  The  present  Administra- 
tors, of  the  Laws  in  the  |  Collony  of  Connecticut,  in  the  Month  of  October, 
1693.  |  [Colophon:]  Printed  and  Sold  by  William  Bradford,  Printer  to  their 
Majesties  King  \  William  and  Queen  Mary,  at  the  Bible  in  New-  York,  1693.  | 
Folio,  pp.  8. 

AN  EXHORTATION  &  Caution  |  To  |  Friends  |  Concerning  buying  or 
keeping  of  Negroes.  |  [New  York :  William  Bradford.  1693.]  Sra.  4to.  pp.  6. 

A  JOURNAL  of  the  late  Actions  of  the  French  at  Canada.  With  the  Man- 
ner of  their  being,  repulsed  by  his  Excellency,  Benjamin  Fletcher,  Their 
Majesties  Governour  of  New- York.  Impartially  related  by  Coll.  Nicholas 
Reyard  [Bayard],  and  Lieutenant  Coll.  Charles  Lodowick,  who  attended  his 
Excellency,  during  the  whole  Expedition.  To  which  is  added,  I.  An  Account 
of  the  present  State  and  Strength  of  Canada,  given  by  two  Dutch-Men,  who 


?^//%W  J*£<55&«^.  ~"~~o~*r  <Sb  rfeQe^&treft&&t^y 
^^(ft2^(pr<i>*™i*  toUkOlrtSniiff,**.  t*4&  £'aj*tfil$*o£&  • 


?   /«<"fL  (faq/ttej  ("Tnt/Scati.  fittneuc 


l  From  advance  sheets  of  "  The  Issues  of  the  Press  in  New-York,  1693-1752."  By  Charles  R. 
Hildeburn,  Philadelphia,  1892. 


584 


HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YORK 


PRINTING    IN    NEW-YORK    IN    THE    SEVENTEENTH    CENTURY     585 

have  been  a  long  time  Prisoners  there  and  now  made  their  Escape.  II.  The 
Examination  of  a  French  Prisoner.  III.  His  Excellency  Benjamin  Fletcher's 
Speech  to  the  Indians.  IV.  An  Address  from  the  Corporation  of  Albany,  to 
his  Excellency,  Returning  thanks  for  his  Excellency's  early  Assistance  for 
their  Relief.  New  York :  William  Bradford.  1693. 

This  title  is  condensed  from  that  of  the  London  reprint  reproduced  on  page  499,  no  copy  of 
the  original  pamphlet  being  now  known  to  exist. 

LANCASTER'S  Queries  |  To  The  |  Quakers,  |  With  The  | [New  York  : 

William  Bradford.    1693.]     Sm.  8vo. 

A  fragment  of  the  title-page  and  first  two  pages  of  the  preface  is  all  that  is  known  to  exist 
of  this  tract. 

THE  NEW  ENGLAND  Primer  Improved.  New  York :  William  Bradford. 
1693. 

NEW-ENGLAND'S  Spirit  of  Persecution  |  Transmitted  To  |  Pennsilvania, 
|  And  the  Pretended  Quaker  found  Persecuting  the  True  |  Christian-Quaker, 
I  in  the  |  Tryal  |  of  |  Peter  Boss,  George  Keith,  Thomas  Budd,  |  and  William 
Bradford,  |  At  the  Sessions  held  at  Philadelphia  the  Nineth,Tenth  and  |  Twelfth 
Days  of  December,  1692.     Giving  an  Account  |  of  the  most  Arbitrary  Pro- 
cedure of  that  Court.  |  [New  York :]  Printed  [by  William  Bradford]  in  the 
Year  1693.  |  Sm.  4to.     Title  1  leaf,  text,  pp.  1-38. 

NEW  YORK.     Province  of  New- York,  ss.  |  Anno  Regni  Gulielmi  &  Mariae, 
|  Regis  &   Reginae,  |  Angliae,  Scotiae,  Franciae,  &  Hiberniae,  |  Quinto;  |  On 
the  Tenth  Day  of  September,  1692,  in  the  |  Fifth  Year  of  their  Majesties 
Reign  this  Act  passed  |  at  the  City  of  New- York.  |  An  Act  for  Restraining 
and   Punishing   Privateers  |  and   Pyrates.  |  [New   York:   William  Bradford. 
1693.]  Folio,  pp.  1-3. 
In  some  copies  the  first  line  is  omitted. 

NEW  YORK.  An  Act  for  Granting  to  their  Majesties  the  Rate  of  |  One 
Penny  per  Pound  upon  all  the  Real  and  Per  |  sonal  Estates  within  this  Province 
of  New- York,  |  &c.  To  be  allowed  unto  his  Excellency  the  Go-  |  vernour,  f  or  the 
Care  of  the  Province,  November  |  the  12th,  1692.  |  [New  York :  William  Brad- 
ford. 1693.1  Folio,  pp.  1-4. 

NEW  YORK.  Anno  Regni  Gulielmi  &  Mariae,  |  Regis  &  Reginae,  |  Angliae, 
Scotise,  Francise,  &  Hiberniae,  |  Quinto.  |  The  10th  of  April,  Anno  Domini  1693. 
|  An  Act  for  raising  six  Thousand  Pound  for  the  payment  |  of  three  Hundred 
Volunteers,  and  their  Officers,  to  |  be  employed  in  the  Reinforcement  of  the 
Frontiers  of  |  this  Province  at  Albany,  from  the  First  of  May  |  next,  to  the 
First  of  May  then  next  following,  in  |  the  Year  of  our  Lord  1694.  |  [Colophon :] 
Printed  and  Sold  by  William  Bradford,  Printer  to  King  William  and  \  Queen 
Mary,  at  the  City  of  New-York,  1693.  |  Folio,  pp.  (6). 

NEW  YORK.  A  Catalogue  of  Fees  |  Established  by  the  |  Governour  and 
Council  I  At  the  Humble  Request  of  the  |  Assembly  |  [Colophon :]  Printed 


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PRINTING    IN    NEW-YORK    IN    THE    SEVENTEENTH    CENTURY     587 

and  Sold  by  William  Bradford,  Printer  to  their  Majesties,  \  King  William  and 
Queen  Mary,  at  the  Bible  in  New-York,  1693.  |  Folio,  pp.  1-11. 

NEW  YORK.  An  Ordinance  of  his  Excellency  and  Council  for  Establish- 
ing Courts  of  Judicature  within  the  Province  of  New- York,  done  at  New- 
York,  15th  May,  1691.  [New-York :  William  Bradford.  1693?] 

Title  from  the  H.  A.  Brady  Catalogue,  lot  No.  1524.  It  is  probable  that  the  Ordinance 
of  May  15,  1699,  was  referred  to. 

NEW  YORK.     Benjamin  Fletcher,  Captain  General  and  Governour  in  | 
Chief  of  the  Province  of  New- York,  Province  of  |  Pennsilvania,  and  Country  of 
New-Castle,  and  the  |  Territories  and  Tracts  of  Land  depending  thereon,  in  | 
America.  |  To  all  Officers  and  Ministers  Ecclesiastical  and  Civil  through-  |  out 
the  Provinces  and  Territories  under  my  Government.  |  [A  Proclamation  grant- 
ing license  to  Warner  Wessells  and  Autie  Christians  to  collect  money  for  the 
redemption  of  their  relatives  from  slavery  in  Sallee,  dated  at  Fort  William 
Henry  the  8th  Day  of  June,  1693.]     Printed  by  William  Bradford,  Printer  to 
King  William  &  Queen  Mary  \  at  the,  City  of  New-York,  Anno  1693.  |  Folio,  1 
leaf. 

NEW  YORK.  Benjamin  Fletcher,  Capitayn  Generael,  en  opper-  |  Gover- 
neur  van  de  Provintie,  van  Nieuw-Yorke,  |  de  Provintie  van  Pennsylvania,  en 
't  Landtschap  |  van  Nieuw-Casteel,  ende  Terratorienen  Lander-  |  yen,  daer  toe 
belhorende  in  America.  |  Aenalle  Officieren,  ende  Bedieniers,  soo  Kerkelyke,  als 
Burgerlyke  door  de  gant-  |  sche  Provintien  en  Landschappen  onder  myn  Gov- 
ernment. |  [The  same  in  Dutch.]  Gedrukt  tot  Nieeiv-Yorke,  by  William  Brad- 
fordt,  Anno  1693.  |  Folio,  1  leaf. 

NEW  YORK.  By  His  Excellency,  Benjamin  Fletcher,  Captain  General  and 
Governour  in  Chief  of  their  Majesties  Province  of  New- York,  Province  of 
Pennsylvania,  County  of  New  Castle,  and  the  Territories  and  Tracts  of  Land 
depending  thereon,  in  America,  and  Vice- Admiral  of  the  same.  A  Proclama- 
tion. [On  the  erection  of  fire  Beacons  to  give  warning  of  invasions  by  the 
French,  dated  at  Fort  William  Henry,  the  25th  Day  of  August,  1693.]  Printed 
and  Sold  by  William  Bradford,  Printer  to  their  Majesties  King  William  and 
Queen  Mary  at  the  City  of  New-York,  1693.  Folio,  1  leaf. 

NEW  YORK.  Benjamin  Fletcher,  Captain  General  and  Governour  in 
Chief  of  Their  Majesties  Province  of  New- York,  Province  of  Pennsilvania, 
Country  of  New-Castle,  and  the  Territories  and  Tracts  of  Land  depending 
thereon  in  America,  and  Vice-Adrniral  of  the  same,  Their  Majesties  Lieutenant 
and  Commander  in  Chief  of  the  Militia,  &  of  all  the  Forces  by  Sea  and  Land 
within  Their  Majesties  Collony  of  Connecticut,  and  of  all  the  Forts  and  places 
of  Strength  within  the  same.  A  Proclamation  [to  the  people  of  Connecticut, 
dated  at  Fort  William  Henry,  "  the  Eight  Day  of  November,  1693,"  urging 
them  to  "yeild  and  render  an  intire  Obedience  unto  their  Majesties  most 
Gracious  Commission."]  Printed  and  Sold  by  William  Bradford,  Printer  to 


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PRINTING    IN    NEW-YORK    IN    THE    SEVENTEENTH    CENTURY     589 

Their  Majesties,  King  William  and  Queen  Mary  at  the  Sign  of  the  Bible  in  the 
City  of  New-  York,  1693.    Folio. 

NEW  YORK.  By  His  Excellency  |  Benjamin  Fletcher,  Captain  General 
and  Governor  in  Chief  of  Their  Majesties  1  Province  of  New-York,  Province 
of  Pennsilvania,  Country  of  New-Castle,  and  the  |  Territories  and  Tracts  of 
Land  depending  thereon  in  America,  and  |  Vice-Admiral  of  the  same,  Their 
Majesties  Lieutenant  and  Commander  in  |  Chief  of  the  Militia,  &  of  all  the 
Forces  by  Sea  and  Land  within  Their  |  Majesties  Collony  of  Connecticut,  and 
of  all  the  Forts  and  places  of  Strength  |  within  the  same.  |  A  Proclamation  | 
[dated  November  13,  1693,  relative  to  deserters  from  the  army  and  navy,  and 
travellers  and  others  without  passes.]  Printed  and  Sold  by  William  Bradford, 
Printer  to  Their  Majesties,  King  William  \  and  Queen  Mary  at  the  Sign  of  the 
Bible  in  the  City  of  New-York,  1693.  |  Folio,  1  leaf. 

PENNSYLVANIA.    Anno  Regni  Guliehni  &  Mariae,  |  Regis  &  Reginae,  | 
Anglise,  Scotiae,  Franciae  &  Hibernian,  |  Quinto.  |  An  Act  for  granting  to  King 
William  and  Queen  |  Mary  the  Rate  of  One  Penny  per  Pound  upon  the  | 
clear  Value  of  all  the  Real  and  Personal  Estates,  |  and  Six  Shillings  per 
Head  upon  such  as  are  not  |  otherwise  rated  by  this  Act.    To  be  imployed  by 
the  |  Governour  of  this  Province  of  Pennsilvania  and  |  Territories  thereof,  for 
the  Time  being,   towards  |  the   Support  of  this  Government.  |  [New  York: 
William  Bradford,    1693.]     Folio,  pp.  (4). 

1694. 

AN  |  ACCOUNT  |  of  the  |  Treaty  |  between  |  His  Excellency  |  Benjamin 
Fletcher  Captain  General  and  Go-  |  vernour  in  Chief  of  the  Province  of  New 
York,  &c.  |  And  the  |  Indians  |  of  the  |  Five  Nations,  |  viz.  |  The  Mohaques, 
Oneydes,  Onnondages,  Cajouges  and  Sennekes,  at  Albany,  beginning  the  15th 
|  of  August,  1694.  |  Printed  &  Sold  by  William  Bradford,  Printer  to  Their 
Majesties,  \  King  William  and  Queen  Mary,  at  the  Sign  of  the  Bible  in  \  Neic- 
York,  1694.  |  Sm.  4to,  pp.  39. 


KEITH,  (G.)  Truth  Advanced  |  in  the  |  Correction  |  of  many  |  Gross  & 
hurtful  Errors;  |  Wherein  is  occasionally  opened  &  explained  many  great 
and  |  peculiar  Mysteries  and  Doctrines  of  the  |  Christian  Religion.  |  By 
George  Keith.  |  Whereunto  is  added,  |  A  Chronological  Treatise  of  the  several 
Ages  |  of  the  World :  |  Showing  the  Intervals,  Time  &  Effects  of  the  Seven 
Churches,  |  Seven  Seals,  Seven  Trumpets,  and  seven  Vials,  called,  The  seven 
last  |  Plagues,  and  the  various  dreadful  Effects  that  are  like  to  ensue  at  the  | 
pouring  forth  of  each  of  them,  which  is  near  at  hand.  |  Together  with  an  Ac- 
count of  the  Time  of  the  Churches  going  |  into  the  Wilderness,  her  Return, 
full  Restoration,  and  Universal  |  spreading  of  the  glorious  Gospel  into  all 
Nations  of  the  Earth.  |  As  also,  the  time  of  the  Personal  Anti-christ  his  Reign 
and  last  |  Persecution;  With  the  Time  of  the  Prophecying,  Killing  and  Ris- 
ing |  again  of  the  two  Witnesses.  |  And  Lastly,  Concerning  the  Thousand 
Years  Reign  of  the  |  Saints  with  Christ  yet  to  come,  and  time  of  beginning 


Propofals  for  the  Printing  of  a  large   BIBLE, 
by  William  Bradford. 

THefeare  to  give  Notice,  that  it  is  propo/edfor  a  large  houfe. 
Bible  to  be  Printed  by  way  of  Subfcriptions  fa  method  usual 
in  England  for  the  printing  of  large  Volumns,  becaufe  Printing  is 
very  chargeable]  therefore  to  all  that  are  willing  to  forward  fogood 
(and  great)  a  Work,  as  the  Printing  of  the  holy  Bible,  are  offered 
the(e  Propofals,  viz. 

1.  That  it  (hall  be  printed  in  a  fair  Character,  on  good  Paper,  and 
well  bound. 

2.  That  it  /hall  contain  the  Old  and  New  Teftament,  with  the 
Apocraphy,  and  all  to  have  ufeful  Marginal  Notes. 

3.  That  it  fhall  be  allowed  (to  them  that  fubfcribe)    for  Twenty 
Shillings  per  Bible :  [  A  Price  which  one  of  the  fame  volumn  in  England 
would  coft.} 

4.  That  the  pay  fhall  behalf  Silver  Money, and  half  Country  Produce 
at  Money  price.     One  half  down  now,  and  the  other  half  on  the  deli- 
very  of  the  Bibles. 

5.  That  thofewhodo  fubfcribe for  fix, (hall  havetheSeventhgratis, 
and  have  them  delivered  one  monthbefore  any  above  that  number  /hall 
be  fold  to  others. 

6.  To  thofe  which  do  not  fubfcribe,   the  {aid  Bibles  will  not  be  al 
lowed  under  26  s.  a  piece. 

7 .  Thole  who  are  minded  to  have  the  Common-Prayer,   (hall  have 
the  whole  bound  up  for  22  s.    and  thofe  thai  do  not  fubfcribe  ?G  s. 
and  6  d.  per  Book. 

8>  That  as  encouragement  is  given  by  Peoples  fubfcribing  and  pay. 
ing  down  one  half,  the  (aid  Work  will  be  put  forward  with  what 
Expedition  may  be. 

9.  That  the  Subfcribers  may  enter  their  Subfcriptions  and  time  of 
Payment,  at  Pheneas  Pemberlons  and  Hubert  Halls  in  the  County  of 
Sucks.  At  Malen  Stacfs  Mill  at  the  Falls.  At  Thomas  Budds  Houfe 
ill  Burlington.  At  John  Haftings  in  the  County  ofChefter.  At  EJwrd 
TttakJs  in  JVew-Cajile.  At  Thomas  V^oodrooffs  in  Salem.  And  at  William 
EradfcriFsmPhiladelpbia,,  Printer  &  Undertaker  of  the  (aid  "Work.  At 
which  places  the  -Subfcribers  fhall  have  a  Receipt  for  fo  much  of  their 
Subfcriptions  as  paid,  and  an  obligation  for  thedelivery  of  the  number 
of  Bibles  (fo  Printed  and  Bound  as  aforefaid)  as  the  refpe£tive  Sub- 
fcribers  fliall  depofit  one  half  for. 

Alfothismay  further  give  not  ice.  that  Samuell Richard/on  and  Samuell 
Carpenter  of  Philadelphia,,  are  appointed  to  take  care  and  be  afliftant  in 
the  lay  ing  out  of  the  Subfcription  Money,  and  to  fee  that  it  be  inv 
ploy'd  to  the  ufe  intended,  and  confequently  that  the  whole  Work  be 
expedited.  Which  is  promifed  by 

Philadelphia.,  the  1 4th  of 
the  ifl  Month,  1688. 


PRINTING    IN    NEW- YORK    IN    THE    SEVENTEENTH    CENTURY    591 

thereof,  only  |  by  way  of  Essay  and  Hypothesis.  |  [New  York :]  Printed  [by  Wil- 
liam Bradford]  in  the  Year  1694.  |  Sm.  4to. 

Collation:  Title,  1  leaf;  Contents,  pp.  (2) ;  Preface,  pp.  (6);  Truth  Advanced,  pp.  1-184; 
Chronological  Account  of  the  World,  Title,  1  p.;  Quotations  from  the  New  Testament,  I  p.; 
text,  pp.  3-31. 

LEEDS.  (D.)  Aii  Almanack  for  the  Year  of  Christian  Account  1694.  By 
Daniel  Leeds.  New  York :  William  Bradford.  1694.  Sm.  8vo.  pp.  (24). 

NEW  YORK.  The  |  Laws  &  Acts  |  of  the  |  General  Assembly  |  for  |  Their 
Majesties  Province  |  of  |  New- York,  |  As  they  were  Enacted  ,in  divers  Ses- 
sions, the  first  of  |  which  began  April,  the  9th,  Annoq;  Domini,  |  1691.  |  At 
New- York,  \  Printed  and  Sold  by  William  Bradford,  Printer  to  their  Majesties, 
King  \  William  &  Queen  Mary,  1694.  |  Folio. 

Collation:  Title,  1  leaf;  Contents,  pp.  (2);  Laws,  pp.  1-84;  Catalogue  of  Fees,  pp.  1-11. 
The  Catalogue  of  Fees,  although  called  for  in  the  Table  of  Contents,  was  printed  in  the 
preceding  year. 

NEW  YORK.     Anno  Regni  Gulielmi  &  Marias,  Regis  &  Reginae,  j  Anglise, 
Scotiae,  Francise  &  Hiberna,  Sixto.  |  The  24th  of  March,  Anno  Dom.  169£.  | 
[New  York:  William  Bradford.     1694.]     Folio,  pp.  85-92. 

The  acts  of  the  first  session  of  the  fourth  Assembly,  misdated  1694-5  for  1693-4.  On  com- 
paring the  five  acts  here  printed  with  the  votes  of  the  Assembly  it  appears  that  they  were 
passed  at  various  times  during  March  —  the  last  on  the  24th  —  and  approved  by  the  Governor 
on  the  26th  of  that  month  in  1693-4,  not  1694-5  as  printed  in  the  heading. 

NEW  YORK.    [Acts  passed  in]  The  Fourth  Assembly,  second  sessions :  | 
Beginning  the  4th  Day  of  October,  and  ending  the  23d  of  the  same,  Anno 
|  Regni   Regis  &  Reginaa  G-ulielmi  &  Mariae,  Anglias,  Scotiae,   Franciae  |  & 
Hiberniee,  Sexto.  |  [New  York :   William  Bradford.     1694.]     Folio,  pp.  (4). 

NEW  YORK  CITY.  The  Charter  of  the  City  of  New  York.  New  York : 
William  Bradford.  1694  or  1695. 

NEW  YORK  CITY.  The  Laws  and  Ordinances  of  the  City  of  New  York. 
New  York :  William  Bradford.  1694  or  1695. 

NEW  YORK  CITY.  An  Ordinance  passed  by  the  Mayor,  Recorder,  Alder- 
men and  Assistants  of  the  City  of  New  York ;  for  raising  3d  per  £  for  build- 
ing a  battery.  New  York  :  William  Bradford.  1694. 

The  Ordinances— twenty  in  number  — were  ordered  to  be  printed  Oct.  25,  1694 ;  Bradford's 
bill  for  printing  them  and  the  Charter  was  "allowed"  Jan.  16,  1695-6.  On  March  10, 
1694-5,  Bradford's  bill  for  printing  an  Ordinance  was  ordered  to  be  paid. 

SOME  Seasonable  Considerations  for  the  good  People  of  Connecticut.  New 
York:  William  Bradford.  1694. 

No  copy  is  known  to  exist.  An  answer  to  it  was  printed  in  Boston,  and  reprinted  in  the 
first  volume  of  the  Collections  of  the  Connecticut  Historical  Society. 


592  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

1695. 

LEEDS,  (D.)  An  Almanack  for  the  Year  of  Christian  Account  1695.  By 
Dauiel  Leeds.  New  York  :  William  Bradford.  1695. 

In  the  note-book  of  Pierre  Eugene  Du  Simitiere,  now  in  the  Library  of  Congress,  among 
other  things  is  recorded  during  September,  1778,  the  receipt,  as  a  present  from  Dr.  William 
Bryant,  of  Trenton,  of  "  the  almanacks  printed  at  New  York  by  William  Bradford  for  the 
years  1694,  95,  96,  97,  98,  &  part  of  1700." 

MAULE,  (T.)  Truth  held  forth  and  maintained  According  to  the  Testimony 
of  the  Holy  Prophets,  Christ  and  his  Apostles,  recorded  in  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures. With  Some  Account  of  the  Judgments  of  the  Lord  lately  inflicted  upon 
New  England  by  Witchcraft.  To  which  is  added,  Something  concerning  the 
Fall  of  Adam,  his  State  in  the  Fall,  and  way  of  Restoration  to  God  again,  with 
many  other  weighty  things  necessary  for  People  to  weigh  and  consider, 
Thomas  Maule.  [New  York :]  Printed  [by  William  Bradford]  in  the  Year  1695. 
Sm.  4to. 

Collation:  Title,  1  leaf;  Contents,  pp.  (3);  Preface,  pp.  (3);  text,  pp.  1-260. 

NEW  YORK.  The  Fifth  Assembly,  First  Sessions,  |  Beginning  the  20th 
day  of  June,  and  ending  the  4th  of  July,  Anno  Regni  Regis  |  Gulielmi,  An- 
gliae,  Scotiae,  Franciae  &  Hiberniae,  Septimo.  |  [Colophon :]  Printed  and  Sold 
by  William  Bradford,  Printer  to  Ms  Majesty,  King  William,  at  the  Sign  of  the 
Bible  in  Neiv-Yorlc,  1695.  |  Folio,  pp.  101-104,  (2). 

NEW  YORK.  The  sixth  Assembly,  First  Sessions :  Beginning  the  first 
Day  of  October,  and  ending  the  26th  of  the  same,  Anno  Regni  |  Regis  Gulielmi, 
Anglias,  Scotiae,  Franciae  &  Hiberniae,  Septimo.  |  [New  York:  William  Brad- 
ford. 1695.]  Folio,  pp.  107-113. 

The  acts  of  the  second  session  of  the  Fifth  Assembly,  misprinted  the  Sixth  Assembly,  first 
session. 

NEW  YORK.  By  His  Excellency  |  Benjamin  Fletcher,  Captain  General 
and  Governour  in  Chief  of  Their  Majesties  |  Province  of  New-York,  and  the 
Territories  and  Tracts  of  Land  depending  |  thereon  in  America,  and  Vice- 
Admiral  of  the  same.  Their  Majesties  |  Lieutenant  and  Commander  in  Chief 
of  the  Militia,  and  of  all  the  Forces  |  by  Sea  and  Land  within  Their  Majesties 
Collony  of  Connecticut,  and  of  |  all  the  Forts  and  places  of  Strength  within 
the  same.  |  A  Proclamation  |  [dated  April  22,  1695,  dissolving  the  Assembly.] 
Printed  and  Sold  ~by  William  Bradford,  Printer  to  Their  Majesties  King  William 
|  and  Queen  Mary  at  the  Bible  in  the  City  of  New-  York.  1695.  |  Folio,  |  leaf. 

NEW  YORK.  By  His  Excellency  |  Benjamin  Fletcher,  Captain  General 
and  Governour  in  Chief  of  The  |  Province  of  New- York,  and  the  Territories 
and  Tracts  of  Land  depending  |  thereon  in  America,  and  Vice-Admiral  of  the 
same,  His  Majesties  |  Lieutenant  and  Commander  in  Chief  of  the  Militia,  and 
of  all  the  Forces  |  by  Sea  and  Land  within  His  Majesties  Collony  of  Connecti- 
cut, and  of  |  all  the  Forts  and  places  of  Strength  within  the  same.  |  A  Procla- 


Benjamin  Fletcher,  Capiteyn  Generael,  en  opper- 
Governeur  van  de  Provintie,  van  Nieuw-Yorke, 
de  Provintie  van  Pennyfylvania,  en't  Landtschap 
van  Nieuw-Cafteel,  ende  Terratorien  en  Lander- 
yen,  daer  toe  belhorende  in  America. 

Aen  alle  OJficieren,  ende  Bedieniers,foo  Kerkelyke,  als  Burgerlyke  door  de  gant- 
fche  Provintien  en  Landfchappen  onder  myn  Government. 

ALfo  ick  fekerlyk  ge-informeert  ben,  Dat  de  Soon  van  Warnaer  Weffells 
ende  de  Man  van  Annette  Chrijliaens,  Inwoonders  en  Zeelieden  defer 
Steede  Nieuw-  Yorke,  volgende  haer  beroep  op  gebraght  fyn  in  Zafe,  waer 
de  felven  nu  fyn  in  elendige  Slavernye  onder  de  Maght  van  de  Ongelovigen,  end? 
dat  haere  Vrienden  niet  maghtig  zyn  om  te  geven  een  genoegfaem  Rantfoen  tot 
haerer  vryheyt  en  Verloffinge.  Daerom  heb  ick  op  haer  applicatie  tot  my,  voor 
en  met  Advys  vanden  Raet,  uyt  Chriftelyke  Liefde,  ende  tot  medelyden  van  de 
fware  dicnft  Baerheyt  en  Banden  van  de  gemelte  Perfoonen,  vergunt,  gelyk  ick  by 
defe  vergunne,  verlof  en  vryheyt  aen  de  gemelte  Warnaer  Weffels  en  Annetit 
Chrijliaens,  om  te  eyfchen  en  te  ontfangen  een  vrye  en  goetwillige  gifte  van  alle' 
Chrijlen  onder  myn  Governement,  fo  wel  in  publicke  Samencomften,  als  partic- 
uliere  Huyfen.  Ende  om  d'  ongeregeltheyt  voorte  comen  met  fulex  te  CollecV 
eeren,  werden  alle  Minifters  en  Predicanten,  waer  Kerken  of  publicke  en  private 
Vergaderingen  fyn,  belaft  om  te  publiceeren  een  ware  Copie.van  defe  Vergunninge, 
om  fulx  opentlykte  lefen,  en  daer  na,-aen  te  flaen  aen  de  deuren  of  andre  publyke 
plaetfen,  en  het  Volk  te  vermanen  tot  alle  Chriftelyke  Liefde,  om  met  de  aenftaende 
ftamencomfte  te  fallen  ontfangen  de  vrye  en  goet-Willige  gefte  van't  Volk  voor't 
gemelte  gebruyk»  Ende  waer  geen  Kerken  of  publycke  Vergader-plaetfen  fyn,  foo 
werden  de  Conftables,  Hierdoor,  belaft  in  haere  befondere  plaetfen,  hebbende  een 
ware  Copye  van  defe  Vergunninge,  om  ront  te  gaen  en  colledleeren  de  Gifte  van  de 
goede  Chriftenen  Voort  gemelte  gebruyck.  Van  welke  Gifte  en  Chariteyt  de  gemelte 
Minifters  of  Predicanten  en  Conftables  fullen  een  diftincle  Reekening  houden,  die 
fy  fullen  overleveren  met  het  gecollecleerde  Gelt,  uyt  cracht  defer,  fonder  uytftel, 
aen  Stephanus  van  Courtland,  Efq  ;  Peter  Jacobs  Marias,  Johannes  Kerfbyll 
ende  Johannes  Kip,  die  by  defe  gemagtight  fyn  hetfelve  t'  ontfangen,  en  over 
te  maken,  ofte  soo  veel  als  nodig  fyn  fal  ;  Voorde  verloflinge  vande  gemelte 
gevangens,  uyt  haer  flaverye  doorde  befte  en  bequaemfte  middelen  en  weegen. 
Met  defe  Conditie  nochtaus  dat  by  aldien  daer  foude  overfchieten,  boven  de  de 
valeur  van  haer  lofgelt  ofte  fo  fe  doodt,  ofte  anders,  verlooft  fullen  fyn,  dat  de 
Gemelte  Stephanus  van  Courtlandt,  Esq ;  Peter  Jacobs  Martin,  Johannes 
Kerfbyll  en  Johannes  Kip,  fullen  aen  my  ofte  aenden  Governeur  ofte  opper-Com- 
mander  in  die  rydt  veranrwoorden  de  gemelte  gecolledeerde  fommen,  en't  overfchot 
van  haer  ofte  enige  van  haer  lofgelt  dat 't  magh  aen  gelyet  werden  tot  gelyke,  ofte 
andre  Godsdrenftige  gebruyken,  en  voor  geen  ander  gebruyk,  ofte  intentie  ter  werelt 
te  mogen  employderen. 

Gegeven  onder  myn  Hand  en  Segel  irft  Fort  Willem  Hendrick  de  8fte  Dag 

van  juny,  i  69  3.  Ben.  Fletcbet. 

Gedruckt  tot  Nieuw-Yorke,  by  William  Bradford',  Anno  1693. 

FAC-SIMILE    OF    FLETCHER'S    PROCLAMATION    IN    DUTCH.  1 

l  For  translation,  see  p.  503. 
VOL.   I.— 38. 


594  HISTOEY    OF    NEW- YORK 

mation  |  [dated  June  6,  1695,  against  the  impressment  of  sailors  for  the  King's 
ship.]  Printed  and  Sold  by  William  Bradford,  Printer  to  His  Majesty,  King 
William,  \  at  the  Bible  in  the  City  of  New-York.  1695.  |  Folio,  1  leaf. 

NEW  YORK.    Votes  and  Proceedings  of  the  first  session  of  the  Fifth  As- 
sembly.   New  York  :   William  Bradford.     1695. 

NEW  YORK  CITY.     [Ordinances  — 12  in  number  —  ordered  to  be  printed 
Nov.  19,  1695.    New  York :   William  Bradford.    1695.] 

NEW  YORK  CITY.     The  Freeman's  Oath.    New  York:    William  Brad- 
ford.   1695. 

1696. 

BARBADOES.     An  Act  of  Assembly  passed  in  the  Island  of  Barbadoes  for 
the  suppression  of  Pirates.    New  York :   William  Bradford.    1696. 

A  |  JOURNAL  |  Of  what  Passed  in  the  Expedition  of   |  His  Excellency  | 
Coll.  Benjamin  Fletcher,  Captain  General  and  |  Governour  in  Chief  of  the 
Province  of  New- York,  &c.     To  |  Albany,  to  Renew  the  Covenant  Chain  with 
the  five   |  Canton  Nations  of  Indians,  the  Mohaques,  Oneydes,  Onondages,  | 
Cajouges  and  Sinnekes.  |  [New  York:     William  Bradford.    1696.]     Sm.  4to. 
pp.  1-11. 

LEEDS.  (D.)    An  Almanack  for  the  Year  of  Christian  Account  1696.     New 
York:   William  Bradford.    1696. 

L[INGARD.]  (R.)  A  |  Letter  of  Advice  |  To  A  Young  |  Gentleman  |  Leaving 
the  |  University  |  Concerning  his  Behaviour  |  and  Conversation  in  the  |  World. 
|  By  R.  L.  |  Printed  and  Sold  by  VV.  Bradford,  \  Printer  to  his  Majesty,  King 
j  William,  at  the  Bible  in  \  New-York,  1696.  |  16mo. 

Collation:  Title,  1  leaf;  Advertisement,  pp.  (4);  text,  pp.  1-45.     First  printed  in  London 
in  1671. 

THE  LONDON  Gazette  containing  an  account  of  an  engagement  with  the 
French.    New  York :  Reprinted  by  William  Bradford.    1696. 

NEW  YORK.     [Royal  Arms.]    The  Fifth  Assembly,  Third  Sessions.  |  Be- 
ginning the  25th  Day  of  March,  and  ending  the  24th  Day  of  April,  Anno  | 
Regni  Regis  Gulielmi  nunc  Anglise,  Scotise,  Franciae  &  HiberniaB,  Sexto.  |  [Col- 
ophon:] Printed  by  William  Bradford,  Printer  to  the  King's  Excellent  Majesty, 
at  |  the  Bible  in  New-York,  1696.  |  Folio,  pp.  (10). 

NEW  YORK.     [Royal  Arms.]    Acts  made  the  5th  Assembly,  4th  Session.  | 
Beginning  the  15th  day  of  October,  and  ending  the  3d  Day  of  November,  j 
following,  Anno  Regni  Regis  Gulielmi  Tirtia  Anglise,  ScotiaB,  Franciae,  |  & 
Hibernise,  Octavo.    |  [New  York:   William  Bradford.    1696.]    Folio,  pp.  (6). 


PRINTING    IN    NEW-YORK    IN    THE    SEVENTEENTH    CENTURY     595 

NEW  YORK.  By  His  Excellency  |  Benjamin  Fletcher,  Captain  General 
and  Governor  in  Chief  of  |  the  Province  of  New-York,  and  the  Territories  and 
Tracts  of  |  Land  depending  thereon  in  America,  and  Vice-Admiral  of  the  | 
same,  His  Majesties  Lieutenant  and  Commander  in  Chief  of  |  the  Militia,  and 
of  all  the  Forces  by  Sea  and  Land  within  His  Majesties  Collony  of  Connecti- 
cut, and  of  all  the  Forts  and  |  places  of  Strength  within  the  same.  |  A  Procla- 
mation. |  [Appointing  Thanksgiving  days  for  the  safe  return  of  William  III  to 
England  and  the  military  successes  in  Flanders,  dated  "  at  His  Majesties  Fort 
in  New-York  the  Ninth  Day  of  January,  in  the  Seventh  Year  of  His  Majesties 
Reign,  Annoq;  Domini  1695, 6."  New  York:  William  Bradford.  1696.]  Folio, 
1  leaf. 

NEW  YORK.  [Royal  Arms.]  \  By  His  Excellency  |  Benjamin  Fletcher, 
Captain  General  and  Governour  in  Chief  of  The  |  Province  of  New-York,  and 
the  Territories  and  Tracts  of  Land  depending  |  thereon  in  America,  and  Vice- 
Admiral  of  the  same,  His  Majesties  |  Lieutenant  and  Commander  in  Chief  of 
all  the  Forces  |  by  Sea  and  Land  within  His  Majesties  Collony  of  Connecticut, 
and  of  |  all  the  Forts  and  places  of  Strength  within  the  same.  |  A  Proclama- 
tion |  [dated  February  27, 1695-6,  appointing  March  27,  a  Fast  day.]  Printed 
and  8old  by  William  Bradford,  Printer  to  His  Majesty,  King  William  \  at  the 
Bible  in  the  City  of  New-York  1696.  |  Folio,  1  leaf. 

NEW  YORK.     By  His  Excellency  |  Coll.  Benjamin  Fletcher,  Captain  Gen- 
eral and  Governour  in  Chief  of  His  |  Majesties  Province  of  New- York,  &c.  | 
A  Proclamation  |  [dated  April  21,  1696,  regarding  the  enlistment  of  volun- 
teers.]    Printed  by  William  Bradford,  Printer  to  His  Majesty,  at  the  Bible  in 
the  |  City  of  New- York  1696.  |  Folio,  1  leaf. 

NEW  YORK.  [Royal  Arms.]  [  By  His  Excellency  |  Coll.  Benjamin  Fletcher, 
Captain  General  and  Governour  in  Chief  of  His  |  Majesties  Province  of  New- 
York,  &c.  |  A  Proclamation  |  [dated  May  11,  1696,  offering  a  reward  for  the 
destruction  of  the  enemy.]  Printed  by  William  Bradford,  Printer  to  His  Maj- 
esty, at  the  Bible  in  the  \  City  of  New-York  1696.  |  Folio,  1  leaf. 

NEW  YORK.  [Royal  Arms.]  \  By  His  Excellency  |  Coll.  Benjamin  Fletcher, 
Captain  General  and  Governour  in  Chief  of  |  His  Majesties  Province  of  New- 
York,  etc.  |  A  Proclamation  |  [dated  May  21,  1696  of  a  Thanksgiving  day 
for  the  King's  escape  from  the  plot  against  his  life.]  Printed  and  Sold  by 
William  Bradford,  Printer  to  His  Majesty  at  the  \  Bible  in  the  City  of  New-York 
1696.  |  Folio,  1  leaf. 

NEW  YORK.  [Royal  Arms.]  \  By  His  Excellency  |  Coll.  Benjamin  Fletcher, 
Captain  General  and  Governour  in  Chief  of  |  His  Majesties  Province  of  New- 
York,  &c.  |  A  Proclamation  |  [dated  June  11, 1696,  prohibiting  the  exportation 
of  breadstuffs.]  Printed  and  Sold  by  William  Bradford,  Printer  to  the  Kings 
Excellent  \  Majesty,  at  the  Bible  in  New-York,  1696.  |  Folio,  1  leaf. 

NEW  YORK.  [Royal  Arms.]  \  By  His  Excellency  |  Coll.  Benjamin  Fletcher, 
Captain  General  and  Governour  in  Chief  of  |  His  Majesties  Province  of  New- 


596  HISTORY    OF    NEW- YORK 

York,  &c.  |  A  Proclamation  |  [dated  July  2,  1696,  permitting  the  exporta- 
tion of  flour  for  eight  days.]  Printed  and  Sold  by  William  Bradford,  Printer 
to  His  Majesty  at  the  \  Bible  in  the  City  of  New- York  1696.  |  Folio,  1  leaf. 

NEW  YORK.  [Royal  Arms.}  \  By  His  Excellency  |  Coll.  Benjamin  Fletcher, 
Captain  General  and  Governour  in  Chief  of  |  His  Majesties  Province  of  New- 
York,  &c.  |  A  Proclamation  |  [dated  August  1, 1696,  calling  upon  the  creditors 
of  the  Fusileers  to  file  their  claims.]  Printed  by  William  Bradford,  Printer  to 
the  Kings  Excellent  Majesty  at  \  the  Bible  in  New-  York  1696.  |  Folio,  1  leaf. 

NEW  YORK.  [Royal  Arms.]  \  By  His  Excellency  |  Coll.  Benjamin  Fletcher, 
Captain  General  and  Governour  in  Chief  of  |  His  Majesties  Province  of  New- 
York,  &c.  |  A  Proclamation  |  [dated  August  2,  1696,  announcing  the  warlike 
preparations  of  the  French.]  Printed  by  William  Bradford,  Printer  to  the 
Kings  Excellent  Majesty  at  \  the  Bible  in  New-York  1696.  |  Folio,  1  leaf. 

NEW  YORK.  [Royal  Arms.]  \  By  His  Excellency  |  CoU.  Benjamin  Fletcher, 
Captain  General  and  Governour  in  Chief  of  His  |  Majesties  Province  of  New- 
York,  &c.  |  A  Proclamation  |  [dated  September  12,  1696,  of  a  reward  for  the 
apprehension  of  certain  deserters.]  Printed  by  William  Bradford,  Printer  to 
the  Kings  most  Excellent  Majesty  \  at  the  Bible  in  the  City  of  New-York,  1696.  | 
Folio,  1  leaf. 

NEW  YORK.  Votes  and  Proceedings  of  the  Assembly.  New  York: 
William  Bradford.  1696. 

LE  |  TRESOR  |  des  |  Consolations  |  Divines  et  Humaines,  |  Ou  Traite  dans 
le  quel  le  Chretien  pent  |  apprendre  a  vaincre  et  a  surmonter  les  |  Afflictions 
et  les  Miseres  de  cette  vie.  |  .  .  .  |  .  .  .  |  .  .  .  .  |  A  New- York,  Chez  Guillaume 
Bradford,  a  I'  \  Enseigne  de  la  Bible,  1696.  |  Sm.  8vo. 

Collation :  Title,  1  leaf ;  Dedication,  pp.  (4) ;  text,  pp.  1-98. 


1697 

CLAP.  (J.)    An  Almanack  for  1697.     By  John  Clap.    New  York :    William 
Bradford.    1697.     Sm  8vo.  pp.  (52). 

LEEDS.  (D.)    An  Almanack  for  the  Year  of  Christian  Account  1697.     By 
Daniel  Leeds.    New  York :  William  Bradford.    1697. 

[LEEDS.]  News  of  A  |  Trumpet  |  Sounding  in  the  |  Wilderness.  |  Or,  | 
The  Quakers  Ancient  Testimony  Revived,  |  Examined  and  Compared  with  it 
self,  and  also  |  with  their  New  Doctrine.  |  Whereby  the  Ignorant  may  learn 
Wisdom,  and  j  the  Wise  advance  in  their  Understandings.  |  Collected  with 
Diligence,  and  carefully  cited  from  |  their  Ancient  and  Later  Writings,  and 
Recom-  |  mended  to  the  serious  Reading  and  Consideration  of  |  all  Enquiring 


PBINTING    IN    NEW-YORK    IN    THE    SEVENTEENTH    CENTURY     597 

Christians,  by  |  Daniel  Leeds.  |  ...  |  ....  |  Printed  and  Sold  by    William 
Bradford  at  the  \  Bible  in  New-York,  1697.  |  16mo. 

Collation :  1  Preliminary  leaf ;  Title,  1  leaf ;  Friendly  Reader,  1  p. ;  Preface,  pp.  (9; ; 
Contents,  pp.  (2) ;  text,  pp.  1-151. 

KOSTER.  (H.  B. — AND  OTHERS)  Advice  for  all  Professors  and  Writers. 
By  Henry  Bernhard  Koster,  William  Davis,  Thomas  Ritter  and  Thomas 
Bowyer.  New  York :  William  Bradford.  1697. 

See  Pastorius  infra. 

[MAULE.  (THOMAS)]   New-England  |  Pesecutors  Mauld  |  With   their 
own  Weapons.  |  Giving  some  Account  of  the  bloody  Laws  made  at  Boston  | 
against  the  Kings  Subjects  that  dissented  from  their  |  way  of  worship.  |  Toge- 
ther with  a  brief  Account  of  the  Imprisonment  and  |  Tryal  of  Thomas  Maule 
of  Salem,  for  publishing  a  Book,  |  entituled,  Truth  held  forth  and  maintained, 

&c.  |  By  Tho.  Philathes.  |  ...  |  ...  |  ...  |  ...  |  ...  | ...  |  ...-(...  | | 

[New  York :   William  Bradford.    1697.]     Sin.  4to. 

Collation:  Title,  1  leaf;  Preface,  pp.  (4);  text,  pp.  1-62.  There  are  two  varieties  of 
the  title-page. 

LEEDS.  (D.)  An  Almanack  for  the  Year  of  Christian  Account  1698.  By 
Daniel  Leeds.  New  York :  William  Bradford.  1698. 

A  |  LETTER  |  From  A  |  Gentleman  |  of  the  |  City  of  New  York  |  To  An- 
other, |  Concerning  the  Troubles  which  happen'd  |  in  That  Province  in  the 
Time  of  the  late  Happy  |  Revolution.  |  Printed  and  Sold  by  William  Bradford 
at  the  Sign  of  the  \  Bible  in  New-York,  1698.  |  Sin.  4to.  Title,  1  leaf;  text.  pp. 
3-24. 

NEW  YORK.  [Royal  Arms.]  \  ACTS  made  the  5th  Assembly,  5th  Sessions.  | 
Beginning  the  25th  of  March,  1697.  and  ending  the  22th  day  of  April  fol-  | 
lowing,  Anno  Regis  Gulielmi  Tertij,  Angliae,  Scotise,  FrancitB  &  |  Hiberniae, 
Nono.  |  [New  York :   W.  Bradford,    1697.]     Folio,  pp.  (5). 

NEW  YORK.  [Royal  Arms.]  \  By  His  Excellency  |  Collonel  Benjamin 
Fletcher  Captain  General  and  Governour  in  Chief  of  his  |  Majesties  Province 
of  New- York,  &c.  |  A  Proclamation  |  [dated  May  31,  1697,  prohibiting  the 
exportation  of  breadstuffs.]  Printed  by  William  Bradford,  Printer  to  the  Kings 
most  Excellent  Majesty  in  \  the  City  of  New- York,  1697.  |  Folio,  1  leaf. 

NEW  YORK.  [Royal  Arms.]  By  His  Excellency  |  Collonel  Benjamin 
Fletcher  Captain  General  and  Governour  in  Chief  of  his  |  Majesties  Province 
of  New-York,  &c.  |  A  Proclamation  |  [proroguing  the  Assembly  until  March 
25,  1697-8,  dated  at  Fort  William  Henry,  October  21,  1697.]  Printed  by 
William  Bradford,  Printer  to  the  Kings  most  Excellent  Majesty  in  \  the  City  <>t 
New-York,  1697.  |  Folio,  1  leaf. 

NEW  YORK.  [Royal  Arms.]  \  By  His  Excellency  |  Collonel  Benjamin 
Fletcher  Captain  General  and  Governour  in  Chief  of  his  |  Majesties  Province 


THE 


Numb.  48. 

New-York  Gazette 

Front  September  26.  to  Monday  Vfiober  j.   1726. 


A  Lift  of  tht  Ntmes  cf  the  prefenf  .Reprefentttivei 
'Eleftedand  chofen  by  the  fiver dH  Cities  and  Cottmie 
i*  tkit Colony  to- fepve-itGtm 


For  the  City  *nd  County  of 
Dolph  Phittpje,  Efq;  Spcafce*i;:'' 
Stephen  De  '  Lanccy,    Ef(Jj 
Cape.  Gerrit  fan  Horne, 
Capt,  Anthony.  Rutgrefi, 

for  tht  Citf'Mifi  Comity  of  Albany, 
Cplf.  Mytidert  SchHyler,       KjerGtrn 
Capt.  Jttob  <&»•> 
Capt.  Jeremith  K*n]taer9 
Mr.  Robtrt  Livtugjtort,,  jun. 

For  the  County  of  UKVir, 
Coll.  Abraham  GMtbeck^  Chambers,  '" 
Mr.  Zilbtrt  Fowling 

For  Dutchds  County, 
Mr.  Jfttiry  Betkmtn, 
My.  J*b*fyt{f  vanK/ec^   , 
ftr  thfc  Burrough 
Afor't-ti. 


CplL  Wllitm  WMtt? 
Major-  Fftelrici^  fh 
For 

Coll.  #uc  Hicks, 
Capt.  Btn}*mtn  Hick*. 
For  Kmg  s 

Coll.  Richard  Stillwell. 
Capt.  Stnuiel  Gerrttfej* 

For  5#/i^  Count}, 
C*pt.  Epenettu  Plat, 
Mf.  Samuel  Hittchtnfin.. 

For  Richmond  Coin.t 
Mr.  Richard  Merrily 
Me.  J»hn  Lf  Count. 
For 


Capt.  Corntlwi    tiarmg. 

Which  Reprcfehtatives  being  cohvened  in 
Gcneml  Afscmblv,  on  the  171!}  of  September  his 
Excellency  thcXjovernom.  made  the  following 
Speech  to  them,  »•**.. 
t 

Grnthmtn  ; 

THE  Choice.  which  the  People  of  this 
^Province  have  fo  lately  made  of  you  to 
,Reprefent  them,  gives  Me  a  frefh  Op^ 
pontunity  of  ^knowing  their  Sentiments  and  In- 

cluiatiors,  I  haveal  ways  endeavoured  topi  omott 

thar  Interctt  to  tlte  utmoft  of  ro 


it  will  add  to  my  Pleafurc  to  do  it  in  the  manner 
\yhich  the^hemlelyes.dcjare. 
^"\VhTn"you  enquire  into  the  ftate  of  thepre- 
ient  Revenue,  I  believe  you  will  find  it  inluffi- 
cicnt  to  aniwer  the  ufual  Expence  for  the  Support 
at   the    Government.      And    cpnfidering  the 
Flounfhmg  and  Encreafing  Condition  of  the 
Colony,  it  would  be  toitsD.fhonour,  as  wellas 
Diiadvantage,  to  IclFen  tht  Encouragement  that" 
has  been  given  to  the  neccffary  Officers  ot  the 
Cjovcrnment.  -  I  depend  on  your  Readinefs  to 
the  bell  of  Kings,  who  has  fhcwn,  during- the 
whole  courfe  of  His  Reign,  Tfatthtconfttnt  Em* 
Pigment offfuTboHghH,  And  the m>ft tamejt  H'ithet  of 
•Hit  Heart-ttnd  wholly  to  tit  Securing  to  Hit  Subject 
thvrjMft  Rights  *nd  Advantages.     You  need  not 
Feartl»araijy;ofHis  Servants  will  dare  to  abufe 
the  Confidence  repofed  in  them,  when  they  muft 
expeft,  that  their  Neglecl:  of  Duty  or  Abufe  of 
Truft,  will  draw  upon  them  His  iuft  £)ifplea- 
urei 

¥ou;will  find,  that  the  Supply  laft  provided 
wJJfertfl»hg  th%  hew-  Apartments  in  the  Fort, 
haj  been^mployed  with  the  utmoft  Frugality ; 
and  I  hope,  that  by  the  fame  Management,  the 
R-epairs  of  the  Roof  of  the  Chappel  and  the 
Barracks,  which  arc  in  a  Condition  entirely 
tCmnous,  will  require  no  very  large  Sum,  tho* 
tc  is  plain,  that  the  Charge  .of  doing  it  willcn- 
creafe  confidently,  if  it  is  delay'd  any  longer 
Chan  the  next  Spring,  which  Obliges  Me  to  Re- 
commend it  to  your  Care  at  prefcnt,thatProvifion 
nay  be  made  for  fo  preffing  and  neceflary  a 
Work. 

I  muft  Remind  you,  that  your  Agent  continues 
his  Dibgencem  watching  over  the  Interefts  of 
he  Province,  tho'  he  has  remain'd  a  long  time 
without  any  Allowance  j  fo  generous  a  Condud, 
onhis  part,  will  not  fail  of  engaging  you  to  take 
care  that  his  paft  Services  may  not  go  unrewarded, 
and  that  fo  ufeful  a  Perlon  may  be  fixed  in  your 
Service,  and  a  fettled  Provifion  made  for  his 
incouragement. 

I  {hall  lay  before  you  my  late  Conferences 
with  the  Six.  Nations,  in  which  I  flatter  my  felf, 
hat  I  hare  contributed  .not  a  little  to  fix  them  in 
heir  Duty  to  His  Majefty,  their  Affe&ion  to 
his  Government,  and  their  juft  AppreWnfions 
of  the  ill  Defigns  of  the  People  of  Canada,  in 
^ortifyingfo  near  to  them  at  Jagarjt .  \  have  fent 
a. nt  Person, |0:refidc ^^  among  the  Sennek^t  this 
yinter^Vho  isn<  tpermitted  to  Trade,  and  will 
hereby  -fea^c  ilijtmore  weight  and  credit  with 

them* 


PRINTING    IN    NEW- YORK    IN    THE    SEVENTEENTH    CENTURY    599 

of  New- York,  &c.  |  A  Proclamation  |  [dated  November  4,  1697,  against  de- 
serters.] Printed  by  William  Bradford,  Printer  to  the  Kings  most  Excellent 
Majesty  in  \  the  City  of  New-  York,  1697.  |  Folio,  1  leaf. 

NEW  YORK.  Votes  and  Proceedings  of  the  Assembly.  New  York :  Wil- 
liam Bradford.  1697. 

[PASTORIUS.  (FRANCIS  DANIEL)]  Henry  Bernhard  Koster,  William 
Davis,  Thomas  Rutter  &  Thomas  Bowyer,  |  Four  |  Boasting  Dispnters  |  Of 
this  World  briefly  |  Rebuked,  |  And  Answered  according  to  their  Folly,  | 
which  they  themselves  have  manifested  in  a  late  Pamphlet,  entituled,  Advise 
for  all  Pro-  |  fessors  and  Writers.  |  [Colophon :]  Printed  and  Sold  by  William 
Bradford  at  the  Bible  in  Neiv  York,  1697.  |  16mo.  pp.  1-15,  (I). 

1698 

[BRADFORD.  (WILLIAM)]  The  Secretary's  Guide,  or  Young  Man's 
Companion.  In  Four  Parts.  Containing  I.  Directions  for  Spelling,  Reading 
and  Writing  True  English,  with  right  Pronunciation.  II.  Arithmetick  made 
easie.  III.  The  Method  of  Writing  Letters  upon  most  Subjects.  IV.  A  choice 
Collection  of  Bills,  Bonds,  Letters  of  Attorney,  Indentures,  Leases  &c.  &c. 
New  York :  William  Bradford,  about  1698. 

The  above  title  is  condensed  from  that  of  the  fourth  edition,  which  was  printed  by  Brad- 
ford in  1729.  The  preface  to  that  edition — signed  W.  B.— begins  "It  is  now  above  thirty 
years  since  I  first  compiled  this  short  Manuel,  during  which  time  several  Impressions  have 
been  sold  off." 

NEW  YORK.  [Royal  Arms.]  \  By  His  Excellency  |  Collonel  Benjamin 
Fletcher  Captain  General  and  Governour  in  Chief  of  His  |  Majesties  Province 
of  New-York,  &c.  |  A  Proclamation  |  [appointing  Thanksgiving  days  for  the 
Peace  with  France,  dated  at  New  York,  Feb.  26,  1691.]  Printed  by  William 
Bradford,  Printer  to  the  Kings  most  Excellent  Majesty  in  \  the  City  of  New-York, 
1697.  [1698.]  |  Folio,  1  leaf. 

NEW  YORK.  [Royal  Arms.]  \  By  His  Excellency  }  Benjamin  Fletcher 
Captain  General  and  Governour  in  Chief  of  His  |  Majesties  Province  of  New- 
York,  &c.  |  A  Proclamation  |  [giving  notice  to  Privateers  and  others  of  the 
Peace,  dated  at  New  York,  Feb.  26,  169J.]  Printed  by  William  Bradford, 
Printer  to  the  Kings  most  Excellent  Majesty  in  \  the  City  of  New-York,  1697. 
1 1698.]  |  Folio,  1  leaf. 

NEW  YORK.  [Royal  Arms.]  \  By  His  ExceUency  |  Richard  Earl  of  Bel- 
lomont  Captain  General  and  Governour  in  Chief  of  |  His  Majesties  Province 
of  New-York,  &c.  |  A  Proclamation  |  [in  regard  to  the  "  Freedom  of  Elections," 
dated  at  New  York,  April  7,  1698.]  Printed  by  William  Bradford,  Printer  to 
the  Kings  Most  Excellent  Majesty  in  \  the  City  of  New-York,  1698.  |  Folio,  1  leaf. 

COOTE     (RICHARD  ,  EARL  OF  BELLOMONT)    An  |  Account  |  Of  the 

Proceedings  of  |  His  Excellency,  |  the  |  Earl  of  Bellomont  |  Captain  General 


600  HISTOEY    OF    NEW-YOEK 

and  Governour  of  New- York,  &c.  |  and  the  Honourable,  the  Council,  at  an 
Extra-  |  ordinary  Council  held  in  Fort  William  Henry,  |  New- York  the  8th 
day  of  May,  1698.  |  Published  by  his  Excellency's  Command.  |  [Royal  Arms.} 
|  Printed  and  Sold  by  William  Bradford,  Printer  to  the  King's  most  Excellent  \ 
Majesty,  in  the  City  of  New- York,  1698.  |  Folio,  Title,  1  leaf;  pp.  3-6. 

NEW  YORK.  [Royal  Arms.]  \  By  His  Excellency  |  Richard  Earl  of  Bel- 
lomont,  Captain  General  and  Governour  in  Chief  of  His  |  Majesties  Province 
of  New- York,  and  Territories  depending  thereon  in  |  America,  and  Vice- 
Admiral  of  the  same,  &c.  |  A  Proclamation  |  [against  pirates  dated  at  Fort 
William  Henry,  May  9,  1698.]  Printed  and  Sold  by  William  Bradford,  Printer 
to  the  Kings  most  Excellent  Majesty,  in  the  City  of  \  New-  York,  1698.  |  Folio, 
1  leaf. 

[COOTE.]  His  Excellency,  |  the  |  Earl  of  Beilomont  |  his  |  Speech  |  To  the 
Representatives  of  his  Majesties  Province  of  |  New- York,  the  19th  of  May, 
1698.  |  [Colophon :]  Printed  and  Sold  by  William  Bradford,  Printer  to  the  King's 
most  Excellent  \  Majesty,  in  the  City  of  New- York,  1698.  |  Folio,  pp.  1-3. 

NEW  YORK.  By  His  Excellency  |  Richard  Earl  of  Beilomont,  Captain 
General  and  Governour  in  Chief  of  His  Majesties  |  Province  of  New  York, 
and  Territories  depending  thereon  in  America,  and  Vice  |  Admiral  of  the 
same,  &c.  |  A  Proclamation  |  [against  those  attempting  to  make  Perth  Amboy 
a  port  of  entry,  dated  at  Fort  William  Henry  May  24, 1698.]  Printed  and  Sold 
by  William  Bradford,  Printer  to  the  Kings  most  Excellent  Majesty  in  the  City  of 
New- York,  \  Anno  Domini,  1698.  |  Folio,  1  leaf. 

NEW  YORK.  [Royal  Arms.}  \  By  His  Excellency  |  Richard  Earl  of  Beilo- 
mont, Captain  General  and  Governour  in  Chief  of  His  Majesties  Province  |  of 
New- York,  and  Territories  depending  thereon  in  America,  and  Vice  Admiral 
of  the  same,  |  &c.  |  A  Proclamation  |  [ordering  the  oaths  established  by  Act 
of  Parliament  to  be  taken  by  all  the  male  inhabitants  of  more  than  16  years  of 
age.]  Printed  by  William  Bradford,  Printer  to  the  Kings  most  Excellent  Majesty 
in  the  City  of  New- York,  1698.  |  Folio,  I  leaf. 

NEW  YORK  CITY.  Certificate  of  Naturalization.  New  York :  William 
Bradford.  1698. 

P[ASTORIUS.]  (F[EANCIS]  D[ANIEL])  A  |  New  Primmer  |  or  |  Methodical 
Directions  |  To  attain  the  |  True  Spelling,  |  Reading  &  Writing  of  |  English. 
|  Whereto  are  added,  some  things  Necessary  |  &  Useful  both  for  the  Young 
of  this  Province,  |  and  likewise  for  those,  who  from  foreign  Countries  and 
Nations  come  to  settle  |  amongst  us.  |  By  F.  D.  P.  |  .  .  .  |  .  .  .  |  .  .  .  |  .  .  .  | 
...  |  ....  |  Printed  by  William  Bradford  in  New- York,  and  \  Sold  by  the 
Author  in  Pennsilvania.  [1698.]  |  16mo.  pp.  88. 

PROPOSITIONS  made  by  the  Five  Nations  of  |  Indians,  viz.,  The  Mohaques, 
Oneydes,  Onnondages,  |  Cayouges  &  Sinnekes,  to  his  Excellency  Richard  Earl 


PRINTING    IN    NEW-YORK    IN    THE    SEVENTEENTH    CENTURY    601 

|  of  Bellomont,  Capt.    General  and  Governour  in  chief  [ofj  his  Majesties 
Province  of  New- York,  &c.  in  Albany,  |  the  20th  of  July,  Anno  Dom.  1698.  | 
[Colophon:]    Printed  and  Sold  by   William  Bradford,    Printer  to  the  Kings 
most  Excellent  \  Majesty  in  the  City  of  New- York,  1698.  |  Folio,  pp.  1-22. 

[TATHAM,  JOHN  — THOMAS  REVELL  AND  NATHANIEL  WESTLAND.j 
The  Case  Put  &  Decided  |  By  |  George  Fox,  George  Whitehead,  Stephen 
Crisp,  |  and  other  the  most  Antient  &  Eminent  Quakers,  |  Between  |  Ed- 
ward Billing  on  the  one  part,  |  And  some  West-Jersians,  headed  by  | 
Samuell  Jenings  |  On  the  other  Part,  |  In  an  Award  relating  to  the  Govern- 
ment of  |  their  Province,  wherein,  because  not  moulded  to  the  Pallate  of  |  the 
said  Samuell,  the  Light,  the  Truth,  the  Justice  and  Infallability  |  of  these 
great  Friends  are  arreigned  by  him  and  his  Accomplices.  |  Also  |  Several  Re- 
marks and  Anuimadversions  on  the  same  Award,  |  setting  forth  the  Premises. 
With  some  Reflections  on  the  Sens-  |  less  Opposition  of  these  Men  against  the 
present  Governour,  and  |  their  daring  Audatiousuess  in  their  presumptuous 
asserting  an  |  Authority  here  over  the  Parliament  of  England.  |  Published  for 
the  Information  of  the  Impartial  and  Considerate,  particu-  j  larly  such  as 
Worship  God,  and  profess  Christianity,  not  in  |  Faction  and  Hypocrasie,  but 
in  Truth  and  Sincerity.  |  ...  |  ...  |  ...  |  ...  |  ...  |  ...  |  ...  |  ...  |  .... 
[New  York :  William  Bradford.  1698.]  Sm.  4to.  pp.  1  - 16. 

1699. 

COOTE.    (RICHARD  ,  EARL  OF  BELLOMONT.)    His  Excellency,  |  the  | 

Earl  of  Bellomont  |  his  |  Speech  |  To  the  Representatives  of  his  Majesties 
Province  of  |  New- York,  the  21th  of  March,  1699.  |  [Colophon] :  Printed  and 
Sold  by  William  Bradford,  Printer  to  the  King's  most  Excellent  \  Majesty  in  the 
City  of  New-York,  1699.  |  Folio,  pp.  1-3. 

LEEDS.  (D.)    An  |  Almanack  |  For  the  Year  of  Christian  Account  |  1699. 

|  Being  the  Third  after  Bessextile  or  |  Leap- Year.  |  And  from  the  Creation  of 
the  World  5666.  |  But  by  Dove's  Computation,  5703.  |  Containing  Matters 
Useful  and  Necessary.  |  Chiefly  accomodated  to  the  Latitude  |  of  40  Degrees 
North,  and  Longitude  of  |  about  73  degr.  west  from  London.  But  |  may, 
without  sensible  Error  serve  all  the  |  adjacent  Places,  from  Newfound-Land 

|  to  the  Capes  of  Virginia-  |  By  Daniel  Leeds,  Philomat.  |  ...  |  ...  |  .... 

I  Printed  and  Sold  by  William  Bradford  at  the  \  Bible  in  New- York,  1699.  |  Sm. 
8vo.  pp.  (24). 

LEEDS.  A  |  Trumpet  Sounded  |  Out  of  the  Wilderness  of  |  America;  | 
Which  may  serve  as  a  Warning  to  the  |  Government  and  People  of  England 
|  to  Beware  of  Quakerisme.  |  Wherein  is  shewed  the  Great  contradictions  of 
the  |  Quakers,  both  in  their  former  and  later  |  Writings.  Also  how  they 
deny  Jesus  of  Nazareth  to  |  be  the  Christ.  And  in  Pensilvania  and  |  there- 
away, where  they  have  the  Government  in  |  their  own  Hands,  they  hire  and 
encourage  Men  to  fight ;  |  and  how  they  Persecute,  Fine,  Imprison,  and  take 
away  |  Goods  for  Conscience  sake.  Notwithstanding  they  formerly  exclaimed 


602  HISTORY    OF    NEW-YORK 

0 

against  the  Government  of  |  England,  &c.  for  the  same  things.     Setting  forth 
|  likewise  their  base  Temporizing  with  whatsoever  is   upermost,  &c.  |  By 
Daniel  Leeds.  |  ...  |  ....  |  Printed  by  William  Bradford  at  the  Bible  in  New-  \ 
York;  and  are  to  be  Sold  by  B.  Aylmer  at  the  Three  Pidgeons  in  Cornhill,  and  C. 
Brome  at  the  Gun  \  at  the  West-end  of  St.  'Paul's  London.    1699.  |  Sm.  8vo. 

Collation:  1  Preliminary  leaf ;  Title,  1  leaf;  "  Friendly  Eeader,"  1  p.;  Preface,  pp.  (9); 
Contents,  pp.  (2) ;  Introduction,  pp.  1-4 ;  text,  pp.  4-151. 

NEW  YORK.  [Royal  Arms.}  \  ACTS  made  the  7th  Assembly  &  7th  Ses- 
sions. |  Beginning  the  second  Day  of  March,  1698.  and  ending  the  16th  day  of 
May,  |  1699.  Anno  Regni  Regis  Gulielmi  Tertij,  Angliae,  Scotia?,  Franciae,  & 
|  Hibernia3,  Undecim.  ]  [Colophon :]  Printed  and  Sold  by  William  Bradford, 
Printer  to  the  King's  most  Excellent  \  Majesty,  in  the  City  of  Neiv-York,  1699.  | 
Folio,  pp.  119-150. 

The  acts  of  the  first,  misprinted  the  seventh,  session  of  the  Seventh  Assembly. 

NEW  YORK.     [Royal  Arms.]  \  AN  ORDINANCE  |  of  |  His  Excellency 
and  Council  |  For  the  Establishing  |  Courts  of  Judicature  |  For  the  Ease  and 
Benefit  of  each  respective  City,  Town  |  and  County  within  this  Province  of  | 
New- York.  |  [New  York :   William  Bradford.    1699.]    Folio,  pp.  1-4. 

NEW  YORK.  [Royal  Arms.}  \  By  His  Excellency  |  Richard  Earl  of  Bello- 
mont,  Captain  General  and  Governour  in  Chief  of  His  Majesties  Province  |  of 
New- York,  and  Territories  depending  thereon  in  America,  and  Vice-Admiral 
of  the  same,  |  &c.  |  A  Proclamation.  |  [Against  the  Scotch  settlement  at 
Darien,  dated  at  Fort  William  Henry  in  New  York  the  15th  Day  of  May, 
1699]  Printed  by  W.  Bradford,  Printer  to  the  Kings  most  Excellent  Majesty,  in 
New-York,  1699.  |  Folio,  1  leaf. 

NEW  YORK  CITY.  Notice  of  the  Ferry  Lease.  New  York:  William 
Bradford.  1699. 

NEW  YORK  CITY.  Regulations  of  the  Market.  New  York:  William 
Bradford.  1699. 

1700. 

HUE  and  Cry  against  Errors.    New  York :  William  Bradford.    1700. 
Mentioned  in  Leeds'  Cage  of  Unclean  Birds,  printed  in  1701. 

LEEDS.  (D.)  An  Almanack  for  the  Year  of  Christian  Account  1700.  By 
Daniel  Leeds.  New  York :  William  Bradford.  1700. 

NEW  YORK.     [Acts  passed  in]  the  2d  Sessions  of  the  seventh  Assembly.  | 
Beginning  the  29th  Day  of  July,  1700.  and  ending  the  9th  of  August,  Anno  | 
Regni  Regis  &  Reginae  Gulielmi  Angliae,  Scotiae,  Franciae  &  Hiberniae,  |  Duo- 
decim.  |  [New  York:   William  Bradford.    1700.]     Folio,  pp.  151-155. 

NEW  YORK.  [Royal  Arms.}  \  ACTS  Passed  the  7th  Assembly  and  3d  Ses- 
sions, |  Beginning  the  first  Day  of  October,  1700.  and  ending  the  second  Day 


PRINTING    IN    NEW-YORK    IN    THE    SEVENTEENTH    CENTURY     603 

of  |  November,  Anno  Regni  Regis  Gulielmi,  Angliee,  Scotise,  Francis  &  | 
Hiberniee,  Duodecim.  |  [New  York:     William  Bradford     1700.]     Folio,  pp. 
[155] -196  for  164. 

Sheets  A,  B,  and  an  unmarked  half-sheet.  The  first  page  of  A,  which  should  be  157,  in 
unnumbered;  it  is  followed  by  pp.  150,  157,  and  190.  B  is  numbered  191-194,  and  the  half- 
sheet  195-196. 

NEW  YORK  CITY.  An  Ordinance  for  laying  a  duty  on  flour  imported 
into  the  city.  New  York :  William  Bradford  1700. 

fSOUTHWICK?  (REV.  SOLOMON)]  Gospel  Order  |  Revived,  |  Being  an 
Answer  to  a  Book  lately  set  |  forth  by  the  Reverend  Mr.  Increase  Mather, 
President  |  of  Harvard  Colledge,  &c.  |  Entituled,  |  The  Order  of  the  Gospel, 
&c.  |  Dedicated  to  the  Churches  of  Christ  in  New-England.  |  By  sundry  Minis- 
ters of  the  Gospel  in  New-England.  |  ...  |  ...  |  ...  j  ....  |  [New  York :] 
Printed  [by  William  Bradford]  in  the  Year  1700.  |  Sm.  4to. 

Collation:  Advertisement,  1  leaf;  Title,  1  leaf;  Epistle  Dedicatory,  pp.  (8);  text,  pp.  1- 
40;  Errata,  1  leaf.  There  are  two  varieties  of  the  leaf  containing  the  Advertisement,  as  no- 
ticed in  the  preceding  chapter. 


TABLE    OF    DATES    IN    NEW-YOKK    HISTOKY. 

1492    Columbus  discovers  America. 

1497  The  Cabots  sight  the  North  American  coast  at  Labrador. 

1498  Columbus  discovers  the  continent  of  South  America. 

1524  Verrazano  explores  New- York  and  Narragansett  Bays. 

1525  Gomez  gives  the  name  of  San  Antonio  to  the  Hudson  River. 

1609  Henry  Hudson  sails  into  New- York  Bay  and  explores  the  Hud- 

son River  to  the  head  of  navigation. 

1610  Trading  voyages  from  Holland  to  the  Hudson  River  begun. 

1613  Trading  camp  established  on  Manhattan  Island. 

1614  The  New  Netherland  Charter  granted. 
1618    Treaty  with  the  Iroquois  at  Tawassgunshee. 

1623    The  West  India  Company  send  the  first  emigrants  (Walloons) 

to  New  Netherland. 
1626    Peter  Minuit   is   appointed  Director-General    and  purchases 

Manhattan  Island  from  the  Indians. 

1628  The  first  clergyman,  Rev.  Jonas  Michaelius,  arrives,  and  a 

church  is  organized. 

1629  The  Patroon ships  created. 

1633    Director-General  Walter  Van  T wilier  arrives. 

1635    Fort  Amsterdam  completed. 

1638    Director-General  William  Kieft's  term  commences. 

1640    Wars  with  the  Indians  begin. 

1642    The  Church  in  the  fort  built;  also  the  City  Tavern,  afterwards 

the  "Stadt  Huys  "  or  City  Hall. 
1644    After  several  decisive  battles  final  peace  with  the  Indian  tribes 

surrounding  Manhattan  Island  is  made. 

1647    Director-General  Peter  Stuy  vesant  arrives  at  Manhattan  Island. 
1653    New  Amsterdam  incorporated  as  a  city. 
1656    Massacre  of  citizens  by  Indians  in  Stuyvesant's  absence. 
1658     Some  of  the  streets  are  paved,  and  police  and  fire  departments 

are  inaugurated. 

1664  Charles  II.,  grants  New  Netherland  to  James,  Duke  of  York, 

and  an  English  Squadron  takes  New  Amsterdam. 

1665  Municipal  Government  in  New- York  changed  to  the  English 

form.    Trials  by  jury  established. 


TABLE    OF    DATES    IN    NEW-YORK    HISTORY  605 

1667  Treaty  of   Breda  confirms  New- York  in  possession  of   the 

English.    The  Dutch  take  Surinam  in  exchange. 

1668  Francis  Lovelace  succeeds  Richard  Nicolls  as  Governor. 

1672  Postal  service  between  New- York  and  Boston  instituted. 

1673  New- York  recaptured  by  the  Dutch. 

1674  Retrocession  of  New- York  to  the  English  by  the  treaty  of 

Westminster,  and  Sir  Edmund  Andros  Governor. 

1678  Bolting  privilege  granted  to  New- York  City. 

1679  The  great  East  River  dock  built. 

1680  Trial  of  Philip  Carteret,  Governor  of  East  Jersey. 
1682    Thomas  Dongan  becomes  Governor  of  New-York. 

1683 -October.    The  first  General  Assembly  of  the  Province  meets, 

and  Courts  of  Justice  established. 
1683 -November.    The  city  is  divided  into  six  wards. 
1686    New- York  City  Charter  granted  by  Governor  Dongan. 
1688    New- York  and  New  England   made  one   Province,  and  Sir 

Edmund  Andros  appointed  Governor-General. 
1689 -February.     William  and  Mary  proclaimed  King  and  Queen. 
1689- June.    Jacob  Leisler  made  Captain  of  the  Fort  and  Commander 

of  the  Province  by  the  Committee  of  Safety. 
1689 -December.     Leisler  assumes  the  Lieutenant-Governorship,  on 

ground  of  the  King's  letter. 

1690  Massacre  at  Schenectady,  and  a  Colonial  Congress  called  to 

consider  an  attack  on  Canada. 

1691  Governor  Sloughter  arrives,  and  Leisler  and  Milborne  executed. 

1692  Governor  Benjamin  Fletcher  arrives. 

1693  Expedition  against  the  French  enemy  repulsed  at  Scheuectady; 

Bradford  appointed  Government  printer  in  New- York. 

1696  Captain  William  Kidd  sent  out  against  pirates. 

1697  Governor  Fletcher  superseded  by  the  Earl  of  Bellomont. 

1698  Trinity  Church  completed  and  Rev.  William  Vesey  inducted 

rector.    First  services  held  on  March  13th. 

1699  The  erection  of  the  City  Hall  in  Wall  street  begun.    The  Stadt 

Huys  sold  at  auction  for  about  $4500. 

1700  Population  at  close  of  century  between  five  and  six  thousand. 

A  carefully  prepared  and  exhaustive  index  to  the  complete  work  will  appear  in  the  fourth  and 

concluding  volume  EDITOR. 


END  OF  VOLUME  I. 


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F       Wilson,  James  Grant 
128        The  memorial  history  of  the 
.3     city  of  New  York 


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